Woman with Red Handkerchief

A prayer without words.

I write this note in a house of God.
The tears fall silently.
Her face rests in hardened tanned hands;
they fondle restlessly with a worn handkerchief.
Her eyes search the room as if searching for
an answer to a prayer.
The sallow eyes face me now, recognize my pen—
my observations.
I am in a house of God; here the walls, made of
peach and white lattice, still stand firm.
Outside, the world is shattered—
a country in turmoil.

A poem by Pemba Umoja