The Victims

We see the stories on the news

Of those Hamas has killed

Or kidnapped and we think

Of all the tears that have been spilled.

 

To most of us, the victims

And their families remain

As strangers and it’s hard to grasp

Their terror or their pain.

 

A friend of mine has family,

As videos have shown.

Among the people kidnapped,

With their status still not known.

 

Her heart is breaking; what she feels

I cannot comprehend,

For no one can be sure just how

This tragedy will end.

 

Reporters give us numbers

Of the missing or the perished,

But the numbers can’t convey how much

Each one of those is cherished.