trav’lin’ light
Travel. Sudden lightning flash in daylight.
A word others use. “So from today I'm
trav'lin' light.” As in atoms. The white
flash of a device going off. My grime
and bits settling down on your surprised
face. You. Someone had to plant these ghastly
boxes under this hill's skin. You surmised
there are hundreds. Children have already
stumbled on four. We. Travel with me here.
I want you here when I mess up. Just once.
Wave your hands. Call out my name. You can hear
the light. Count the seconds. The short distance
it takes to get to you. A blur. Crayon
red. I rise up and all at once I'm gone.
There are millions of unaccounted land mines scattered throughout most of our war-torn world. UN reports that, on an average, thirty children step on land mines each day. It also says that of those children, eighty-five percent will die before they reach a hospital.
For anyone interested I suggest the work of Japanese photographer Masanori Kobayashi who has documented the survivors of land mines as well as UNICEF's Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Thank you.
