Long Collect for a Dark Night
Long Collect for a Dark Night
God of the movies
who loves all the brave (and the red-haired) ...
and has been frequently known as an avenger
(with the motley disciples to prove it) ...
who delights in marigolds,
young people who try to make a go of something new
and old ones who don’t let go of living ...
who touches moonrise with a finger
and loves as kingdom-people
many who run away from the ordinary
or hang fiercely holding one another
in a grip of love
from all our broken steeples,
you were there at the midnight in Aurora
when everything turned upside down
and death came out of the script
and into our lives.
You doubled over with the gas,
felt the first shot,
and every one that followed.
Be now with those who mourn,
close family and those who just put flowers
by the multiplex wall,
with the wounded and their doctors and surgeons,
nurses and relatives and friends.
Be with ticket takers and sellers of popcorn
afraid to go to work,
police and FBI agents easing clenched shoulders
from unwinding
the last explosive device,
and everyone everywhere who thinks -
“Why didn’t I see it coming?”
May we always find you in the dark,
a comfort in night terrors,
and the source of all our rising. Amen.