How Long, LORD?

 

Sand surrounds water’s end with land’s beginning,

Trees dip roots, branches into cool, flowing water,

Small ripples break surface glistening in summer’s sun,

Welcoming visitors into caressing embrace,

How long, LORD? How long?

 

Underneath invitation, creation’s wildness rages,

Imploding with thirty, forty, fifty mile force,

Swift, powerful, rapid,

Grabbing, pulling, clenching,

Sucking breath away from life,

How long, LORD? How long?

 

Those who know stay silent,

Bind hands, hearts reaching for beloveds lost in secret’s rage,

News reporting blaming victim,

Calling for more signage, announcements,

Making lurking dangers transparent,

How long, LORD? How long?

 

People, strangers named tourist, clueless,

Bound from litigation by laws ensuring safety of others,

Not victims. Words denied, kept out,

Governing entities safe from suffering’s sorrow,

River allowed to leach life away year after year,

How long, LORD? How long?

 

God of the voiceless, powerless, and of loving change, I pray for those families and friends mourning the loss of an eleven year old child. For the wife, mother, and three children who are now without a father and partner. For the family of the man lost just last week. For all people grieving life taken by the Wisconsin River. Give them solace. Find them true healing help. Help them breathe through these days and nights of sorrow beyond sorrow.

For those with power to change the killing legacy of the Wisconsin River, give courage to care for both citizen and stranger in thought, word, and deed. Move these people toward action. Help them meet basic safety needs of all people approaching this river’s dangers. Loudly make known to all its hidden perils. Stop these unnecessary killings. Stop them now. Amen.

 

Written and shared in loving memory of Anthony D. Rodriguez. 

 

*Photo courtesy of Pixabay.