What can we do with the rage we feel,
The fear, the shock, and the frustration,
The helplessness and horror?
What’s the next step when painting and writing
And crying to our friends is not enough?
Where do we turn when all the doors
Are locked and all the streets are blocked?
How will we find our way back to
The values that once defined us —
Peace, justice, and equality for all;
Respect for the dignity of each —
How did we get here?
How did we lose our way?

Painting and poem by Diane Walker

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Diane Walker is a Bainbridge Island artist, poet, playwright and photographer. Her paintings may be found at the Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend, and her photographs may be found at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. Her plays have been performed at the Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo, the Seattle Playwrights Salon, the Askew Theatre Company in Ashland, Oregon; the Waterfront Park Readers Theater on Bainbridge; and in Island Theatre’s 10-Minute Play Festival. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Corners, Ars Poetica, and the Floating Press Review, and she has acted in numerous plays, both through BPA and Island Theatre. In addition, she has served on the board of Island Theatre and as Station Manager for Bainbridge Community Broadcasting. Diane has been blogging daily since 2007, and her poems, paintings and photos may be found at ContemplativePhotography.com and on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/contemplativephotography/. In addition she has published five books of photographic meditations, a murder mystery (Return of the Snow Goose), and a collection of 20 short plays.