The Silver Lining
The Silver Lining
...is our capacity to connect and care.
There was a mass shooting
in my city last Saturday night.
Upon learning this news
I became completely numb
and then unable to appreciate
the flood of concerned messages
from family and friends.
Because shootings happen,
everywhere and frequently,
to think about this tragedy
made me sigh in resignation,
so certain those dark forces
that foment these massacres
would work diligently to thwart
any collective response.
Yet after a long day
in which I began to feel
the deep pain and sadness,
intertwined with the slaughter,
I started to notice and appreciate
the inherent desire deep within
to connect and to ensure
the well-being of everyone.
I came to the plain fields of Ohio with pictures painted by Hollywood movies and the works of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. None of them had much to say, if at all, about Dayton, Ohio.
~ Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head
with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
~ Langston Hughes
