When the smoke and haze from another Boston
massacre collide to smear the sky with the burn
from West, Texas, we look up for reassurance
that the stars are still fastened in place,
only to feel ourselves wobble
like tops on a cracked sidewalk.

Our bodies, made mostly of water, stagger at the reality
while our hearts, frozen in fear, create ugly jagged
crystals which cut our veins, and pierce our hearts.

Yet consider this: science holds that same body
encountering compassion and love, reconfigures
its personal body-of-water into intensely beautiful shapes.

And since our heart’s energy can be felt beyond the body,
it’s within our power to send strength and beauty,
like Jedi Angels, to all we encounter…

to face down those greater forces of the inhumane
that roam the earth, using our collective strength— our positive energies—to vanquish the darkness.

Marilyn Gilbert Komechak