We looked around for the enemy
but all we could see
were faces wanting to be loved —
some with glints of longing,
some with aching hope,
some afraid to even
look up and see

No one was standing
with bared teeth
waiting to devour
or in the inscrutable ice
that blandly wields a pen
to steal the lives of millions

Instead we saw the power
that kindles kinship from afar,
that brings each one back
from dim benighted stances

We saw the incredulous
but then willing
dropping of forms,
of roles, of strictures —
we saw the relief,
grateful and repentant
of coming home.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 25, 2015