Syria

Mama made us drink our vitamins with juice,

Then let us play outside with our toys and the cat.

Our plastic chairs gleamed under the sun.

Then we saw it, a great big dragon wrapped in flame, soaring high.

We ran inside when it fell.

The earth shook, fire and smoke swallowed us,

The searing heat melted the plastic cup I was holding.

The air burned my throat with every desperate gasp.

Then everything went dark.

Men with flashlights came,

Washing me with water, washing me with hope.

It was, however, too late.