I had a different Valentine’s Day blog written and ready to go. Then it happened again. At least 17 people, mostly high-school students, killed in a random act of mass murder with a semi-automatic rifle.
It is hard now to think of romantic love. Instead I think of the lost generations yet to come that would have been. In Judaism, as in other religions, saving a life is equivalent to saving the world, and taking a life is also equivalent to destroying the world.
I think now of my grandchildren who might not be here had my children been murdered while in high school. I cannot imagine the pain and heartbreak of those parents whose loss is beyond measure.
So, in Memoriam to at least 17 worlds – entire universes -- that have today on Valentine’s Day 2108 been destroyed and for the 7th time I offer this poem, which challenges the essential metaphor that is the play The Actual Dance, the beauty and dignity of the privilege to hold the one you love as they take their last breath. Instead, as today…
It is hard now to think of romantic love. Instead I think of the lost generations yet to come that would have been. In Judaism, as in other religions, saving a life is equivalent to saving the world, and taking a life is also equivalent to destroying the world.
I think now of my grandchildren who might not be here had my children been murdered while in high school. I cannot imagine the pain and heartbreak of those parents whose loss is beyond measure.
So, in Memoriam to at least 17 worlds – entire universes -- that have today on Valentine’s Day 2108 been destroyed and for the 7th time I offer this poem, which challenges the essential metaphor that is the play The Actual Dance, the beauty and dignity of the privilege to hold the one you love as they take their last breath. Instead, as today…
HOLLOW
The dance that one day each and every one of us will dance
The orchestra that forms and plays only when it is needed
A wonderful and intimate and beautiful goodbye.
Instead the music stops suddenly without warning
This dance takes only an instant
A lifetime in the Universe
The ballroom sits achingly, intolerable empty, silent
Almost in black and white
Hollow
© 2014 Samuel A Simon, The Actual Dance
All rights reserved
12/17/2012
The dance that one day each and every one of us will dance
The orchestra that forms and plays only when it is needed
A wonderful and intimate and beautiful goodbye.
Instead the music stops suddenly without warning
This dance takes only an instant
A lifetime in the Universe
The ballroom sits achingly, intolerable empty, silent
Almost in black and white
Hollow
© 2014 Samuel A Simon, The Actual Dance
All rights reserved
12/17/2012
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