I am inside in this metal box of silence,
locked away from all the din outside.
Protected from all the hurt and violence,
held at bay from here, where I reside.
I am hidden behind sheets of mental thoughts,
shielding me from ideas that my mind could pierce.
Finding safety within the mental safety net where caught,
away from imaginings that lead to tears.
Alas, no barrier is sufficient enough to hide,
to escape what lies just a few thoughts away.
Penetrating the safety, it's there just on the other side,
chipping away layer by layer, for on the outside it will not stay.
My silence is disturbed through it's persistent grinding and grating,
cutting through my mind, burring like a carving blade.
Within my burrow of 'peace', whirring, oscillating,
no longer is this the refuge of those in-caved.
The noise is now inside my once silent panic room,
no longer can I ignore the screams, the pain.
The noise is here to stay like a day of eternal gloom,
South Africa has penetrated my place of sanctuary again.
A Citizen's Perspective ©
Synopsis of poem: 'Panic Room' is a metaphor for a safe place, where you can get away from the 'noise' I.e. evil in the world. Albeit your times with God, the Word, taking a break, anything or anywhere you find peace.
The grinder or blade runs at a high pitch frequency, wearing on the nerves; much like the media, insistent and persistent. It slices through 'metal walls' of the 'safe room', much like a barrier we put up in our mind to guard ourselves.
Every day on the news yet another report comes through of the violence and crime here in South Africa. Even the news on Christian or music stations carry the same reports. A conversation with a neighbour, a client, a parent at your child's school, all discuss or report the same news as everyone is affected.
So, even if you have a 'safe place' to go, eventually the 'noise' / news penetrates through. It is not that it brings fear or distress, so much as it being a disturbance of your peace. It cannot be ignored. Let it motivate us to prayer and action...for the 'noise' shall never be 'silenced' until we, the citizen’s of this nation, take action.
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