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How Many More

John T. Hitchner

In the church of my youth,
stained glass saints stared above our heads.
Their inspired mouths asked silent questions
our ministers and Sunday School teachers
answered with platitudes
empty as collection plates
after the money was counted.

Wall plaques raised two-dimensional Stations
of Christ’s agony,
reminders that we all must suffer
before we die.

“Why?” we asked our teachers and ministers.
They answered, “Because we are human.
Because of Original Sin.”

Jesus the Good Shepherd tended his flock,
looked down upon us and blessed us
from the church’s largest window.
After Catechism and Confirmation,
we accepted His sacraments,
the unleavened wafer dry,
the wine warm.

The next day
we went back to school,
back to work,
no better in heart,
no worse in mind,
until we learned
why the 38th Parallel was important;
until we learned the true meaning
of “advisors” in Southeast Asia
and of our own “military industrial complex.”

Now we remember where we were
November 22, 1963;
April 4, 1968;
June 6, 1968;
September 11, 2001.

How many more candles must we light,
how many more prayers,
how many dollars
and how many lives must we give
before the lion lies down
with the lamb?
How many?

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