Day 609

Noisy crowd. People shouting, some
who have waited since
two in the morning.  Some
who have walked.  Walked far.  Walked
for hours.  You woke hours
before; you were one of those
who came before the food, before
the drones, before the officials
arrived to distribute the boxes.
You stood in the blue pre-dawn.
You came because your small
brother cannot stop
crying from hunger. Because 
your father, wounded, can barely
walk. Your mother, so weak
she hasn’t stood for days.
You came to bring them back
a box of food, sparse
as it is.  One box.  But the drones
came as you waited, let loose
their vicious intent, their
deadly aim.  Blood
ran down your cheek.  Daylight
had come but you, suddenly,
were engulfed in darkness.