Poet Amanda Gorman stated that she wrote this poem after the massacre in Uvalde, Texas. This poem reminds me that we are in this together. Shared pain – the many and different hurts. Mustering communal hope – at times it is difficult to hope alone. Collective action – our unique gifts and callings, yet together. May we carry one another.
Hymn for the Hurting
by Amanda Gorman
Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.
Everything hurts.
It’s a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We’re burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.
This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.
May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.
– Rev. Bich Thy (Betty) Nguyen
United Methodist Church
Together Colorado Immigration Committee