I am the voice that is never heard.
I am the heart that is never touched.
I am the lone child sleeping hungry
on a rainy night.
I am the woman who is a widow
at twenty-five.

I am the farmer who lost his land
to the drought.
I am the old who see their lives end sadly.
I am the young who die needlessly.
I am the mothers who weep ceaselessly.
I am the fathers who watch helplessly.

I am the dispossessed.
I am the confused.
I am the lonely. I am the lost.

I am the sadness that burns like a lone candle in your eye
when you quietly remind me that such worlds exist.
I am the sadness of a soul that knows you are right
but cannot find a way to soothe the scars.
I am the poem that is never written.

Sheema Kalbasi and Roger Humes