Dare not feel

Dare not feel

With deep dread
I avoid that hole in my heart
That aches, trembles
For those dealing with the aftermath
Of Mother Earth's tremors
Lest I should lose my equilibrium
And fall into that yawning hole
That seems bottomless

With pretended deafness, loud music
I turn a deaf ear to the whistling rockets
Screeching sirens , rat-a-tat of bullets
That are the sounds of a war-zone
Home to so many

With a practiced indifference
I turn away from appeals
To various charities
Hide my paralysis by fear
Under the onslaught
Of the world's endless problems
Under the guise of helplessness

Cease , stop , desist
This heart can bear no more
Stop, I dare not feel
I dare not stop

--shubha