Turkey- Syria Earthquake- May Resilience Assist The Families Who Grieve Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Beautiful cities, beautiful people,
so vivacious, so calm and friendly
how could any catastrophe qualify them to die so suddenly
as they did not even guess the earthquakes were coming,
neither they expected to be gone before the morning dawned;

so unfortunate and merciless was their time
as many under the rubble of their shattered buildings just died.
they did not even suspect that it would be their last night,
they did not even think they would not wake up
to see or to hug their loved ones;

and as the earthquakes kept recurring
and as those building kept falling and crushing lives instantly,
what was the value and worth of those homes that fell down
as those same very apartments were their own homes
which had so much of love and exuberance flowing in and out?

And now while the clock keeps ticking ahead hour by hour
and rescuers keep searching for survivors everywhere,
everyone keeps watching and waiting, praying and hoping
for one more person to be alive
so that their family can re-unite and gain back some strength.

But when buildings floors have landed atop each other
how can anyone survive such an impact
when massive earthquakes rocked their existence
with its might and power,
with its callousness and carelessness?

And it is only by chance or by miracle some one may survive
but expectations and anticipations keep evaporating
looking at those heavy fallen concrete slabs of buildings
that nothing provides any optimism or confidence
yet mercy and survival is all that one is asking.

But those who have escaped the wrath and the wreckage
will live to tell their story of how the earthquakes changed
their entire fate and how the grief and painful memories
will never let their wounds ever heal as so many people
died together by a natural disaster so severe and merciless.