We have all seen them

by now

the news is rampant with sensation

they know how

to trigger our emotions

suggest how we ought to feel.

The first time the photo aired

its horrific message

caught the eye of everyone

those that cared

indifferent to the opposition,

just a couple of brown folks, they said

hiding behind their contempt.

 

Today I looked at the news

suggested not looking away

a couple of times

both anchors said

it is important we don’t

look away,

yet how many times

do we choose to ignore them.

 

A father saving his family,

his daughter he just rescued on land,

jumping back in to secure the rest

his daughter went after him.

 

First instinct is to save

a toddler

the rest he’ll go back

certainly

without question his goal

his family to America.

 

The currents too massive

swept his life away,

his wife wept in sight

her reality floating away

two bodies on the shoreline remain.

 

Wonder about your life

is there real pain or relative

response to the world around you,

are you alive or treading water

waiting to be swept away.

 

Society deems it necessary

to formulate an opinion,

the outcome of this tragedy

lays no more foundation

on humanitarian lives,

this matter seems an eternal

message from God.

 

One we can never answer alone

in the depths of the mighty Rio Grande.

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© Thom Amundsen 2019