This morning on CBC Radio, I listen to Residential School Survivors talking about the horrific conditions they encountered while attending schools run by priests and nuns who were ordained to do ‘God’s work’. I am, again, struck by how blind, selfish, arrogant and cruel those who ran the schools were under the auspices of our government.

At the end of the program, the moderator, whose parents and other family members attended the schools, asks the question, “Will You Cry With Me?”

My heart heavy with sadness and anger, I do what I often do when confronted by the inexplicable. I write it out.

Will You Cry With Me?

Will You Cry With Me?
by Louise Gallagher

Will you cry with me? she implored. 
Mourn for my ancestors, my people 
the families torn apart
the lives destroyed
the futures stolen?

Will you shed your tears 
and bow your head 
for the lost and wounded 
the forgotten and buried 
the ones who never made it home?

Will you hear our stories 
with an open heart and mind 
leaving your judgments in the past 
where we’ve been imprisoned 
searching for your humanity to recognize ours?

Will you mingle your tears with mine 
flowing together 
so that we can heal the wounds 
of the past you cannot change 
yet must never forget, lest they be repeated?

Will you cry with me?