by John Bartell
Today a boy and a girl
stand in a field with hands held
upward
as they watch the sky,
hopeful for a flock of cranes
or even a small plane.
Today a young couple
sit in separate rooms
and yell through the walls
with vipers for tongues.
Today a small child
lies in her bed
and wonders where the frogs in her pond go
when the sun lays low
and stars scatter across the horizon.
Today we sit together,
and we feast on foods
our grandparents
handed down to us
and we laugh
and we shout above each other
and we wish we could remember the other
years
as if they were simply heartbeats in the past.
Today we give our thanks.
We thank You for this time together.
For our feast,
for each other.
And for the thought
that life is precious
and we should be good to everyone,
even those we do not know;
those who stand with hands held high in wonder
or listen to insults shouted at them though
paper thin walls
or fear for the safety of the frogs
in their pond
as night falls
over their home.
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