Sitting in the hospital peacefully

Not knowing the horrors of those less than a hundred feet away from me faced

My life was just beginning

While their lives were coming to an end

Outsiders may not have seen them or heard their screams 

But we did 

Those who were simply being temporarily held became permanent prisoners.

Their sentences became death row

Though we were figuratively held, hostage

They were the prisoners

We felt trapped with no escape 

Turning our backs on those who were actually trapped with no escape

Those who were supposed to be on their way home became trapped with a life-long sentence they never expected

Freedom was in the palm of their hands but was stripped away by the storm

But the storm didn’t strip their freedom

We did. We failed them.

No one ever heard their stories or their cries

They simply had just forgotten.

17 years later and their stories still aren’t heard

Their stories died along with them.

But the storm didn’t kill them

We did