Adán's blog« Hurray for Houston and Mayor White | Main | Exhaustion - Rest - Organizing »
September 12, 2005
Prayer for Volunteers
Witnessing the images and sounds of the Katrina disaster, Marilyn Born, a dear friend from Melbourne Australia, wrote this poem/prayer. She said that she kept "thinking about the second and third… wave of grievers (vicarious trauma) So wrote this. It helped me to get it out from such a distance. I hope it feels supportive to you." I have a sense of strength and joy in sharing her poem/prayer.
“For The Volunteers”
May you see the sights without being blinded
Hear the sounds without running scared
Smell the smells without suffocating
Tend the hurt and harmed lost and dying with respect and not despair
And feel without drowning
May your tears come when needed and stay when not.
May your spirit rise after every fall
May your body move and sleep with ease
And your mind neither be haunted nor harmed.
May the mother of all that is comfort you
In the days ahead may the horrors leave more quickly
And the healing come sooner
In the weeks ahead may the poor be first
In the months ahead may the poor be first
In the years ahead may the poor be first
In the years ahead may the river be free
May the memories be no more and no less
May the careless and every evil doer be last.
May people of colour be first
May people of colour be first
###
Posted by Adan at September 12, 2005 01:38 PM