Christina A. Sharik

ONE STRANGE DAY

Awarded: October 2, 2007Startled awake,
by something,
not quite sure why ~

his eyes search,
heart skips a beat,
then a giant lurch

Something’s wrong
Something’s not quite right
Something’s happened in
the night.

Silence.

Eyes meet eyes
heads look left and right
Something’s
happened overnight…

A nurse stands, thoughtful,
near a bed
something’s different,
she shakes her head.

It’s silent.

And later on, they all said:

Something happened overnight
We all knew something was not
quite right ~

It was far too quiet,
far too still
Not even birdsong ~
[no trees left
upon the hill]

There were no dogs barking
No cows lowing
Just a strange new feeling
and a heartbeat slowing

Silence.

Then we heard bells and
people yelling

There would be no more
shots and no more shelling
The big guns and the
cannon would cease

Silence…

They all remember
when they heard…
when the air was still
and they heard the word ~

Peace.