We pray in grief and mournng
For the children, covered in blood;
For their mothers, wailing in anguish;
For their fathers, who cannot protect them
From the fire that rains down
Upon this lost city, this lost hope.
We pray in grief and mourning
Because of the loss of vision
That disabled nations and peoples
Who felt they could do nothing
To save the children from the fire.
We pray in grief and mournng
For the children, covered in blood;
For their mothers, wailing in anguish;
For their fathers, who cannot protect them
From the fire that rains down
Upon this lost city, this lost hope.
We pray in grief and mourning
Because of the loss of vision
That disabled nations and peoples
Who felt they could do nothing
To save the children from the fire.
We pray in grief and mourning
As we witness what power and violence
Can do to destroy all that is good:
The innocence of home, of family.
Children with eyes that now see
Only endless pain will continue to suffer
As their tragedy goes on and on.
We pray that we may use our grief
To find a way out of this endless cycle
Of death and destruction.
May our voices make our prayers
Ring out to challenge all those
Who can stop this slaughter of the innocents.
May they understand peace is possible.
May the violence end and may the healing begin.
— Jane Deren, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2016, Education for Justice, a project of Center of Concern.
Date Added: December 20, 2016