Despite it All

a poem by Sarah A. Speed,
Sanctified Art

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What’s to love?
she asked.
I understood the question.

I’ve seen the riot gear,
the tear gas,
the names of children wiped from this war-stained world.
I’ve seen the spray paint swastikas
and the Proud Boys with their flags.
I’ve heard grandmothers at church
pray in urgent, desperate whispers.
And I’ve watched young mothers cry,
because teachers carry guns.
I’ve felt the tremor of an earthquake.
I’ve felt the heat of climate change.
I’ve seen the temple curtain tear in two.

But despite it all,
the bell that wouldn’t stop tolling,
the words that wont stop clanging through my heart,
are, so much.
There is so much left to love.
So much left to hope for.

A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.

- Jeremiah 31:15-17