Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores
Photographer Patricia Gulick

Sunday, May 31, 2020

5/31/20 RMB TEN OF US

5/31/20 RMB TEN OF US posted 5/31/20

 

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

If ten of us were in a lifeboat in the middle of an ocean with light blue skies overhead and the peaceful sway of the water below us, would we allow one man to kill another while we filmed it on cameras? Then, as his body lay still, would those remaining of us, hurt and angered by the loss of our friend, set fire to the boat, tear at its structure, and destroy it?

If we did, we would sink.

 

There are more than ten of us and the sky is not light blue; a dark grey atmosphere blankets us. And the waters are not peaceful. They are choppy and dangerous. We could use our numbers to support one another and keep this boat from tipping in the rough seas. We could hold on to one another to ensure no one falls overboard and drowns.

But we don’t.

 

Lives have been taken and others damaged. The perpetrator hides amongst our vast numbers, behind shields, in dark corners, and in the recesses of our minds silently cultivated from hundreds of years of conditioning. And when brought forward, the urge to retaliate overwhelms those who remain.

It takes strength to combat hate with peace.

We must find that strength, because in the end…we are all in this boat together.

 

One of the many,

Loraine