i’m having a moment
contemplating
how well meaning phrases
will not bring families back
will not release the emptiness
tragedy
spilled into quaking earth and uprooted spirits

i am having a moment
while
children seek comfort from lifeless bodies
mothers learn new meanings of postpartum depression
everyone is wondering, where is their Father?

in this moment
a collective wail covers the earth
myriad tongues are privy to nature’s most haunting chorus

can u decipher the chords?
her purging melody of

leaningcreakingcrackingshakingflooding

the harmonics are deafening
(i pray for silence)

we are experiencing a moment in this chaos
wondering why thou hast forsaken us

we cannot be lost

idols have found us
they are coming
the valiant saviour
the first responder
the knight in armor

but i am seeking daylight
(u cannot speak to what u do not see)

and i want to see more than cryptically
more than fair and balanced misconstructions
i want the scales to move u in ur belly
touch u on the inside

because we have lost
more than physical
more than any possessions material
more than bandages and first aid kits could ever heal

but we are not lost

we are picking up the pieces
slowly, but surely
one hand, one leg, one eye, one heart at a time
we are finding our humanity amongst the rubble

and, we will rebel
we will not lose our souls
we will not be found in agony or defeat

we will rebel from this dream
and rebuild

we will rebuild more than land or homes or buildings
we will rebuild ourselves
we will awaken and no longer experience such nightmares

we are not lost
we have not been forsaken
we have not been stirred from our roots

we are not lost

i have having a moment
a moment that has left me spent
exhausted
and migrained

in this moment
well meaning phrases
will not free me of this spirit wail
a cacophony of carnage and courage

but still
a moment
one in which i can cry my way out of
until ducts are drained of their salt
for
i have not been washed away.
i have not been witness to buildings collapsing.
i have not been buried alive.
i have not been swallowed whole by any earthen inertia.

i am simply having a moment

we are not lost

we are finding humanity amongst the rubble

(top pic Somoa tsunami 2009; bottom pic Haiti earthquake 2010)