The lives lost simply numbers and places. No photos. No names. No stories. But each and every one of them is a person like you and I. With families and loved ones. With livelihoods and paths they crafted for themselves. Destinies and dreams. This is just too many. Before we can even be done mourning there’s another one. Another death count. We hold our breaths praying it’s not someone we know. For if it’s not someone we know then they’re just a number.
We write a message online and send our prayers. Create a hashtag. #PrayforTurkey #PrayforBangladesh #PrayforIraq. And then we forget until the next and then the next.
And of course if it’s in the global south then we will forget very soon. Only the ones with roots there will know or care to know. No flags, no vigils, no news coverage. If it’s in the west we will mourn a little longer. But they too will be forgotten soon.
Unless it is your home, your friends, your family. Just numbers and places. Far away stories of evil men (and it is always men) continue. But it’s ok. We can breath, it’s not us. This time.
May Allah accept the fallen as martyrs and bring peace to their loved ones. And may we have peace and stability in our homes.
being woke 
Lovely post
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank you
LikeLike
It is a sad state of affairs but you speak the truth. I mourn for all of the lost but there is a barrier between me and it because my people are all safe and sound. I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to see a story on the news and know that one of those people who lost their life was one of your people. Thank you for such a touching post!
Lynette
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for for your honesty lynette.
It’s not your fault – it’s years of our bodies being dehumanised by the media. Black and brown bodies are called animal names, our dead are fully shown all over the media with no care – just lying there, they are called numbers with no stories shared.
Even I need to actively think about the lives lost before I can feel more than sorrow but actual grief like we should be feeling
LikeLike