Always inside – looking out
Never outside – looking in
The way others know us
Is only deep as skin.
So much more to us –
Than outside looking in
can ever reveal to others –
We’re so much more than skin.
For if we truly know ourselves –
It’s such a weighty task
That most won’t undertake it
It’s way too much to ask.
So, before you judge another –
From the outside looking in –
Be sure you know yourself
And what truly lies within.
~January 2005
Boys and girls torn from life way too soon.
Parents whose hearts ache with despair and grief –
Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers and grandfathers
unable to express the depth of their pain and sorrow-
the utter darkness that blankets their world.
Parents experience never-ending dreams of
their children alive and well as their minds grapple
with this horrendous new reality –
life without their precious children.
Waiting, waiting, waiting for the day when a thin ray of
hope dares to shine through their veil of darkness.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, prepared them for this.
Their world is irreversibly changed.
My heart aches, and my tears fall unchecked
for each and every one of them. Across the miles
my thoughts and prayers reach to sustain them.
I, too – parent, teacher, child, and fellow citizen.
(Written in the aftermath of the tragic elementary school shooting.)
~December 2012
Inspired by “The Lady in Number 6”(At the time this was filmed, she was the oldest living Holocaust survivor at 109.)
Music saved her-
Gave her hope-
Filled her soul with “peace, beauty, and love.”
Music gave her strength to live another day.
“Music is a dream…” she said.
Artist, mother, pianist-
persecuted for being a Jew.
Music sustained her, was a lifeline
In a world gone mad.
“Music, music, music – it’s all that matters.”
With Chopin’s etudes etched in her mind-
Music flowed from her fingers to
Sustain her, give her life, laughter
And strength to endure.
from 2/28/14
As I continue to struggle with the tragic loss of life in Charleston, and my tears continue to fall, I do the only thing that seems to help- I write. I thought I’d share in hope that it might help someone else.
Nine lives brought to a sudden halt
Nine lives lost- creating infinite ripples throughout the world
Nine lives leaving craters behind
Craters that can’t be filled
Now there’s:
A church with no pastor…
A library with no librarian…
A track team with no coach…
A young man, 26 and the youngest to die,
willing to sacrifice himself
To protect his elderly aunt –
An elderly aunt who was killed anyway and oldest to die…
A ministerial staff member who no longer lives to serve…
A choir member whose voice is forever silenced…
Another church without a pastor…
And, a church with no sexton.
Yet I continue to struggle…
How can one so young have such senseless hatred?
How can a mind be so poisoned and a heart so hard
That it can wreak such chaos and senseless destruction-
Creating craters that can’t be filled?
Summer 2015
robinsreflectionsandramblings 