SUNDAY, UNITED CHURCH, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA


She told of electric shock,
rape, interrogation,
of one young woman ripped apart
on the muzzle of a machine gun,
parents passing their children overhead
in final sacrament
before tanks opened fire.
Spattered by blood,
she fled for her life, to ask:
What was the crime of the children?

Outside a rain of dogwood blossoms fall.
We tug alien ears, swallow yawns,
steal time in stolen glances.
Let there be peace on earth, our silver voices ring.
We give sanctuary like giving candy.

Copyright 2001 by Janice Hale-Hobby