you came to our city uninvited
you reached down and touched the soil,
in the process uprooting our century old trees
and if not damaging, destroying our century old homes.
you went block after block wrecking havoc on our city and our lives.
you killed our residents; someone’s child, someone’s mother/grandmother, someone’s father/grandfather, someone's friend.
you took them from us like it didn’t matter who was
hurt in the process, as if they we indispensable.
why did you choose the path you took?  was there something so wrong there that it needed to be destroyed?
MAYBE SO.

as I walk along surveying the damage I see neighbor helping neighbor, friends helping friends, and strangers helping out wherever help was needed.
all of this peace, harmony and togetherness in an area that only the day before was filled with hate, crime and killings.
MAYBE SO.

maybe it was to be a lesson in love and compassion for our fellow man.  a lesson of how working together can produce positive change.
MAYBE SO.

maybe it was a lesson to open my eyes to see how my life has been one tornado after another, leaving destruction of unbelievable amounts inside me, and how, although I would rebuild, there were still scars.  scars that ran so deep I couldn’t find that peace and harmony once the storms had calmed and the rebuilding had started to take place because I was just looking for the next tornado to hit.
I realize today that all this was so very true during my childhood years and even into my early adulthood years.
now it is time for me to stop preparing for the next round of storms and seek out that peace and harmony because I have rebuilt my life with better tools, therefore, making for a stronger, more confident self.  it’s time to find that peace and harmony and start living again.
you may come to our city uninvited again someday but don’t expect to do this kind of damage in me again.

         © tina  1/27/99