Editor’s note: Former South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth, now a resident of Springfield, Ohio, recently wrote this poem after her new home found itself caught in a national firestorm of false allegations that Haitian immigrants were eating pets. She refers to musician John Legend, a native of the town.
“All of me loves all of you.”
– John R. Stevens, aka John Legend
How recently the fireflies scattered
across our lawns and corn fields.
Dazzling us each evening,
these small miracles appeared
like flashes of hope, no matter
how difficult the day had been.
How quickly the light has dimmed
as a cloud descended on our town.
Because everyone is “the other”
to someone, because it is easier
to scapegoat and blame a stranger
who is different for our problems,
because hate spreads too easily
across the internet in lies and memes,
we wake in a swirl of anger and fear
as bombs threaten our children.
It is time to turn away from the hovering
darkness, and move toward one another
where we will find flashes of love
scattered and shining everywhere we look.
- Wentworth’s latest book is One River, One Boat. More can be found online at: marjorywentworth.com
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