Italy Earthquake- May Your Tears Subside With Grace Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Italy -let your tears subside with grace
as sudden grief has overtaken your peace;
you had not asked for this in your prayers
you had not even visualized this
in the smallest of your dreams,
you must have never expected death and destruction
by this very earth on which you live and love
as mother and child,
as husband and wife,
as brother and sister,
as God abides by you in every lane, every pathway
as your children wake up every morning
in thoughts of Vatican where people rush
from everywhere for a glimpse and blessing of the Pope.
Where had all divine protection vanished on that day
when the earth decided to crumble down
and take many houses and people beneath thy ground?
Where has all the strength of solace, hidden itself
when thy eyes search for your loved ones
beneath those stones and bricks,
beneath those fallen roofs and walls?
How much joy was not felt when from among many
that one child was picked up alive
after hours of wait?
How much more serenity would have lasted
if all those homes were not demolished
by that gust of destruction which paved no mercy
as nature over catastrophe catapulted a pain
too hard to bear that as houses turned into rubble
crushing innocent people so pitilessly.
Will sorrow and anguish ever agree to keep away
thy eyes from tears?
Courage O' Courage, sing thy verse
let Italy wake up in fortitude
with those who survived the ordeal.
Mercy O' Mercy, play thy hymn
let Italy wake up in consolation
to pray for themselves to accept the absence
of those who had to depart
without a last embrace or whisper of hope;
Endurance O' Endurance, resonate thy melody
let Italy wake up in resilience
to overcome their momentum of grief
which they hold within their hearts
for those they loved and lost
and whom they will never meet again.