Hush

Hush
I hear the children crying

That’s not possible, you say
The children are out there somewhere
Everywhere
Discovering the world

I know I say
But I hear them crying

Why would they be crying
You ask  —  and remind me of the postcards

The postcards full of colour
From places that beckoned
       beckon

Alluring places with
       treasures to be
       found or
       lost
       treasures to dazzle or
       blind
       a hungry
       eye
       treasures to
       have
       hold
       sacrifice
       a life

Oh hush
Put away that drum
I can’t hear the children

Ann Aldred