The Heart of the Nation

The heart of the nation is raw
With fear and violence
Burning anger and rage
Beatings, smashing, and killings

And still we do not see
That we are part of the cause
We are the blinded ones
We are hiding from the darkness

We live in safe communities
And hope the discomfort
Quickly passes us by
With little disruption to our lives

Let others do the marching
Let others deal with the fall out
Surely this will “return to normal”
Sooner than later, as swiftly as possible

But the images are so bloody
What if we were one of those
Being singled out for our skin color
Being chased and killed through hatred

We want protections from this happening
We want everyone to make this go away
We want the cops to stop being racist
We want those killings to cease and desist

But it is not only the killings
It is living in abject fear of being singled out
Living with constant need to keep one’s head down
Every single day in public and never feeling safe

This causes entrenched resentment
Deep anger, righteous indignation
Mistrust and more segregated communities
Mistreatment for all while everyone lives in fear

When one among us is at risk
We are all at risk because we tolerate
Those among us who are at risk
And go about our lives as if we are separate

Nothing works when this is the response
No one learns to change, when isolated
No one practices compassion unless
Closeness is personal and meaningful

Beware, our feeling bad does not change a thing
The compassion felt from TV news touches no one
The shaking of one’s head and returning to normal
Leaves those at risk, still at risk

All have to stand for justice
For freedom, for goodness for all
For opportunities for all
For good systems available to all

This has to be the way forward
To stem the flood of sorrow and grief
Beyond simply patching up the brokenhearted
All have to banish racism in all forms

Then all become truly safe and whole
No other way works for all people
And so it is, for now and for always
With determined hearts, so it can be.