Northern Syria, Qamishli, December 2015

 

 

I was walking along the path,

and saw the flowers.

 

In the shadows, painted with bright colors, I saw the lights.

And I saw, among the colors and the lights, the big heart.

And beside the heart, the two children.

Standing.

On the hill of foolishness.

With guns and bombs and rifles beneath the feet.

 

Fascinated, I looked at this picture without suspecting that a few days later the bombs would kill young people.

And as I looked at the colours and the lights she noticed me.

This little girl.

She looked at me, observed me.

And I looked at her, and I observed her

 

And so we stopped for a few seconds, looking at each other, observing each other.

Two people, coming from two worlds so different.

 

And when she left, so did I.

In my mind's eye I took it with me, the picture with the heart between the children.

Thoughts touched by the little girl.

 

This child didn't care about bombs or guns.

She just looked at me, asking, hoping, expecting maybe...

And I looked at her... uncertain, desperate, lonely maybe...

 

And yet I'm concerned about her future.

Because I'm still human and she, the little girl, needs a future

 

Simon Jacob,

December 2015