artist unknown
no copyright infringement intended
This poem won't
awaken the global mind so everyone
is on the same page,
addressing the climate crisis,
the pandemic, systemic racism,
police brutality, the plight of refugees,
oppressive regimes, hatred, discord and war.
But it acknowledges that
we now have travelled far;
we know enough to finally see
the world we've made,
and the terrible price we've paid,
and that it needs us to make
an evolutionary leap
from our too-long sleep,
through the portal of Awakening.
Armed with integrity, compassion, insight,
we can chart the way
towards a more just day.
This poem won't
convince those who feel masks
threaten their personal freedom
that it might save their life (and mine)
in these crazy times.
It won't change a racist's heart,
a white supremacist's brain,
or teach them how
to sing a new refrain.
But it will send into the universe
one spark, which is all
the hope I have to give today;
may it make its way
into some human hearts
and there catch flame.
In wanting peace and life,
we are all so much the same.
We long for Peace and Hope and Love -
together, let us joyfully
sing their names.
Ha, found a second and slightly more hopeful poem for earthweal, where Brendan challenges poets to find poems in these extraordinary times. Not always an easy task.
I love this poem too. It is more hopeful, while not ignoring the ignorance and threats of our current situation. It certainly expresses the longing we all feel. For me, it highlights my own lack of understanding of people who don't wear masks, who don't believe our planet is in peril and thus are unwilling to anything about it.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful spark of hope i must say. Cannot believe anti maskers exist. Proof that we can easily go extinct. How hard is it to wear a mask instead of fighting this stupid needless fight?
ReplyDeleteAmen and ahem. One spark is ever sufficient. -B
ReplyDeleteThis poem is so powerfully constructed, Sherry. Impactful, compelling lines of fact and possibility well articulated and pinned to the words: 'This poem won't …'
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, thanks so much for you help with my publishing efforts. So far the direction that I finally landed in has been very positive. I'll keep you in the loop, as it plays out.
This morning I had long phone chat with one of my daughters. She talked about how Dada poetry and art changed art forever. She said that the Dadaists knew that the masses wouldn't comprehend their work but they kept making it anyway. Over the years since then Dadaist ideas, art and poetry have completely changed our view of what art is and what it can do.
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas that poems are sparks. Perhaps poem sparks sent out into ethers of the internet will ignite streams of consciousness that will grow into new ways of thinking and being. Suzanne of Mapping Uncertainty
your spark is bright as a torch, Sherry ~
ReplyDeleteThis poem wiped my tears away, Sherry! I sincerely hope that everyone can make ‘an evolutionary leap / from our too-long sleep’ and ‘chart the way / towards a more just day’. The rhyming underlines the hopefulness.
ReplyDeleteAll we can do is our best.
ReplyDeleteOne spark -- if each of us was a spark, we could change the world!
ReplyDeleteA poem of hope, Sherry. Sometimes it's hard to see it, but those tiny sparks smoulder on.
ReplyDelete