Do you remember when we used to smile?
You’re smiling in this photograph
Smiles have turned to flinches
Even though the booms outside are background noise now

All we can do is sit and wonder
When will this end?
When will we get out of our basements and see the light of day?

Anger is a powerful thing
That’s what you just told me
The government is angry
But why?
It’s been too long to know for sure

When we found this picture
Probably the last one
We almost smiled then
At your blue eyes sparkling
Your freckles
And
Most important
You are smiling, caught in the act
Free
A foreign thing now

In a world of loud noises muted by the layers of
Plaster
And wood
And paint
Sometimes they shake the house

How long have we been down here?
The only way to know the change of time
Is the sharp knock at the door
Food, now rations
Delivered once daily

We have to burn this picture
The government said so
If any of their enemies found this
The government said they would do nasty things
Steal us away
And we believed them

There was so much fire when this all started
From the photos and the bombs that started all this

I miss trees the most
You lean against one in the picture
I’ve forgotten how green they are

The candle burns out
And we are in darkness once more