Dear world.
I have taken a vow of silence.
No, that's not entirely correct. I should have said "it seems I have nothing to say".
I sit back and watch the goings on in the world. No, that's not correct either. I should have said "I have chosen to listen to certain voices", and these voices tell me terrible, unspeakable things. Unspeakable things. "Babies mangled under rubble" kind of things. Unspeakable, but constant.
I have nothing to say. What could I possibly say in the face of a family exploded to bits on the street? "That could be me", I could say. Or, "I could have been fighting, and that could have been the rest of my family". How can one contemplate these things and still remain sane? They are unspeakable things.
So, I have nothing to say, and I can't find the will or desire to engage in conversation. There can be no to-and-fro, no exchange of opinions. There are unspeakable acts being committed. There are not "two sides", there are not "points of view". There is simply horror.
One unformed thought forms in my mind, a reaction to what seems to be the prevailing opinion around me here in Italy. People here seem to return to the comfort of a constant refrain "Let there be peace, stop the fighting." What I hear is a people who have forgotten that when war comes to your door, there is no suing for peace. There is, if you want to survive, only defiance and fighting.
I do not have any training, but I can survive the cold. I was taught at the age of 12 to handle a weapon, but I have forgotten it. I have thought, over the last few days, of simply taking a few trains and busses and then walking east, to find a way to help. I know that this is folly, and I feel cowardly for not doing something. I talk to my kids about what is happening. I want them to know that there is a right side and that although unimaginable pain is being wrought upon plain, simple people like us, they are fighting back. I want them to know that in this war, everyone suffers, there is no glory, there is no winning. But I also want them to know that there are real heroes, that they are all around and that when evil comes, then it will be time to fight.
I have taken a vow of silence.
No, that's not entirely correct. I should have said "it seems I have nothing to say".
I sit back and watch the goings on in the world. No, that's not correct either. I should have said "I have chosen to listen to certain voices", and these voices tell me terrible, unspeakable things. Unspeakable things. "Babies mangled under rubble" kind of things. Unspeakable, but constant.
I have nothing to say. What could I possibly say in the face of a family exploded to bits on the street? "That could be me", I could say. Or, "I could have been fighting, and that could have been the rest of my family". How can one contemplate these things and still remain sane? They are unspeakable things.
So, I have nothing to say, and I can't find the will or desire to engage in conversation. There can be no to-and-fro, no exchange of opinions. There are unspeakable acts being committed. There are not "two sides", there are not "points of view". There is simply horror.
One unformed thought forms in my mind, a reaction to what seems to be the prevailing opinion around me here in Italy. People here seem to return to the comfort of a constant refrain "Let there be peace, stop the fighting." What I hear is a people who have forgotten that when war comes to your door, there is no suing for peace. There is, if you want to survive, only defiance and fighting.
I do not have any training, but I can survive the cold. I was taught at the age of 12 to handle a weapon, but I have forgotten it. I have thought, over the last few days, of simply taking a few trains and busses and then walking east, to find a way to help. I know that this is folly, and I feel cowardly for not doing something. I talk to my kids about what is happening. I want them to know that there is a right side and that although unimaginable pain is being wrought upon plain, simple people like us, they are fighting back. I want them to know that in this war, everyone suffers, there is no glory, there is no winning. But I also want them to know that there are real heroes, that they are all around and that when evil comes, then it will be time to fight.