Madrid 3rd March 2004

Once again the hand of terror invades all our lives.
Pages run red with blood
Names and faces I have never seen
Never known
Become familiar across the borders of our world.
News at ten, news at six
24 hours the news breaks across the screen
The horror of the massacre.
In such a short time the bombs took their toll of life.
Children returned home from school
No parents to meet them,
Friends lost forever, only the shreds of clothing
To suggest a life once lived.
Today we hear the latest victim a seven month child,
Patricia.
Father already dead, mother dying.
What is this world we have created?
I feel it escalating into chaos
I fear the journey we are on is a downward one
And I am part of it.
Is it so hard to stand in the light
That we prefer to walk in darkness?
Is it so frightening to believe
That we are beautiful powerful souls
Incarnated to care for this planet
That we prefer to inflict pain and suffering
On ourselves and others?
Is it so impossible to stop the hatred
In our own hearts?
I see a wake up call in the images in the papers
Bodies ripped open right down to the bone
A call to reach out across boundaries
To break open my own fettered heart
We take to the streets with our banners
We cry out in our anger and pain
We beg that our voices be heard
Please! Let this never happen again.


Copyright 2004 by Helen Eden.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry 360 with permission of the author.