Some of you may remember that I have a friend named Diva in Baghdad, Iraq. It has now been 2 months since I have heard anything from her and that was an electronic card at Xmas. Prior to that I had not had emails or instant messaging for several months.
As I sit here this chilly California morning, I do not know if she is alive or not. As I watch the reports from Iraq everyday, I think odds are, well you know. How could anyone survive what is going on there, what chance does one have there. Diva has an opportunity to come to the United States to study with a Fullbright scholarship, but will she live to come here?
When I first made contact with Diva a year ago, could I have predicted that the situation which was already horrible beyond horror, would get worse, no, I could not have. I am not sure I would have reached out to someone in that country had I known the direction this occupation would take. The reason, it’s too painful.
When we were communicating it was painful for me to be sitting here in the country that brought so much hardship to hers and try to think of what to say to alleviate the pain. There is nothing to say, nothing but sorry and what good is sorry to her, and what good is sorry to the dead.
When I hear the daily reports from Iraq, I cringe with the pain of thinking is she one of them, is she dead now, has all the promise of her future ended, shattered to pieces on a dusty Baghdad street, perhaps among the flowers and vegetables in the market. Or is she one of the female prisioners held somewhere in that godforsaken country, perhaps being raped and tortured. You see where the mind goes. How, I wonder, could she escape from any or all of the difficulties she must face on a daily basis, how can anyone. What must it be like to live there and wonder at every moment, will this be my last.
I am not so much into negative writing, so I will try to turn this around now and ask for your thoughts and good wishes to go out to Diva, to keep her safe if she is alive, to give her peace if she is not and to end this awful conflict so that some do have a chance to fullfil their lives and dreams.
(Crossposted at Village Blue)