In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

There is pain in the air from our
brothers and sisters,
our mothers and fathers,
our children and our grandparents,
whose homes have never been rebuilt,
whose promises have never been fulfilled
within the long arc of recovery that follows
a disaster.

This pain is the pain of the ‘left behind,’
those whom we still hold separate from
the fullness of our love.
In Louisiana or in the Sudan,
in the mean streets and in the ghettos,
we help, but there is so much more we could do.

How long shall we continue to not know
that we are One,
whether in the coastal plains or in the desert,
in the shacks of poverty or in
the cultured palaces of the wealthy?

When we know this, it will be impossible
for others to be left behind,
nor their children,
nor their houses,
nor their children’s children.
For our hearts will live among them
and suffer among them,
and we will know that they are
our very own beloveds.