At home, in the sun, I watch
the news intently, I study the photos
the parabola of a mortar
like a shooting star
and the grey ruins after the impact
There are cameras everywhere
I shiver from everything
I do and don't want to know
but I wouldn't know anything
if I didn't know
I read of people
who woke up and
ran to a cellar
their children crying
in the pale morning light
The wounded crawl over debris
scramble past the charred cars
An ambulance drives away
Daily corpses, daily news
with survivors
with a dry mouth
speechless, pale in the sun
in which I follow the news
with my sharp eyes
my cool heart
"Every Morning" ("Elke ochtend", 1986, Mary Oliver)
Published in Poetry Magazine (March 1986) and in the collection "Dream Work" (1986)
Collection "Reaching out"
