Tuesday, October 30, 2018

A poem in remembrance

A massacre
Life and death and the dance goes on
An angry hand reached up
And tore
Vibrant leaves
From a swaying tree
Flinging fears and grief
Out into a world, into a country, into a city
Shards of glass littering the ground
As bullets pierced through the flesh
Of those who rushed to protect their neighbors
Like a battle-scarred Magen David
Forming a shield for Israel’s children
While urgent prayers
Intervened in celebrations
Peace - shattered
On a day of peace
A bottle fills with tears again
Life and death and the song goes on
We are brothers
We are all brothers
Why must we lack in love


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In memory of the people who were murdered 10/27/2018 in their Pittsburgh synagogue (may their memories be a blessing) and in honor of the law enforcement officers who risked their lives.
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If you feel tweaked or hurt by the way I wrote what I wrote, please: 1) pause and ask yourself why, 2) understand that I mean nothing hurtful or offensive, 3) know that I have compassion for you, 4) recognize that this is the way that I was able to express my own feelings in learning of and processing something very difficult, 5) acknowledge that some things are naturally painful.

(If there is an issue with me potentially paying too much attention to only one thing: Right now this event in particular has affected me emotionally. I know that many other terrible and tragic things have been occurring. Planes have crashed, floods have devastated, bombings have destroyed homes, people are starving … So many in the world are experiencing hardship and heavy grief.)