Then came the healing time, hearts started to shine, soul felt so fine, oh what a freeing time it was.

Your pain is a school unto itself–– and your joy a lovely temple.

Souls reconstructed with faith transform agony into peace.

Love, Mercy, and Grace, sisters all, attend your wounds of silence and hope.

Hope drowned in shadowsemerges fiercely splendid––boldly angelic.

Individuals often turn to poetry, not only to glean strength and perspective from the words of others, but to give birth to their own poetic voices and to hold history accountable for the catastrophes rearranging their lives.

Knowledge planted in truth grows in truth.Strength born of peace loses nothing to hate.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was a manifestation of hope that humanity might one day get out of its own way by finding the courage to realize that love and nonviolence are not indicators of weakness but gifts of significant strength.

We knew how to combine our strengths in order to overcome our weaknesses, and how to live off faith when nothing else was available.