"Miracle Fair"

The commonplace miracle: that so many common miracles take place. The usual miracle: invisible dogs barking in the dead of night. One of many miracles: a small and airy cloud is able to upstage the massive moon. Several miracles in one: an alder is reflected in the water and is reversed from left to right and grows from crown to root and never hits bottom though the water isn't deep. A run of the mill miracle: winds mild to moderate turning gusty into storms. A miracle in the first place: cows will be cows. Next but not least: just this cherry orchard from just this cherry pit. A miracle minus top-hat and tails: fluttering white doves. A miracle (what else can you call it): the sun rose today at three-fourteen a.m. and will set tonight at one past eight. A miracle that's lost on us: the hand actually has fewer than six fingers but it's still got more than four. A miracle: just take a look around: the inescapable earth. An extra miracle, extra and ordinary: the unthinkable can be thought. ___Wyslawa Szymborska, 2006 Nobel Laureate for Poetry, a Polish poet.

Mercy

Is Mercy. The first word, and ultimately the last, at a time like this is mercy. And for now, all between is silence.