The little girl cried
When her mother said
Their home burned
With all her toys.
“But we’re strong people
And everything is going to be alright”
Her mother told her

“We’re strong people”
Says the little girl
When people tell her they’re sorry
Her home burned

We are all strong people
Men, women, children
Able bodied, disabled,
Black, white, Asian,
Left wing, right wing,
Gay, straight, transgendered,
Humans.

Yes all whose homes have burned
Whose lives have changed
Whose hopes have been deferred
But never destroyed
Not where there is life

We are all strong people.

Copyright 2007 Ruth Harrigan

[a tribute to those losing their homes in the California wildfires 2007]