May 21, 2008

Hope Within Humanity







I write this poem while remembering the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake. I have been deeply moved by the amount of emotion that has been pouring from the people worldwide, within tragedy there is still a glimmer of hope and the true essence of humanity surfaces. My thoughts and prayers remain for those still ravaged by the disaster.

By Charles Sapp II


Tattered clothes
and dust clinging to perspired skin,
a face with determination and purpose,
with a hint of grief.

Nature seemed to turn away
and display the effects of neglect.
The purpose almost seems arbitrary,
but the balance of normalcy is forever changed.

Material from the material world suddenly dematerializes
to a faint and soon irrelevant existence.
The hand of a fellow man and the taste of faith,
ensures compassion for the soul
and continuance of the power of love.

The witness of children wiping mother’s tears
to clear, watery blur of distorted sorrow.
Children are messengers for a hopeful future.
Taught to teach the primary ways,
inert or inherent as bare necessities outweigh the forgotten.

Laughter will soon fill the air and journals will be written
and surface to display the common characteristic of humanity
during its finest hours which transcends all cultures.