they cannot silence your screams, your tears, your stories

I still remember their faces -
five years ago, when summer exploded
and july petals burned to the ground
the asphalt was red,
bodies scattered over a once safe place
and I still remember their faces

on the news, it was broadcasted as a number,
similar to how we report wars and casualties in faraway countries;
reducing lives into statistics

and I still remember their faces, a spark of human connection
my own hopelessness as I realized
that it was the end of summer indeed

a crumbling world -
gunfire, rampant violence too horrifying to broadcast on television
too cruel for these eyes
these eyes that I shut at night
dearly wishing
that perhaps some day, tomorrow
they will open to the sun of a better, fairer world

for these eyes are not blind
they are not unaware, not ignorant
they do not unsee
they do not forget
these eyes are not blind to your suffering

and their eyes
are not blind
to your suffering

their ears
are not deaf
to your screams
your screams are not silent
you are not voiceless
(only preferably unheard)
you are not voiceless
(only deliberately silenced)
their ears are not deaf to your screams

do not let them forget that you are human
do not let them reduce you to statistics
let them see
your scraped knees
your wet tears
your frail hands as they grasp for a new beginning

hands, empty hands
let them see them