Compassion in the Face of Devastation: Finding One’s Humanity

A girl swept away

From her father’s arms

The great wave’s force

Overpowering her

Seizing her

From her beloved family

Who will never see

Her lovely little face

Smiling up at them

Ever again.

Death, destruction, chaos

Everywhere.

Look to your left

And to your right

A sea of utter despair.

Have you no heart to realize

That fellow humans

Have been buried alive?

The death toll:

Four thousand and rising.

Will you tolerate this

And let countless more lives

Slip away right in front of your eyes

Knowing that it was within your power

To save them?

Is not a human life

Greater,

And more precious,

Than slips of paper

And numbers in cyberspace?

Let yourselves rise up in true rank

And find the humanity in your dormant souls.

Help the people who were devastated by Typhoon Haiyan

And many more.