It was not too long ago that,

            after angry words were spoken

or piercing insults made,

            I would hear one ask the other,

“Where’s the love?”

 

When walls are constructed

            to keep us apart,

when belittlement

            replaces encouragement,

“Where’s the love?”

 

When broad accusations

            align with hate-filled rhetoric,

when lies dominate truth,

            “Where’s the love?”

 

When threats replace diplomacy,

            and ears stop listening,

when self-interest displaces compassion,

            “Where’s the love?”

 

When one religion claims all truth,

            when you are “in” and I am “out,”

when judgment disposes of grace,

            “Where’s the love?”

 

Where’s the love?

            Was it here yesterday,

but gone today?

            Have we lost our souls?

 

I hope not.

 

John E. Holt, Cotuit, Masaachusetts