Saturday August 14, 2021. BBC Home Page. Afghan President addresses the nation….Refugees pouring into the capital…From there, no where else to go…No way out (Caspian Sea, or Persian Gulf?).
I just sat here with my families. Our future is so uncertain and life so unpredictable.
No where to turn to.
No one is here to help.
Except for the advancing army, the Taliban, claiming victories and spoils of war. Our bodies.
The Hummers and artillery, abandoned airfield and airport.
Kabul, the coat-tail of the American waste, after a two-decade war. Of drones and sorties. Of strikes and counter-strikes. Of training and corruption. Of negotiation and occupation.
The tools to fight (here) and the will to fight (not there).
The tide is reverse….e.g. growing poppies and terrorist hotels.
18th-century way of life, in 21st-century world.
Classrooms are to be demolished as they stand for progress, open-mind and yes, science.
Vaccination? who cares. Let them die.
Masks? Always had them. Now put them back on, girls!
Toyotas? Very good. But then we got a better deal with China’s EV’s. (the old trick of bidding one against the other, Russia vs China, Iran vs UAE).
Afghan is soon opened up for new bidding: going around once, going around twice. Sold (that young girl with haunting eyes).
And so it goes.
Kabul. Kabul. Kabul….Don’t cry for me.
It’s the way the world works (half of the Titanic with lifeboats, the other half locked up downstairs).
The way poverty, desperation and barren land work.
Lost in Kabul. Lost in translation. Lost in our modern world.
Tik Tok, Tik Tok….
While young girls else where are staring at their narcissistic screens, young girls in Kabul are staring into the distance…a thousand-yard stare….into a future uncertain, a life unpredictable and fear that is definitely in the works.
I will do anything…as long as I can still be around, for tomorrow, to see sunrise, symbol of hope from time eternal. Please, please, please…Who that had said “Nothing is permanent, including your problems?”. I hope it’s true.
I am a refugee girl in Kabul. I have been staring into the distance for hours on end. And wished it had all been a dream.
Thang Nguyen 555 