Human suffering is an endless black sand beach.

There is too much pain,
Too many starfish washed ashore
To save.
One can get lost
In the enormity of it all,
In the hopelessness.

However, if one were to walk along the black sand beach
Keeping eyes and mind open to the idea
That maybe –
Just maybe,
There are shards of sea glass there,
And from the shards of sea glass
One may feel so inclined
To construct a chalice
Which could shelter a flame
From the wind and waves and sea.

And maybe –
Just maybe,
That flame could have a sister
In her own chalice of sea glass
And together
With her sister and her brother
And his husband and her wife
And their son and his daughter,

The black sand beach could be illuminated

And we would see that it was not a black sand beach
After all,
But a million
Beautiful
Shades of gray.