Xystus to
Foundation
Janet Kuypers
4/24/19 (written after the Notre Dame fire)
The shock comes
from the suddenness,
and the certainty
when something
loved for years —
always a constant —
is suddenly destroyed
so quickly, so suc-
cinctly, so completely.
You thought you did
everything you could
to stop this —
you thought the
entire world did every-
thing in their power
to make sure nothing
like this would ever
happen, and yet,
here we are. You sit
in shock, from far
too far away to make
a difference, and watch
the new mindset of
instant recollection
to force down your
throat the instantaneous
news that is killing you
to live through. Thousands
of lifetimes and stories
are lost in one unplanned,
unintentional act — now
face the loss that no
one expected, the loss
that we couldn’t even
imagine. Everything
from the foundation
to the xystus
has collapsed,
as you wonder
what within you
has collapsed too.
Whether you want
to worship, or want
to admire, or want
to remember,
it is now gone forever,
and your first battle
is to cope with it,
to let the shock
wear away until you
can begin to grieve.
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