It takes courage to love...........

Slowly she lowers her arm holding the bow.

She raises her eyes and with as much disdain and

defiance as she can muster, she glares at the conductor.

There will be consequences, this she knows, but she

is so tired and hungry that she no longer cares.

For days she and her fellow musicians have rehearsed

the same five pieces of music over and over, so now,

they are all exhausted and at the brink of collapsing.

Head bowed and staring at the floor, she gathers up all her

 courage and then petitions the conductor for a few minutes

 rest and a cup of water for everyone.

Her petition is granted and as the ragtag little orchestra

sits down on the cold, dirty and inhospitable floor, the

conductor fills a battered tin cup with water and hands it to

her to pass around.

In an attempt at finding

 some warmth, they all sit close together

while silently passing the tin cup one to another.

With the music now silent they can hear the noise

from the goings on outside their so called ''rehearsal space''.

At the sound of the ratatatataa and a woman's scream,

she grabs her friend Vira's hand and together they quietly

say a prayer. But a few minutes later all the orchestra members

are holding each others hands and have joined in

in the prayer.

A few moments later their momentary reprieve from their 

harsh reality is broken as the conductor shouts Enough! 

and they are ordered to start playing again.

One by one they pick up their instruments

and as the conductor raises his baton and count them in,

 like a mist the music of Beethoven permeates the

cold stale air in Barrack 14 at the Theresienstadt

concentration camp.

*

The above graphite drawing is my interpretation

of a photo I found.

The photo was taken at the Theresienstadt

concentration camp, the story.....taken from

my imagination.

I wish 

that we would chose to stop the killing of each other

I wish

that we would chose to be more accepting of each other

I wish

that we would chose to care much more for one another

I wish

that we would chose to listen more to those we call ''others''

I wish 

that we would chose to be more caring sharing lovers

I wish

that we would chose to honour humans of all colours

I wish

that we would chose be kind to all of us who hungers

I wish

that we would chose to build, restore and lift each other

I wish 

that we would chose to learn much more about each other

I wish

that we would chose to focus more on what we all have

in common,

and take a moment to consider

that what hurts us,

 also hurts others.

''Love one another but make not a bond of love:

let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your

souls.''

(Kahil Gibran)

above painting: acrylic on canvas