Day 306: In Mourning

This hard city weeps
For the sweet-faced little boy
Who never came home

Recent events in Kensington, Brooklyn have captured the attention of the entire city, if not the nation. Like any New York neighborhood, Kensington feels like a small town in many ways. You see and interact with the same people on a regular basis. People often smile at one another. There are many, many families with young children.

I know that I frequently link to articles in my haiku, but I prefer not to link to any of the media coverage on this story. I am not comfortable with much of what has been written about the murder of Leiby Kletzky. I feel that it exoticizes the Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish communities in a wholly unnecessary way. Many journalists seem to be tacitly blaming Leiby's grieving parents for raising him in an insular community. Some comments sections contain appallingly anti-Semitic language.

If you feel compelled to do so -- and I hope that you do -- please send some kindness and generosity into the universe in any way that you see fit. The universe needs it.