yes, it seems almost too hard to fathom. And though I get your point and felt that, too, re our lives going on and focused on the annual trivia or routine etc. of the holiday period, I know many of us were glad that the churches are addressing how we can help, and how we must reach out, etc. and I believe people really do care terribly but feel so small and inadequate in proportion to the losses. I was grateful that our minister guided us today on the horrendous issue, and recognized the grief many of us are carrying rather silently, in shock. But it does seem surreal, and distant for us. Well done Michelle.

Yeah, adds a whole new meaning to the word "helpless." Sadness, frustration, and even a little anger well expressed Michele.

words do so much, yet they can't really the magnitude of such disaster: if only Bush and Blair could commmit funds for healing instead of war...the world is at a loss...where are all the leaders? No votes, nor donations in this me thinks...what a world, huh? Nice to see you writing again Michele, you've expressed our helplessness very well. :)

beyond this tragedy there is another great tragedy that our feelings, for the happy trail mix have become dormant and calloused, that is I believe the greater tragedy, when our feelings sink so low below the screen they are essentially undetectable. but not this poem it has its sirens up full blast and all can hear.

I am happy that at least you 'feel' it emotionally rather than intellectually. Incidentally I was on a plane to the worst affected area on the very same day when the tsunami struck. I met people who had lost their near and dear.Well, for them this was a personal tragedy, as all the tragedies are.For record sake, this was the biggest natural calamity of the century.

They say, everything returns to the sea, but to think they have put a price on a corpse goes beyond the pale. Great wake up call, Michele. Pe4ce...

I understand exactly what you mean. I have dug deep to feel the wretching pain that survivors must be experiencing, but the truth of it is that I cannot even begin to fathom or grasp even the tip of that horrific iceburg. And I try. I watch the news casts. I report (to myself) several times a day the latest death count. I immerse myself in daydreaming about the water, imagine drowning in it should the sea grab me, but still I can't touch it. And I feel I should! I feel duty-bound to KNOW it like they know it, as if somehow my knowing could relieve any little bit of their tragedy. But. I'm shamefully relieved that I don't have to know it, LUCKY, FORTUNATE me too. Love to you.