I can’t imagine,
As I sit in my comfortable home, smelling the tantalizing aroma of a
Sumptuous feast baking in my oven;
I can’t imagine the ear piercing wails of a mother whose child has
Succumbed to death by malnutrition.
I can’t imagine,
Being chased through a jungle by machete wielding fanatics who want to
Butcher you simply because you are of a different faith.
I can’t imagine,
The sufferings of multitudes of people displaced by hate, or the unspeakable
Tortures and the brutal rape of innocence that occurs in the world,
Day after endless day.
And some have the audacity to say that the tribulation is
Still so very far away, and something that
Will never touch them.
Looking out through the paper thin glass in my window that could easily
Smash in an instant by a vicarious wind, watching the ominous looking
Clouds that are gathering above my neighborhood’s comfortable existence,
I can’t imagine….

Copyright 2000 by H.D. Shively