“So there stood Matthew Arnold and this girl With the cliffs of England crumbling away behind them, And he said to her, "Try to be true to me, And I'll do the same for you, for things are bad All over, etc. etc." - Anthony Hecht
All I have ever been, Is a girl With the heart of a flower Red in the hurricane winds Red through the dust That disguises the slaughter.
I can still see the bodies, Red on the broken streets, Red on the surface of the sea Red on the plains that are rapidly darkling
And the ignorance is markedly Growing.
The children bleed out in Aleppo, in Gaza, Darfur, Yemen, Caracas, more; Tiny bodies pressed between bricks Like little flowers crushed in hard bindings, Or innocence impaled on the blades of Savagery and shame,
Like so many Crucified prophets.
The puppeteers of these armies are
Irrevocably
*******
Heartless;
Yet, let the wildflowers bloom Reclaim the humanity that is ours to Own. I command my heart to open like a sunflower to the moon.
We can’t ever give up. We must keep standing For all who are falling, kicked down the cliffs on bleeding knees, Crawling.
Dig into the dust; Plant a flowering heart in these arid crossings:
Grow here
Bright fields of compassion.
Let them bloom red, Like our open hearts Beating for our sons and daughters.
Redid this one in light of current events. Breaking my heart on a daily basis.