A Few of Us Gathered

A few of us gathered.

We could not do otherwise.

As the darkness fell,

And the rain threatened,

And the cold wind chilled our very bones,

A few of us gathered and lit candles.

We struggled to keep them burning on this inhospitable night,

And as each candle went out

We faithfully re-lit it.

This was all that we could do.

We knew that grief could overwhelm us,

Indeed it already had.

The act was unthinkable.

We needed to confirm that it was real.

We needed to see our pain reflected in the faces of others.

So we gathered,

Some in tears,

Some in anger,

Some still numb.

A few words of comfort were spoken,

But at this point words didn’t matter.

There will come a time for words.

For now what mattered was only the presence of others,

And the struggling candle light,

Facing a dark and violent world

Bent on extinguishing its fragile spark.