by Sister Lou Ella Hickman, I.W.B.S.
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| Nick Anderson |
here in texas we say
go down the road a bit
for getting to the next town
or just to the next gas station
where you can fill up
before you drive on
sometimes i say
once you get out of texas
you are halfway to where you
are going
now
this week
children and adults again are going nowhere
with families stuck in a forever sadness
sad that
until those in the power of going
somewhere anywhere
feel the bullet bite their own child
all of us
will still be going nowhere
Sister Lou Ella has a master’s in theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and is a former teacher and librarian. She is a certified spiritual director as well as a poet and writer. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines such as America, First Things, Emmanuel, Third Wednesday, and The New Verse News as well as in four anthologies: The Night’s Magician: Poems about the Moon, edited by Philip Kolin and Sue Brannan Walker, Down to the Dark River edited by Philip Kolin, Secrets edited by Sue Brannan Walker and After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events edited by Tom Lombardo. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2017 and in 2020. Her first book of poetry entitled she: robed and wordless was published in 2015 (Press 53.) On May 11, 2021, five poems from her book which had been set to music by James Lee III were performed by the opera star Susanna Phillips, star clarinetist Anthony McGill, pianist Mayra Huang at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. The group of songs is entitled “Chavah’s Daughters Speak.”