When terror strikes,
random, cruel hearted
in our own places,
it shakes us.
We feel unsafe. We crave security.
The Dreaded could happen any day.
And so we rejoin our family.
We rejoin the vulnerable,
who never had the illusion of security,
who labor in danger,
who live at risk every day,
who are targeted,
and have no protectors.
They hold their funerals
and they live their lives.
They are our lives.
We are one body, one spirit.
We can’t walk away.
No matter how safe we can be
we can’t walk away.
We have to be there for each other
in the unprotected places.
That’s why we’re here,
not to walk away safe
but to be here for each other.
—June 5, 2017