How much does a memory weigh? / When it falls over me like a heavy blanket / In the darkness of my dreams, / It’s like a hand crushing me with its weight. / How strong is a memory? / When it grips me like a fist / In bright daylight, unashamed of its evil, / It’s a captor’s hand leading me to places of terror.

A child, I stood parched for water, / I searched for a brook of life to nourish, / To carry me down the stream to wholeness, / And cleanse me from all that left its mark. / Yet you were a polluted water, / Your fatherly care poisoned me from within / Through toxins entering inside my skin, / And gathering on my hands to rot all life away.

Dressed in white and lace, / In polished shoes and straightened ties, / We bent low to pour our sand to a vase, / To plant seeds of love and faith. / Young and unaware of the death to follow, / The shattering of seed hulls yet to come, / We didn’t know the years of sorrow / That comes from planting seeds of love together.

Good thoughts and prayers sound so meek, / And tears shed still don’t fall as healing waters, / My reach, my unsovereign hands feel so weak, / As suffering billows over loved ones like fire. / If only my words could mend broken hearts, / If only they could blow away the dark clouds, / If only they could outshine the smoke and dark / That covers those I love tonight.

In this dry summer heat / Like fallen autumn leaves / The grass crunches under our feet. / Though the flowerbeds wither, / And the water trickles into our wells, / The weeds push through acre upon acre. / Their green stems stand tall and strong, / Stretching toward the burning sun, / They thrive though the summer heat is long. / They cry, “Cursed! Cursed is this ground, / Because man could not deny the serpent’s taunt.”