WAITING

The wait is so long

In the depth of winter,

The sweltering heat of summer

Full of the unknown, menacing

For worn-out seconds

Crushed minutes

Endless hours

We await

Bread

Gray soup

Day

Night

We wait

With eyes

Which defy

Plead

Put up

Die

We wait in silence

With hands ready to take in

To stretch out

To hold tight

To give up

We wait for the end

Of an exhausting job

With our legs swollen

Tense

Heavy

Painful

From forced marches

From roll calls prolonged for the sake of it

We wait

Behind the barbed wire

With our hearts ready to burst

Breathless with impatience

Beaten down with anger and impotence

With hatred and anxiety

We wait

With a glimmer of hope