June 19

There are children crying in a Texas wilderness

(or Florida or Arizona or California)

a riveting sound to a mother’s ear,  

for there’s a special frequency to a child’s cry:

it pierces the white noise of her life,

cutting through her pain,

through her thought,

through imminent danger,

and lodges fiercely

in her heart,

wherever she might be.

It demands action. 

We are living in a nightmare of crying children,

of fierce and distraught mothers,

of vile political blackmailers

serving families up as pawns

in self-aggrandizing games

that can only end in misery:

horrors built on horrors,

lies built on lies,

humanity reduced

to its lowest 

common

denominator.

We are listening to the children’s cries

with anger in our broken mothers’ hearts.

Lamb of God, 

Who takes away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us all.