Light a Candle

2Boston is ablaze with anger,
candles, and prayers… I add my candles
and prayers for the victims —

And, I light a candle for
the Tsarnaev brothers,
the bombers.

I light a candle for their souls
twisted in pain and delusion,

For the hundreds and thousands
more driven to despair —
held in the terror of their madness.

I light a candle for their pain

It is so easy to hate
those held with hate.
It is too easy to love,
those bound with kindness.

But how do we love
the hateful?

How do we embrace
the hated and
hold them in the arms
of possibility?

How do we love that which
we find
the most odious,

detestable,
and repulsive?

How do we find
our way back to love?

How do we embrace
the enigma and
paradox of love?

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