A Bleak Picture Of Cairo Poem by Ghada Shahbender

I search for words to describe and tell
Of that bleak unfamiliar picture of Cairo
That only I am seeing
But the words will not come to my rescue.

Even as I reach out and speak to others
Thinking that maybe through sharing
I’ll get a prompt or some cue,
that will help me write
The words continue to evade me.

So I try harder and wait for days
Hoping that maybe those lines will come together
And the image will be clearer
And the sketch will burst into a full color portrayal
Of that gloomy thing that I am thinking
And that the visual will be a narration
That gives a voice and music to the drama
That I am experiencing
And the bits and pieces will fall together
And in unison speak out for the characters in a story
That is in Cairo unfolding.

But all the time as I am waiting
I am outrun by ghosts and demons that come racing
And I can’t see through the dust
that they are in the name of religion
throwing in my face
And I can’t hear anything
but their fanatic screaming
And I can’t make my voice heard over their ghoulish howling.
I am out of words and out of breath
And I have nothing better to do than
Waiting …