Why Fireworks Scare Me

People just don’t understand Why sometimes I jump in fear Or why I cry and cower When a loud noise I hear People find it amusing When I start to shiver and cry They simply have no idea Or know the reason why… Fireworks are a horror... To try to enjoy the display, I have to cover my ears And pretend that I’m OK Loud noises send me screaming Away to find a safe place They make my go for cover As I try to hide my face I just feel like suffocating As I relive bomb shelter days The smell and the sickening sounds... How I was always in such a daze Dad would yell at us to hurry As he’d lift Mama on his back MS meant she couldn’t walk Would they survive this attack? We scrambled down the stairs The bombs' whistles in our ears I could hardly take a breath I was choked by incessant fears In the dank and smelly shelter We could do nothing but pray As we counted all the neighbors We wondered how long we’d stay Then came that awful day The blasts set the campus a flame Our pine trees were burning up The men tried that fire to tame I ran to the bomb shelter But no family was there in sight I started to scream and cry Would my family be alright? They finally put out the fire But oh, the devastation People were dead and dying In all parts of this nation Shrapnel came through our closet And chewed up all our clothes We were thankful we weren’t there Or we too would be full of holes Then on campus they brought a tank But they’d warn us when they’d start, That gruesome work of shelling I saw our lives just fall apart My friend’s father lost his life Some saw loved ones blown away My brother and wife were lucky But they carry scars to this day Lebanon is steeped in beauty But the war has marred me for life Sometimes memories flood back And I’m reminded of all the strife It’s when I hear those loud noises And I feel the ground start to shake I feel my life will be over “Protect me, for heaven’s sake!” So when July 4th comes along And you celebrate liberty Think of the firework display And what that does to souls like me. Eileen Manassian Ghali