Reconciliation
I sit here crying
I don’t know why
I didn’t know the children
I didn’t know the parents
But I knew their spirit
I knew their love
I know their loss
I know their potential
And I am overwhelmed
By the pain and the hurt
The pain of the families and friends
The pain of an entire people
Unable to protect them, to help them
To comfort them, to love them
I did not know them
But the pain is so real, so personal
I feel it in my core, my heart, my spirit
I sit here crying and I am not ashamed
I will cry for them, and the many others like them
I will cry for you, I will cry for me
Ill cry for the what could have been
Then I will calm myself, smudge myself, offer prayers
And know they are no longer in pain
No longer do they hurt, they are at peace
In time I will tell their story, I will educate society
So their memory is not lost to this world
And when I am asked
what does reconciliation mean to me
I will say I want their lives back
I want them to live, to soar
I want to hear their laughter
See their smiles
Give me that
And ill grant you reconciliation
– R. Stacey Laforme
