October 7
It’s October 7.
It’s been 365 days.
365 days of sheer and unspeakable pain.
365 days of an open wound; a wound that cannot heal.
1200 lives were lost on that tragic day: children, parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, holocaust survivors.
Families that will never be the same again, forever changed.
Everything has changed and nothing will forever be the same.
101 people are still trapped in hell.
Tears stream down our eyes as we mourn the lives that will be forever remembered in our hearts.
And our hearts and souls will lie with them forever.
As we gaze up at the sky, 2000 new stars look down on us, a testament to their sacrifice.
And they are pleading for us to honor their lives and sacrifices so their deaths are not in vain.
And in their honor, we keep fighting.
Because we have sworn to the people that we’ve lost that we will stand tall.
And tall we stand as we have risen from the ashes.
Ashes that keep burning as a reminder of the price we have paid and the sacrifices we have made.
October 6
will always be
The day before the war
The day before we were
shaken at our core
On October 6
A nation sleeps
with goodnight dreams
and a heart
Unbroken
at the seams
That was the last time
I was me
and you were you
I wish it weren’t true
Who were you on October 6th?
What got you out of bed?
What did you dream of before the nightmares began?
What made you feel safe before the fear?
What made you smile before the pain?
What did you long for before the grief?
Before you lost your appetite and didn’t notice. Before the world shattered into pieces.
Do you miss the way it was? Do you miss who you used to be? Do you recognize yourself at all?
Twelve months have gone by.
But a lifetime has passed.
And along with the thousands of names I have grieved since, I must finally lay to rest the person I was on October 6th.
I will never forget.
I will bear witness.
October 7 will forever be a scar.
But even in the darkest of times, there is hope.
Hope that we, as a people, have within ourselves. And this hope is our future.
The future of our children, our state, and our people.
Because hope brings light, and light is what will save us from the darkness.
