In this season of thankfulness and gratitude, poem #2:

In Sacred Witness
by Michael Romani

Then was a time for counting coup
But along the way, I grabbed a clue
That just maybe we should be less about glory
In the revising of our global story

The war paint faded into memory
As we've lost too many to their immortality
Legends spoken of in whispered tones
Brought back in body bags or broken bones

I have seen this all in sacred witness
Temporarily losing my way in this test
Becoming at once, a victim and an addict
To the win and lose of perpetual conflict

The only wars that have really ever been won
Are the ones that have never begun
The Hopi prayed for who we've wait for
When we began to look inside, we found that door

The door to co-creating our sense of community
Recognizing each as part of God's family
Tending the gardens of nurtured truth
We find we've outgrown the ravages of our youth

The lone wolf's time has faded into humility
As we stumble out of the ways of brutality
We now must learn what it truly takes to survive
And must find right relationship to thrive

Here on the shattered shores of our security
We find our paths must endure post modernity
The two edged sword of conflicts cut us all
Until we surrender with our backs against the wall

We have learned hard that there is no separation
Not in this world of near complete integration
In the aftermath of 9/11's iconic tragedy
The implication becomes we must heal into unity

We now must choose one of two differing paths
With some variation, it's inevitable math
We can stay convinced unto the ends of destruction
Or, learn to build and nourish our construction

Let's turn away from acting as embittered strangers
In which we see the dark passages of dangers
Instead let's move forward in empowered commitment
Walking together in the light of love as we're meant

(c) November 3, 2019  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved