National Poetry Month: A Poem that Calls for Enlightenment

Today, as part of our ongoing celebration of National Poetry Month, we’re featuring a poem by Joan Treppa.

Treppa gave this insight about her poem, The Cleansing of Rain:

“The poem was written for the 5^th annual Walk for Truth and Justice in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2015. It depicts the tragedy of six innocent men (one of which was exonerated in 2001) serving life sentences for a murder they did not commit, the legal assistance that resurfaced in 2013 for the remaining five, and a plea for enlightenment and salvation of those who perpetuated these convictions.”

Joan, thank you for sharing your work with us.

The Cleansing of Rain

Feel the rain

Soothe our pain

With each new drop

Please make it stop


And with the chill

We seek goodwill

In loving faces

And warm embraces


Much time is lost

At a great cost

See not the changed

But what’s been gained


As time is molded

A future unfolded

Of what’s been started,

Not of which is departed


The truth is nigh

Let gones be bye

Open thine eyes

To accept this prize

Let the souls be free

Of the forgotten we


But let us pray

For those astray

In the dawning of this bright new day

That their hearts be cleansed

As they make amends


For their truths have faltered

With lives forever altered

In the dawning of this bright new day

Let us pray…

Related: A Poem of Hope, a Poem of Despair