What is to come
And what will be left?
After fires
Are swallowed by the floods
Will you
Offer balm to the wounded?
Shelter
To those cast from their homes?
Gather together
All those who remain
Shepherd hordes
Through fields of dust and bones
In this place
Bereft of light
Diamond waters
To blackened tar have turned
And now
Through cracking lips are they cursed
As they slake
The thirst of none
Hands that once
Cradled and caressed
Peel flesh from the bodies of children
Bathed in rubble
Now
A prayer to you
As this has yet to pass:
“May the sun shine
Through your hair
May the light dance
In your eyes”
“May your limbs move
Through gleaming waves
Your body rest upon the earth
To embrace, part, return
May you be held
In shadow
And in light”
“In laughter
And in silence
May you walk gently
On this path
Borne by courage
And by kindness”