Seared by bombs and shootings
Left fewer and bereft, keening in the rubble
Scoured by tidal waves, scarred by tornados
Dumbstruck by birdsong the next callous dawn
Survivors clutch photos in wastelands parched of reason
Broadcast grief swells the global heart
All we can do, consolers and consoled,
Is link arms and look over our shoulders
As one in our ruinous mortality
All we can do is pool our tears
Until memories float free in the flood
Bright and eternal as rainbow’s promise
All we can do is the unthinkable
To be willing, someday, when sobs are spent,
To smile and laugh again
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Copyright Deborah McGlauflin, May 28, 2013. Al rights reserved.
