the little eyes that spark when the tiny lips smile (3)
4.2.05
staff’s reading room, Tuesday afternoon, 28 December
my colleagues sat circling the table
with the father among them
he called his wife that Sunday morning
at 7 am, 45 minutes before the quake
the wife was doing laundry
the daughter was playing in the yard with her cousin
when he said that the house was only 2 km from the Ulee Lheu beach,
I saw glimpses of two little eyes sparkling when the tiny lips smiled
home, that Tuesday night
my sister talked on the phone
on the other side of the line was her good friend,
a survivor in a refugee camp in Langsa
“Merduati” my sister mentioned the name of the area
she repeated what was told
and the sparkling on those eyes was the one that I saw
although the words “habis semua di sana”1 were the ones that I heard
1 “there’s nothing left in that area”
