While the exact details will change, people throughout history have thought themselves deserving of well-off circumstances yet found themselves brought low. Like Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan of old, they question whether their work has earned them nothing and who will help them. To all who find themselves in such a situation, may your prayers always be heard.
Before the ground shook and brought me low
I was a respecter of God and men
In every arena that I know
My life was set in a well-made plan
I loved my family and treated them well
My wife and children were never afraid
My mother and father still with me dwell
And will till in the ground they are laid
I raised my sons and daughters alike
To speak their mind as is their right
To value their neighbors all their life
And love the Lord with all their might
All this they learned from my example
As a man of charity all my life
I gave to the poor from my earnings ample
And with all men avoided strife
I trusted both in gods and nature
So politics became my battleground
When I saw an opening I sought for stature
And gained the respect of all the town
The powers above me I was quick to please
Be they president or pastor or imam
For all my work I was rewarded with ease
And life passed by in pleasant calm
Yet nothing of all that I had built could stand
When the earth began to shake
The buckling and hurtling of all the land
Brought my home down in a single quake
As the bricks crashed down upon my head
My bones began to splinter and crack
I feared that I would soon be dead
At least my toil would keep my family from lack
When I awoke in the hospital bed
I found only news that sickened my heart
Wife, sons, and daughters all dead
My every asset broken apart
Sick, grieving, and abandoned by my constituents
I looked around for comfort in pain
But the only person who could offer assistance
Was one for whom I had naught but disdain
He spent his money like a profligate
Never having enough for his family's needs
He ignored God yet still would strut
To the jeers of all the community
Yet here he was in the bed next to me
With less damage to life and limb
He lay surrounded by family
And my fate seemed all the more grim
Why? Why? Why?
I have no answers
None come from above
No one hears.
I will never walk -
May never go further than my coffin
Where is the one to whom I've prayed?
I trusted in science
The doctor's help is vain
No benevolent president
Will pay my mounting bills
My family is dead
I am not at their funerals
My neighbors do not come to my bed
Why?
Why?
My wastrel of a neighbor is healed
Who will heal me?
To whom shall I pray?
All my devotion has gained me
nothing.
I am healed!
I worked for what I lost -
I have done nothing to earn what I have gained.
Author's Note: This story was inspired by the poem "Ludlul bel nemeqi," which translates to "I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom," as well as by the recent earthquake in Iraq and Iran, my ancient homeland. "Ludlul bel nemeqi," also known in English as "The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer," was written by Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan, a well-off Babylonian noble who was stricken with illness and lost his livelihood and the favor of the king. He had served the gods all his life, yet saw no benefit to his worship in the time of his distress. He called out to Marduk, who did not come to his aid. Finally, when he was on his deathbed and his relatives were already planning his funeral, a priest of Marduk came and healed him. I have changed this story to fit a more modern view of religion, science, and politics, where the gods do not necessarily send people directly. I provided a specific character in place of Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan's more general complaint against those who have not served the gods. The change in format, from a more traditional ballad-like style to free verse, was my intentional choice to reflect the narrator's state of mind. Parts of the disaster that befalls him, such as the death of his relatives, resembles the Biblical story of Job, to which "Ludlul bel nemeqi" is often compared.
Bibliography:
"Al-Muthenna Intermediate School in Samawah in Southern Iraq was Damaged." Link.
"Ludlul Bel Nemeqi." Link.
"Night Dark Moon Slice." Link.
"Shubshi-mashra-Shakkan." Link.
"Sunrise Sunset Sea Horizon." Link.
"Zwarte Achtergrond." Link.