A child cries out, severed from love,
afraid of darkness,
in a cage of need,
cut off, alone,
in trembling need of reassurance.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Pray for her in her powerlessness.
The terrified child,
if not healed,
can grow up to terrify,
his cry a regime,
shadowing his trauma into the world.
Pray for him in his power.
Resist the terror,
be tender to the children,
create a lovelier world.
—June 26, 2018