Remembering Boston

“Beauty is the mark God sets upon virtue. Every natural action is graceful. Every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and bystanders to shine. We are taught by great actions that the universe is the property of every individual in it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson; Nature 1836

Yesterday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon has brought many emotions to the surface for me. My heart breaks for all those who were affected by this tragedy. I have friends and family members who are runners, and though none of them were there this day, it affected them deeply as well. Of course it makes me think of my two years living in Massachusetts, a state I vowed I would never live in but slowly came to love. As I watched and listened to the news coverage of yesterday and today I could not stop tears from welling up in my eyes and streaming down my face. We all want to know why, but then I thought; there is no satisfactory answer to that question. Nothing justifies or brings logic or reason to that kind of act. Year ago when the 9-11 tragedy happened I was attending college and we were reading Emerson in my American Literature class at the time. It was amazing to me and everyone else that in the face of such horror there was the goodness of those who rushed in to help. The above quote by Emerson seemed so applicable then, and I thought of it once again after seeing the news coverage of yesterday’s tragedy.

For me, I deal with things like this by writing. This blog post is my attempt at bringing some sort of saneness to this insanity. I want to remember the good things about Massachusetts and Boston. I want to honor those whose lives were lost or permanently changed due to this criminal act. I want to bring order to my own emotions and I do that by writing. There will be more bird posts forthcoming, but today I want to share my grief and say thank you to all the good people out there who rushed to help, who showed the rest of us that there is still beauty and kindness in the world. And yes, there are more poems related to this subject on Kathie’s Poet Tree.

House Cleaning

I am not thinking of lost limbs as I scrub these kitchen walls,

I do not see bloody sidewalks as I clean out my sink,

These are not tears streaming down my face and

splashing on the newly washed floor,

I am not thinking of Boston,

or trying to wash these memories away,

I am only cleaning house.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 16, 2013)

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