I look for leadership and see lies
I look for justice and see prejudice
I look for mercy and see mockery
Cruelty is not a strength
Fear is not a foundation
Hatred is not a virtue
Hatred has a face
And a voice
And targets
Targets whose names I know
Even if I didn’t
I cannot be above the fray
There is no shelter above the fray
Above the boiling water
Is scalding steam
This is not a time for complacency
Or patience
Or a safe retreat
This is a time for radical love
Love wrenched out of our souls
Love that pierces through the noise
We must be the face of love
The voice of love
The prayer of love
Humanity cannot be divided into them and us
We are all in God’s image
Or none of us are
For the love of God…
-Barbara Ryther
___________________________
THE SACRIFICE
Renee Good.
Her name like a lump
Stuck in my throat.
My friend said it was a shame
When innocent people
Got hurt.
But ICE was doing their job.
That it was necessary
To root out
Dangerous criminals
hiding
in sanctuary cities.
Today
I saw a preschooler
Met by masked agents
In tactical gear.
They held tight
To his Spiderman backpack
To prevent escape.
The child—
Baby cheeks
And glassy eyes—
Wore a blue, floppy eared hat.
They are here now
I told my friend.
In my community.
But he believes in justice
So he’s not worried
Even when I tell him
A civil engineer with a work visa
was taken.
And it makes me wonder
About the stories we tell ourselves—
Who we see as expendable
In pursuit of our goals—
Sacrificing all that is beloved
Like Isaac tied to a stone
Unaware
That the knife we wield
Comes down on ourselves.
Kathryn Yingst
–In Memory of Renee Good, Keith Porter, Herber Sanchaz Dominguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Parady La, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos. And for Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents days after this piece was written.