Our First Impressions Can Be Dangerous Poem by RIC BASTASA

at first glance i thought she is listening to a sad
music
that she is wearing a head set

she is crying
she is fetched by a military chopper
leaving the dead
in a place where she cannot be safe

her little girl is nowhere to be found
swallowed by the water

she is the sad music after the storm
you do not have to cry
just listen

and do not be like me mistaking her
as a woman who loves sad melodies and
then sheds her tears

I'm sorry.
We are sorry for her.

Our first impressions are dangerous.
The first glance can be misleading.

Until we read the whole story.
Until we pay attention to the details
that we miss because we are too busy
with so many things.

And so this time, i miss the tree,
because i am lost in the forest.

Let me say again. I am so sorry.