the evening sky was brilliant
rose and lavender and palest blue
gilded with the last rays
should have lifted my heart…

but as I looked I thought
under this same sky
a man goes home with
a cardboard box and a pink slip

someone searches rubble for
quake survivor
goes home with a hand full of
dust and tears

a father is shot in a protest
against a government
that cares nothing for his loss
while tv shows
bloodstained concrete

the remains of a child
lost sixteen years ago
are identified and a mother
goes to sleep with fresh grief

the weight of the sunset
was crushing
carrying this pain and worry
grief of a world all
breathing the same air
holding the same sky over
bowed heads and shoulders

I think to myself
we are all local
the clouds are golden over
all and the sun sets
to let each sleep or toss
waiting for dawn

I have nothing in my hands
to work or fight
except prayers and
love for my neighbor
who doesn’t know it’s there

I shrink to my tiny space
on a globe and feel the
smallness of my world
the smallness of my heart
marvel at God who
holds it all in His hands

including my tiny heart
and this sunset