we are virginia tech
We are Virginia Tech
We are sad today
And we will be sad for quite a while
We are not moving on
We are embracing our mourning
We are Virginia Tech
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly
We are brave enough to bend to cry
And we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again
We are Virginia Tech
We do not understand this tragedy
We know we did nothing to deserve it
But neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS
Neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army
Neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory
Neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water
Neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized
No one deserves a tragedy
We are Virginia Tech
The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds
We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid
We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be
We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities
We will continue to invent the future
Through our blood and tears
And through all our sadness
We are the Hokies
We will prevail
We will prevail
We will prevail
We are Virginia Tech
-Nikki Giovanni, poet, activist & Virginia Tech Distinguished Professor
I updated this poem on 4.19.07. In my excitement to share Nikki Giovanni's remarks I originally posted the text exactly as someone sent it to me on the 17th. After re-reading it I realized there were large sections missing. The text I now have posted is taken from the transcript provided on Tech's website. I cut & paste the transcript from the site and then put it back into a more traditional poetic format to indicate her phrasing.
We are sad today
And we will be sad for quite a while
We are not moving on
We are embracing our mourning
We are Virginia Tech
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly
We are brave enough to bend to cry
And we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again
We are Virginia Tech
We do not understand this tragedy
We know we did nothing to deserve it
But neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS
Neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army
Neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory
Neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water
Neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized
No one deserves a tragedy
We are Virginia Tech
The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds
We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid
We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be
We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities
We will continue to invent the future
Through our blood and tears
And through all our sadness
We are the Hokies
We will prevail
We will prevail
We will prevail
We are Virginia Tech
-Nikki Giovanni, poet, activist & Virginia Tech Distinguished Professor
I updated this poem on 4.19.07. In my excitement to share Nikki Giovanni's remarks I originally posted the text exactly as someone sent it to me on the 17th. After re-reading it I realized there were large sections missing. The text I now have posted is taken from the transcript provided on Tech's website. I cut & paste the transcript from the site and then put it back into a more traditional poetic format to indicate her phrasing.
posted by virge at
8:07 AM
2 Comments:
It is too bad that Nikki Giovanni is trying to use this situation as a platform to promote her own political agenda. It is supposed to be about the victims, not Giovanni’s political ideology.
I'm sure there are other who share your opinion, Anonymous.
However, there are countless people, me included, who've made statements about their faith when discussing this tragedy. Sincere thoughts about this tragedy will be personal, heart felt and slanted by our personal opinions.
I felt her words gave a global perspective and commonality to the pain we're all feeling. How isolating it would be to feel that our Virginia Tech Family is the only one in the world to have tragedy befall us.
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