Published: June 10, 2022
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Dear Friends,
I’ve written a brief poem about children dying and how we can respond.
from Rick Ells, University Friends Meeting, Seattle, WA (6/9/2022)
by Rick Ells
My feelings are pulled down
by a love-thread to
a child knowing death
is about to come
The killer is intense
aiming and firing rapidly
working his way
across the classroom
No place to run
No place to hide
The barrel of the gun
turns his way
The sound and flash,
the child’s young body
being ripped through,
The sudden night
The thread pulls me
into that darkness
this is and was a child
a life only beginning
The children around me
now are even more precious
We must face the rage
and anger that threatens them
The love-thread is unbroken
Remaining within me
A guide waiting to lead us
In our tender, firm response