Memorial for the Dispossessed

I thought when I first saw the Metro article on Mia Green’s murder, that the head caption had misgendered her…
“Mia Geen was found in the passenger’s seat of his car with a gunshot wound.”

“his car” referred to the murderer–and that was clear, following the headline: “Man charged with murder of…

… but it upset me… when I saw it riding the subway to a candlelight memorial service of a camp resident.. like…. everything in this world is broken.

The circle of mourners, and those who came to pay our respects, created a sacred space… candles like stars shining from the earth–under a canopy of trees; all around us, the profane world that sorts us out, as worthy or unworthy of life–the endless traffic on the Parkway–the lights of passing cars, for an hour.. outshone by our candles.

Prayers were said. A libation poured out on the ground from a beer can.

The sacred is still there.. waiting… waiting for us to give it room, to mark it’s boundaries, the lights, and signs, that tell us.. we still have a home in this world. If only we are willing to create… and fight for it….and claim it as our own.

…. Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba b’alma di v’ra chir’usei; v’yamlich malchusei b’hayeichon u-v’yomeichon, uv’hayei d’chol beit yisrael, ba-agala u-vi-z’man kariv, v’imru …. awmen.