A Meditation: Massacre of the Innocents

I cannot join you on the roads or in the fields. Instead,
meet me on the border of here and there, the place
of stillness before motion. And in the silence

of my thoughts, we will walk among the dead
on the mourning streets of Bucha, weep and bless
each body as we pass. We will go into the forests

of Izium, pray over bodies buried there
by invaders with blank eyes and desperate fear.
Let us stand together in the quiet of my meditation,

receive respite from the rumble of mortars
and missile strikes. In this wordless world
of solitude, the whispers of our breathing cry out

Domini, miserere nobis

thank you for “being there” with me as I sit on my cushion.