Grief Loss and Bereavement

The Crying Poet (Lizzy Jarett)

/ Andrew Whalan / Leave a comment 
Your first words are crushed in the spotlight,

Your typed sheets flutter like grey moths at night,

Your words spoken staccato rat-a-tat,

You recount a tragedy as if it’s matter of fact.



Many choking blows,

A final breath,

Everybody now knows

Another needless death.



All their tears sweep down up and around,

We all cry and sob and weep for you.

Joined in sadness, for he couldn't be saved.

You stop silent and shed tears with us too.
But I’m dry eyed

Till I realised

I’m crying at the grave too.

Terrorism in the Heart : Some Thoughts on the Boston Marathon Bombings

/ Andrew Whalan / 2 Comments

The aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings is showing both the best and worst of humanity.

I was amazed at the people who ran towards the bombing and began to help the victims regardless of danger to themselves.

I was touched by the people who reached out to others regardless of any differences.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of life, a child, a mother, a student and the injuries too terrible to visualise.

And yet some people saw it as an opportunity to focus on and magnify the differences between us.

There was a call for death to all Muslims. And an Australian commentator assumed the bombings were the work of left-wing extremists.

And we move on from this tragedy, as shock turns to anger and grief, it would be too easy to take this latter path.

And to take that path would be to deny and ignore the differences that bring us together.