How? - Karl Frederick

[Larry Robinson]

How?

How can I walk out today
into a freshly rain-washed world
of sun, blue sky, and temperate air
delighted to be alive
when only last night I was weeping
as a man on the news 
sat, in the rubble of his home
rocking back and forth, crying 
as he tenderly cradled the limp bodies 
of his wife and child
as if with each draw and release he was asking 
heaven to abandon or to take him, too?

Who did this?
Who set the stage  
for the desperation
the fear and anger 
that rained destruction
upon those least able 
to save themselves?

Who
by saying nothing
when no 
might have been sufficient 
to bend the arc 
in a gentler direction . . .

Who turns away 
from a stranger’s loss
knows it cannot be un-felt 
yet tries to carry the pain
as if it were an inconvenience 
merely a hollow place in the heart
on a bright morning of sun
blue sky, and temperate air?

	- Karl Frederick

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