VI. Ubi Eras? (Where Were You?)

[soft cello] [female voice, close] Ubi eras? Where were you? When fever burned the brow of youth, when small hands reached for promised truth, when lips that scarcely knew thy name called through the dark— and silence came. [distant choir] Ubi eras? No ancient stain. No hidden crime. No debt inherited through time. No wicked deed to weigh or rue. Only a child— and where were you? [low piano] They said thy eye beheld the sparrow, knew each grief and marked each sorrow. Then surely thou couldst hear the plea of one too small to flee or see. If every hair was known to thee, if every tear fell knowingly, what heaven watched and did not move? What silence wears the name of love? [brief pause] Ubi eras? When hunger hollowed cheek and bone, when frightened voices called alone, when war drew near and mercy fled, what father watched beside the dead? [cello rises] Do not tell me pain makes pure. Do not praise what none should endure. No soul required the wound or rod. No child needed suffering— only God. [long silence] [female voice, softer] And still the heavens gave no sign. No hand descended out of thine. No voice broke through the darkened air. Only those already there. [distant treble choir] [lead] So keep thy thunder. Keep thy throne. Keep mysteries we cannot know. One question outlives every prayer. [everything nearly disappears] Ubi eras? [pause] Where were you when you were needed there? [one distant bell]