A Walk in the Forest

I am so glad I ventured in to the forest today,
On a path I did not know,
Hesitant,
I am so glad I pressed on and did not walk back,
I am so glad I was frightened, and then
I was not.

On that long, slippery, frozen path,
I saw
Hurricane Katrina and broken levies in New Orleans,
The poor woman brutally lost in the woods in Georgia,
The kidnapped reporter beheaded in Iraq,
The little girl found lifeless in the closet of her abuser
And, the last guy who parted with life on the electric chair.

I gladly saw them, there was horror in my heart, and I prayed,
That they met the ending of life with surrender and dignity,
For only then I rest in the awareness,
That this life, the one I call mine, too,
Will meet the ending with surrender and dignity,
I am so glad I was here today,
And took a walk in the forest.

Rezvan 2008.