It Hurts

I would be remiss if 

  I were to speak of joy this day.

  For it is not joy that I feel.

Rather, I feel the heartache of

  the millions suffering at the hands 

  of this cruel man and his cronies.

I feel the sorrow of broken lives,

  destroyed dreams, dying children.

  I feel a depression wanting to draw

  me into the depths of anguish and pain.

Tears, not laughter, cloud my vision.

  Anger at the viciousness, the pure evil

  that rapaciously takes everything

  with a wicked, horrible laugh.

I know, in my heart, that I 

  must arise from this place.

  I know that I will fight this

  horror to my end.

But, for now, anyway,

  I feel I must allow the tears,

  the anguish, to flow through me.

  I must give voice to the horror.

And then, I remembered a solo

  I sang to others when I was a child,

  'You'll Never Walk Alone.'

  And I felt the need to hear it once again,

  this time for me.

It is okay to cry, to feel the pain.

  But as long as we stand together

  for each other and against this scourge,

  We will NEVER walk alone.

When you walk through a storm
  Hold your head up high
  And don't be afraid of the dark
  At the end of the storm is a golden sky
  And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

  Walk on through the rain

  Though your dreams be tossed and blown
  Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
  And you'll never walk alone
  You'll never walk alone

When you walk through a storm

  Hold your head up high
  And don't be afraid of the dark
  At the end of a storm is a golden sky
  And the sweet silver song of a lark

Walk on through the wind

  Walk on through the rain
  Though your dreams be tossed and blown
  Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
  And you'll never walk alone
  You'll never walk alone.

1945, Rodgers and Hammerstein

Brittany Howard