India Heat Wave
This is a poem about a boy who doesn’t understand why the locals in his town are gone. He misses the people he used to see walking around, and runs to his mom for an explanation. The poem ends with his mother upset with God for taking away the people of her town as well. I wanted to write this poem through the eyes of a young boy because I felt that the children experiencing this trauma were effected just as much as the adults. I wanted to show the innocence of a boy not understanding where people go, and why they leave us. I also wanted to show the bitterness that many people must have felt with God at that time. It was important for me to show that element because it is something I have personally felt in a time of crisis myself. It was meaningful for me to put a small piece of my experience with trauma in this poem as well.
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Where Have They Gone?
A long time ago in Mumbai There was a magical boy that could fly But just when he became like a kite in the sky He vanished like a piece of pie Many moons ago in New Delhi There was a little woman named Kelly Her body always jiggled like jelly But one day she disappeared with that belly Several seasons past in West Bengal There was a giant man named Paul Every time he walked he would fall Until one day no one saw him at all I used to wonder where they all went The kid, the lady, and the giant gent Maybe they fought crime like Clark Kent Maybe they were evicted for lack of rent I ran to mother and cried, and cried
She kissed my hand, "I'm sorry son, but they have died"
Oh sweet mother this it too much to bear
I'm sorry son, sometimes God doesn't play fair
In response to N. A.’s reflections, student A. K. wrote:
I really thought that N.A.’s poem was very powerful. Often when people experience trauma they are left feeling vulnerable and raw. They are helpless and it is as if they turn into children so I thought the youthfulness of the poem spoke to the people who endured the heat wave. I appreciated that she inserted some humor because it made me feel like everything was going to be okay even if I was not experiencing the heat wave.
In response to N. A.’s reflections, student L. A. wrote:
When N.A. shared her poem about the heatwave in southern India, a profound sense of sadness and sorrow surrounded me. The feelings of a little Indian boy and his confusion because of the disappearance of people who he knew was described beautifully in N.A’s. poem. Perhaps, one of the reasons that N.S.’s poem had such a deep impact on me was the innocence of the little boy in the poem. I believe that any child has the right to have a peaceful and joyful childhood. However, children who have had experiences of trauma either because of natural disasters or man-made disasters are deprived of their natural rights. The message that I took from N.A. reflection is how children are fragile and vulnerable when facing any natural disasters and how different unknown feelings rage in their body. These are feelings that can have lifelong impacts on children. In the future, if I work with traumatized children who have experienced natural disasters in the future, N.A.’s reflection will help me at least understand what had happen to them.
In response to N. A.’s reflections, student S. W. wrote
Dear N.A.,
Before your presentation, it would never occur to me heat waves would take lives, let alone lives of thousands. The image of bodies dying on the streets and melting into the streets will forever be a reminder for me to be thankful for every privilege I have and enjoy. Your reflective art piece of the beautiful poem you wrote in the voice of a little boy is vivid, touching, rhyming, innocent yet powerful. It speaks to me in its understandability, innocence, and light nature on a terrible tragic trauma for anyone to have experienced, especially a little boy. I admire your ability with language and your poetic strengths.
