Those who have screamed “Why?!”
To a vast and empty sky,
Never wanting to be a victim,
Their bodies, their souls, their very thoughts
Brutalized, forced into silence
Now proclaim a war cry.
Those of us who grieve for our children
Who will never know what they have lost
Grieve stolen lives, stolen innocence
Children not able to comprehend what was done—
Resist the arms that hold them
Because they fear love itself
So love needs to be reclaimed.
Those of us who have held the broken bodies
Who have lost someone we love to violence,
At the hands of someone we thought of as family
Are bruised and wounded in our very memories
From those bruises we find places to heal,
Amidst hidden places of strength.
God comforts those who suffer,
To find insight
where there is emptiness
And joy where there is sorrow,
So that violence will not defeat
what is good in humanity.
Isaiah 40: 26, “Look up at the sky! Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, He knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great—not one of them is ever missing!”
If you are an emergency sitaution dial 911
FOR MORE INFORMARTION:
Domestic Violence Shelter Tour (Safe Horizon, NY)
http://www.safehorizon.org
http://www.safehorizon.org/page.php?nav=sb&page=sheltertour
Escaping Hades: A Rape and Sexual Abuse Survivor’s Site
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/abuse/lisk/index.html
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
TTY: 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
