Page 31 - A Qualified Acceptance of Sorrow

and listening to each story of the betrayed,
finally comprehending the loss
of succeeding generations,

they would feel an agonizing heartbeat
for each and every heartbeat lost;
theirs would be the choking sorrow

of those whose loved ones never returned.

10.

My will to continue faltered.
Unutterable words made my throat tight.
Yet again, I became aware of Raphael.

Without words, the archangel reassured me:
the suffering is too much for any one mortal to bear;
holding it is not your obligation; you come here as witness –

You can choose. You can refuse to stop loving;
you can persist in hoping trust the divine vision
which is a reality just beyond your line of sight.

11.

Moved once again by the power of kindness,
I felt infused with the other’s assurance…
The angelic warmth encompassed me

even as I sensed the region that we’d entered was cold.
Certainly, it was stark and profoundly lonely.
Here were the pedophiles, pimps, and rapists.

I was grateful for Raphael, for a love that was true
as we moved into the presence of destructive lust –
I trusted I was safe within the humility that surrounded me,

even as I was unsettled by the pride
and consuming self-indulgence
that was palpable as these others exited small cells.

By day, the archangel told me,
they remained in isolation, unable to feel