*Editor’s note: Wendy has set war at the center of her poetry since the 1960s. Another war has begun, and nobody knows when or how it will end. These days, Wendy processes, and often transmutes, her feelings about war, about violence of all kinds, in prayer, even though her feelings are no less strong than they ever were when she was writing about war. She and I agreed that re-publishing older poems in this format serves her readers in that they can continue benefitting from her sensitivity, awareness, compassion, and prayers while she can continue working towards peace in what has become a more productive manner–via meditation and prayer. We hope that these republished poems offer some solace, feelings of connection, and motivation to work through these tough times in your own creative ways.
ALLEPO, SYRIA
Child of Aleppo
Caught in the earth
Caught in debris
Where a bomb
Fell
Hands digging frantically
To release you
As other hands
Gently
Brush dirt
Brush dust
From your face
To keep the miracle
Of your breath
Coming
While you lie still
Your eyes closed
No cry no whimper
Heard
And then
The cameras follow
You
To when you stand
Bathed
Wearing clean clothes
To show the world
This little girl from
Aleppo
Alive and beautiful
As beautiful a child
As ever seen
(February 2, 2014)
