Tuesday, May 23, 2017

manchester

some will  
         build
   a wall
out of flowers and candles,
cards and tweets,
photographs and memories,
fears and tears, a place
where we can come
and let our tears drop
into that river
which longs to cleanse
the streets of grief;

some would
         build
   a wall  
out of rhetoric and
   platitudes, the
old accusations placed
word by word to reinforce
suspicions based on ignorance,
arrogance grounded in privilege,
beliefs founded on untruths;

some long to
         build
   a wall
around speech
with which they disagree,
enclosing faiths
they are taught are unbelievers,
between people who
are not enough like them;

a bridge could be
         built
between shattered hearts
and dreams turned to ashes,
between those who are misunderstood
and those who are misinformed,
between neighbors who have lived there forever
and immigrants longing for a community,
between people of all faiths and none
who share the common commitment
to peace, justice, love, and hope

but sometimes
it is just easier
to be wall builders.


© 2017 Thom M. Shuman