Rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light
Oh geesh. It has been an undeniably exhausting, awfully cruel, week. My heart hurts for Boston, for the deep trauma they experienced. I ache for the confused parents whose two sons were taken away from them in the matter of seconds, who are simultaneously struggling with the loss and with the brutal shock of the atrocities their children have committed. I grieve for the little boy who died waiting for his dad to finish the marathon. I mourn those who were ripped from this beautiful existence so unfairly, I carry those who are healing from the ravaging wounds of the explosions in my heart. My heart hurts for Texas, for everyone who went to work that day and never came home. My heart hurts for China, having just begun the process of recovery from the 2008 earthquakes once again felt the earth tremble beneath them, swallowing 160 innocent lives. I grieve for Iraq where a series of bloody attacks on Monday left 75 dead and 356 wounded.
I fear the utterly mislead conclusions that are being reached about ethnic groups, about color. I fear for the tainted image the Chechens will suffer from for a long time to come. I fear that the true cost of the earthquake in China will be concealed, like it was in 2008. I fear that the above death toll in Iraq, was just another day. I fear that our souls will be tainted with anger, fear, and hate for a long time to me.
While I think incredible writers like Lindy West are right (reading her words today was a part of my therapy), I also think we have to continue fighting to let out our own light. That force inside of us that continues to love and live and grow and feed and laugh must continue. It is a life force that celebrates the beauty of those that were unjustly killed, it is the life force that heals, it is the life force that allows us to continue absorbing all of the incredible reality around us.
And so. Let's heal together. For as long as I can remember, poetry has carried me through the darkness. I'd like to share Dylan Thomas's 'Do not go gentle into that good night' with you. Let's rage, rage against the dying of the light.
