This Is Not A Drill. by: Sahid Kanu Poem by Sahid Alhaji Kanu

This is not a drill.
Not a test of the heart,
not practice for grief.
The sirens are real,
and the smoke does not
vanish when you blink.

This is the breaking point—
the moment truth stops knocking
and kicks down the door.
The warning signs were written
in headlines, in silence,
in the way you stopped calling.

This is the fire we ignored
while singing in the kitchen.
The crack in the ground
we danced around.
The shadow we swore
was just our own.

No alarms are coming—
they've already gone.
No second script to recite.
This is the part
where we choose:
Run, or rise.

So breathe.
Stand still.
Then move like you mean it.
Because this is not a drill.