TRAGIC Poem: Crisis Averted, by Margaret Allie

She grew used to the roof falling
the silent talking
and not knowing when the warning signs would end.

Her body grew accustomed to the feeling of danger
the rush of the blood in her veins
the rapid heart beating in her chest
and the fear permanently etched in her eyes.

Her mind raced so fast that no single thought could settle in
and her body lived through the worst of it
trying its best to not be affected by the war.

And when her mind came back
her body told her that everything was fine

the house was burning-
the people bleeding out-
and the siren still blaring

but she couldn’t hear it anymore

She couldn’t see the rubble-

she just saw a house

She didn’t realize that she was bleeding
because she grew used to the feeling of being cut

She was stuck
between the panic and the eerie calm that followed.

She adapted to the world around her,
she did the best she could,
and in doing so, she changed.
always looking for shelter
always expecting the worst

She was always prepared for a tsunami to crash onto her landlocked state
so that she would never be caught off guard when it did (if it did)

But that tsunami isn’t coming
and she never prepared for any other disaster.