Last Escape

The patter of feet
Fills these tiny ears.
Grabbed by her thin arm,
Her mother appears.

She follows footsteps,
Keeping all silent.
Not daring to cry,
No longer an infant.

Keep your eyes low, child,
Hurry those two feet.
Orders from Mother,
She tries to be discrete.

Billows of Ma's skirt
Cover her fragile face.
How long before we
Can get out of this place?

Fields zip past as
The train chugs on.
She sits quietly,
With clothes all torn.

We're reaching, child,
We're almost there.
Just a little more.
Say a little prayer.

She closes her eyes
As the bomb falls.
Hands clasped together
As it struck the thin walls.

Pain she didn't feel
Tears she didn't shed.
Now all we can do
Is mourn for a child dead.