Aijalon Mahli Gomes is but one of millions and millions of souls who have suffered for their beliefs. I have often wondered–what would happen if the whole world were to stop… and listen?

One of those days is upon us: Yom Ha-Shoah, the “Day of Remembrance” for those who suffered through that horror of humankind known as “The Holocaust.”

May we all take the time to pause, reflect and go forward in love to serve one another.

It is our own actions, the works of human beings, that enslave us. It is our own actions, the works of human beings, that can free us. It is in your power to change the world.

I submit this poem, one I wrote years ago, in honor of Yom Ha-Shoah. It contains my own few minutes of silence:

Chiyano’s Moon

Full moon,
full bucket,
shimmering moon
on Chiyano’s water.

bamboo breaking
bucket breaking
spilling water
spilling moon
gone. gone.

water was there
moon was there
now all is lost
water lost, moon lost;

Chiyano’s moon.

“Just like me,” she whispers,

“There,
not here
Here,
not there…”

Chiyano awakens.