Silent Night
And now it’s raining.
It’s raining now.
Elsewhere, they’ve come home
from the funerals.
In this house, candles, burning sweetly.
Balsam fir, brown sugar and fig.
All over the country, cowards
insult us, not signing their names.
All over the county, people weep
for one another, for the children
and the grownups. Even now,
some of us are signing our names
to letters and petitions, to pleas.
Even now, some of us are cleaning
or loading our guns.
What will we do next?
Here, it is raining.
Somewhere, it is snowing.
--Kathleen Kirk (December 20, 2012)
And now it’s raining.
It’s raining now.
Elsewhere, they’ve come home
from the funerals.
In this house, candles, burning sweetly.
Balsam fir, brown sugar and fig.
All over the country, cowards
insult us, not signing their names.
All over the county, people weep
for one another, for the children
and the grownups. Even now,
some of us are signing our names
to letters and petitions, to pleas.
Even now, some of us are cleaning
or loading our guns.
What will we do next?
Here, it is raining.
Somewhere, it is snowing.
--Kathleen Kirk (December 20, 2012)
Lovely, Kathleen.
ReplyDeleteMay we all sleep in heavenly peace.
Thanks, Maureen.
ReplyDeleteLovely and thoughtful, Kathleen!
ReplyDeleteSad, reflective tone here....I love how you wrote about this.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and straight to the heart.
ReplyDeletei've been needing this. thank you.
ReplyDeletesherry
YOU are all beautiful. Thank you for reading and commenting, for sharing my woe and your thoughts. I have hope for our loving kindness because of small, gentle connections like these.
ReplyDeleteCatching up with your last 3 blogs today. Thank you for sharing all your reflections and the links as well. Silent Night,a soft closer, is clearly one with a hard core.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mom.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, your comment reminds me of School of Rock.
Kathleen, this is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLovely, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAnna D is singing Silent Night on Sunday morning ...
Thank you, Phyllis.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. Expect more weeping from me.
Even now some are rushing out to buy more Glocks, Bushmasters, and large capacity ammo, stockpiling against the day a bit of control might be imposed. Even now some are posting photos of armed teachers in Israel. Even now some are wishing their small students a happy holiday break, sending home birdfeeder pinecones made with peanut butter and seeds from the school garden sunflowers. Even now children are picking up shiny pebbles from the playground, and sneaking them into their pockets while car-line parents chat outside their SUVs.
ReplyDeleteEven now, Collagemama...
ReplyDeleteLovingkindness will win out end, though, in the end. But it's a long and winding road to get there.
ReplyDeleteYes, life goes on Collagemama but now we must decide the direction our society will pursue, one of gun toting teachers like Israel where war is a constant or like New Zealand where small arms are minimal and Peace broke out.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written Kathleen, mi amiga.
Thank you, seana and nene.
ReplyDeleteYes, a long, meandering road for me, with some rocks and scuffed knees and dizzy moments falling down.