Volunteer Reflections
Here and there
by: Valentine
Half of the time
We're waiting for a hand of kindness
To break us like a wave
And turn us toward your face
* * *
I wanted to be the sky
As I looked at the seagulls
lazily soaring above the ocean
My heart opening up like a teardrop
at the Jersey Shore and I thought
Nothing matters but You, Your voice
among all the muck;
the schoolbooks of money and death
and people saying,
"When is your future? When will it start?"
So
I ran out to see the bay in the morning
Excited to catch the little piece of heaven
called Pivo Point, Ontario, a place I'd never been
The first retreat of this new life I'd chosen
The water talked to me playfully as it went
over the rocks in little waves
And I thought, I'd never seen anything more beautiful
With all of my planning, it wasn't me
who brought me here
to feel this galaxy of fire inside
You brought me here
To
Colombus, Georgia, where
I walked along the river until I
found a waterfall
And it made me wonder
why I even had a body at all
I wanted to be the river,
I could feel the force of
thousands of people
singing my song under this rainy tent
"Peace is flowing like a river"
Wanting to close the School of Death
And as we remembered those who passed away,
we became the autumn trees and the wind
holding our little white crosses
high in our hands
Each one had a name
Their names were our names
Presente
And we became each other's past,
each other's pain
And I was the river
We were the river
I was the sky
We were the sky