sedated with pain

it's supposed to take the pain away

make you numb

But is it possible to feel the pain even when you're sedated?

Like rubbing ice repeatedly on skin

It makes it go senseless.

It feels - but at the same time

it doesn't.

a house collapsing in the midst of fire

bombs dropping down on what was once a tropical beach

shadows of darkness made by inferno

two boys playing with a toy gun in the street

a teacher rounding up her students to take shelter inside

a doctor administering morphine to a dying soldier.

The images float around in the air

Their stories-their own form of pain relief.

They shoot arrows of ice until everyone is numb

numb with a side effect of pain.