Dance.
Live.

Dance.
Love.

Dance.

          Pulse.
          Pulse.

No worries.
No fears.
Just
          Pulse
          Pulse

Can you feel it?

Sanctuary breached.
Shots fired
          Shots fired
The record skips.
The dancing stops.
          Pulse

Bodies fall.
Blood spilled on an altar of hate.
The record skips.
The dancing stops.
          Pulse

Hearts race in cramped stalls.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
Phones vibrate.
Terror reigns.
          Pulse

Mommy I love you
I’m gonna die
He has us

          S i l e n c e.

Are you there? Son? Are you OK?

 Pray for us at the hour of our death
          Pulse

Unanswered phones become the DJ
Ringing from lifeless bodies on the dance floor
Where no one dances

Text: Where r u?
Text: Please call me!
Ring: Pick up the phone!
Ring: Tell me ur alive.
You have ten new voice mails.

          Pulse

Forty-nine bodies will dance no more
So we who remain must dance for them
To the music of life, love
Hail Mary, full of grace.

          Pulse

Dance.
Live.

Dance.
Love.

Dance.

          Pulse.
          Pulse.

_______________

In memory of the lives lost in the Pulse Nightclub Massacre, June 12, 2016.
Presented at the Graduate Theological Union’s Prayer, Lament, Commitment: A Vigil in Solidarity with Orlando, Chapel of the Great Commission, Pacific School of Religion, June 13, 2016.

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