[Guest Post]: Between the Silences …

Diane Buchanan (2005) Frontenac House

“It happens between the silences, amid
whispers, flipping papers, coughs and
bows.

It happens, they say, after previous
consultation, and with due
consideration.

It happens on paper in assessments,
reports and addendums.

It happens between lawyers, social
workers, judges.

Between the silences it happens; families
are split, children discarded,

fathers and mothers appear and
disappear, the director becomes the
parent.

It happens with grown-up words like:
custody, guardianship, father unknown,
or absent,

mother served or signed release,
supervision order, child in care, status
extended.

It happens while children play in the
courthouse hallways.

A child’s future determined in the time
it takes to say:

So ordered.”

I felt compelled to share Diane Buchanan’s (2005) haunting and heartbreaking reflection of the shattering experiences of those involved with Child Protection Services.  While our systems and structures are fueled by good intentions,  we often step over the wounded souls who are painfully, perilously and powerlessly caught between the silences.

May we all hold a little more compassion … and … extend a little more grace,  Karen