We Can Only Wonder

When we read about the torture of other human beings, their deprivation and humiliation, and still . . . their continued will to survive, despite the horrors endured, we can only wonder at how immense the human spirit must be. Conversely, it is hard to conceive of what exists in the minds of torturers, what levels of consciousness they dwell in, when one tries to believe they are human beings who walk among us on this earth.

There is a vast expanse of human experience, a wide spectrum of evidence that suggests to me . . . humanity is as mysterious as its Creator. We continue to uncover such darkness and suffering, unbelievable inhuman cruelties that leave us to wonder how and when mankind will ever evolve past these deadly sins. It is only the witness of those beings who, in their simple acts of loving kindness and compassion, raise humanity above its own gravity and allow us glimpses of what we can become.

The Aftermath

We have witnessed sorrow and it will not go away.
We have felt it in our veins and it is everywhere.
The world still reels in shock from September 11.
Like an earthquake, tremors ripple in our consciousness.
Vivid dreams of that fateful day replace our silent slumber.
Threats come and go and every time we think it’s over
terror strikes again in one form or another.
Here, there, everywhere, the world is shaking
and we are standing at attention, waiting for the next wave.

Life, for many, is changed forever.
We no longer play the games of little children,
sitting safely in our huts, for we are far more fragile
than we want to know.

The Center of the Bull’s Eye,
arrows point at us from furtive nations
and we see their plots in every morning’s news.
Like a sitting duck, we wait for the unknown,
as the ground beneath us trembles.
Oceans that once kept us safe and separate,
no longer fill their duty. . . .
bandwidths have replaced our bridges.
The enemy lives within our borders and computers
And our boundaries are no longer clear.

In spite of this reality,
we are still a nation of heart and compassion,
a nation of faith and great blessings.
We have always been a haven for the oppressed
and our streets are speckled with every race, color and creed.
Our doors and ports were always open
and for this we’ve paid the price.
Even our dirty laundry flies at the wind in daylight.
Perfect . . . we are certainly not. All loving . . . we wish we could be.
All forgiving . . . we have a long way to go.
But in God our trust lies and in our spirit is the freedom to grow and learn
what it takes to be truly human.
Peace is a dream we’ll never see in our lifetime or any other,
But it’s the striving for it . . . that will change the world.


Joanne Cucinello 2002