Silence begins
Slaughter of 27 innocents in Newtown elementary school.
Stabbing of 22 innocents in Chenpeng primary school.
Slicing off five fingers for smoking in Mali.
97 washed up, blown away in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
We are watered by the tears of the world.
Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and more weep.
Our gutters overflow with bitterness.
Two Sandys have flooded our shores.
Southern Sandy drowned us in skies that teared down and teared up.
Northern Sandy took away our youth.
Moment by moment we receive the news.
We are rippled by harsh reports.
In 800 tongues news spreads in our city and hopes rise slightly.
Silence.
Masses issuing forth, pastors memorializing, rabbis cantoring, prayers pouring, meditators calming, rescuers recovering.
At the end of the ropes of the world, are we a city of Hope’s children?
Will God’s graciousness flow in our gutters?
Can love flood into our thirsty hearts again?
Silence ends.
