Where was the aid? Poem by Bart Meuleman

where was the aid?
for hours we waited by the cogwheel.
wires snapped loose one by one, the belly
wasn't going to make it.
what there was - a little empathy - dripped inside
like a liqueur.
no, dearest, we didn't get there.
also, the time, the money,
everything scraped together and laid in your broken arms.
that's how it had to be.
that's how it ended.
let this, once and for all, be a lesson to you.

Translation: , Willem Groenewegen