Gaza

There is in the madness
of this planet a hopelessness,
a sadness beyond which we
cannot crumble.  

Scraps of inhumanity are
sweepings the winds of
Hell blow up to circle the
soft underbelly of
civilization.  

Nothing in which we are
to believe, is left on the
soiled platform of ignorance

There is no place for prayer,
the Psalms are lost.
No fires burn to heal
but to destroy.

There is one left that
Jesus loves who cries
in loneliness, the arms
that reach one time

the voice that, alone,
says yes to the flames.
You cannot burn my
heart

I love and you cannot have
the name of my beloved.
On my soul is written
the future
after the fires are out,
when the children hold
tomorrow

and I and my love
are free.

Caroline Shank
9.29.2025