Sewol Ferry Disaster

Laughter laced with fear
Captured among final goodbyes
Cracked and broken fingernails; all that remains

Claw marks on walls
Bodies abandoned for years
Sinking into the deepness of the water

Families without closure
Dreams trapped within an ocean prison
Forever buried in a cold embrace

475 Bodies
171 left with a pulse
The rest consumed in an ocean grave

Students of Danwon High School
Left for a school trip
250 students were left to drown

They could have been saved
They could have escaped
They were told to stay; obeyed

Parents buried children, some with no body
Stood in empty bedrooms
And waited for a miracle that never came

Making empty beds
Trying to undo what’s been done
Losing faith in their nation

One man's selfishness
Took hundreds of dreams
And turned them into debris

As cherry blossoms bloom
Families grieve
Still waiting for a miracle

As cherry blossoms fall
Families fight
For the ones who no longer can