May It Be

A Prayer

May it never be said 

     that they were right

     that people wouldn’t care enough

     that help wouldn’t come

     that change wouldn’t happen

     that they wouldn’t be caught 

          and even if they were, so what?

May it never be said

     that we ignored the signposts of humanity

     by pardoning the guilty 

          while condemning the innocent

     by accepting defeat

     by shielding our eyes

by blinding our souls

to the monsters

May it never be said 

     that they weren’t seen

     their humanity wasn’t valued

     their suffering didn’t matter

     that our hearts were too hard

May it never be said

that we were unmoved by the plight of our neighbor

yes, that neighbor

the child

the foreigner

the vulnerable

the poor

the marginalized

the abused

May it never be said

that we didn't provide what our meager hands could give

any small measure of what we take for granted

but they must beg for

relief

refuge

sanctuary

dignity

but that we saw, spoke & supplied

May it never be said

     we didn’t see

     we didn’t feel

     we didn’t rise

     we didn’t commit

     we didn’t intervene

     we didn’t fight

     we weren’t brave

      we didn’t speak

May these words never be said

because what we were witness to

was too unspeakable

     & we said

          No More.

May it be.

Amen.

—Whitney

Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash