“As Afghanistan’s harsh winter sets in, many are forced to choose between food and warmth.”
The Washington Post, 2022
A little girl’s eyes skirt the skies for the first signs of winter.
Her makeshift tent guards poorly against the freeze,
bringing unwarranted colour to her cheeks.
The cold plagues every inch of her skin, numbing
her from the reality of her survival, maybe for the better.
Elderly men in the city crowd the miry streets,
empty sacks of sugar, clutched in freezing hands,
there is little respite in empty grain containers,
little hope for the sea of Burkha clad women,
sitting with their hands open, facing speeding cars.
75 year old Abdul Hadi, a wheelbarrow porter sits with
his many grandkids around a woodstove sans wood chips.
“We don’t even have enough money for bread,” he says,
his face crumpling in defeat. “It’s the same story in every family.
Please tell the world to help us.”
As the snow brushes the tips of the Afghan pine trees,
the news cries, it is either coal or food for the people.
DoubleSpeak 