It is difficult to get into the holiday spirit when the loss of a love one hurts so much. But I decided to try harder for the sake of my grandchildren and others in the family. A few years ago I recorded The Night Before Christmas for my students and two of my grandchildren at the time. Now there are four grandchildren and in-laws who now have young children. So this is dedicated to them.
I want to take this opportunity to wish my followers and readers on WordPress, Instagram and and other platforms best wishes during the holidays and a very healthy and prosperous New Year! 2021 was tough for many of us with the pandemic and other problems as a result of the COVID crisis. So I pray that 2022 brings all of us good health, peace of mind and many blessings. Thanks for your continued support.
Our collective journey right now is a difficult one. Who do we believe? What are the hard truths we will have to face? Will we see more deaths because of the COVID-19 pandemic? Will our children safe in school? Will there be an effective and safe vaccine we can trust? Will our elections be tampered with by foreign enemies or even by our own home grown terrorists? Because chaos begets chaos and because hate begets hate and because uncertainty is a type of terrorism, we must unite to seek the truth. We cannot continue to allow anyone to divide us. We must unbury the American values we cherished so much. What happened to how we deplored big brother watching us, political coups, injustice, bigotry and leaders who lied to their people? Our country lived by values. We cherished our constitutional rights, our civil rights and liberties. What has happened to us? We were not perfect. But we knew about basic decency. We always knew what was the right thing to do for the good of us all. We the People must be the force of goodness, empathy, and compassion. We are all exhausted. We need positive energy to carry on our most valued right. The right to vote. These last few days I feel like I am in a labyrinth and here with the help of Pixabay I have tried to illustrate my poem.
These two great singers are among my very favorite singers. Listen and read the lyrics. They always bring me peace.
I pray you’ll be our eyes, And watch us where we go And help us to be wise, In times when we don’t know Let this be our prayer, When we lose our way Lead us to a place, Guide us with your grace To a place where we’ll be safe
La luce che tu dai (the light that you give) I pray we’ll find your light Nel cuore resterà (In my heart it will remain) And hold it in our hearts A ricordarci che (To remind us that) When stars go out each night L’eterna stella sei (You are the eternal star) Nella mia preghiera (In my prayers) Let this be our prayer Quanta fede c’è (How much faith there is) When shadows fill our day Lead us to a place Guide us with your grace Give us faith so we’ll be safe
Sognamo un mondo senza più violenza (We dream of a world with no more violence) Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza (A world of justice and hope) Ognuno dia la mano al suo vicino (Everyone lends a hand to their neighbour) Simbolo di pace e di fraternità (A symbol of peace and fraternity)
La forza che ci dai (The strength you give us) We ask that life be kind È il desiderio che (And the desire that) And watch us from above Ognuno trovi amor (Everyone will find love) We hope each soul will find Intorno e dentro a sè (Around and inside themselves) Another soul to love Let this be our prayer Let this be our prayer Just like every child Just like every child
Need to find a place, Guide us with your grace Give us faith so we’ll be safe E la fede che (And the faith that) Hai acceso in noi (You have ignited within us) Sento che ci salverá (I feel that it will save all of us)
After watching such terrifying images of the destruction caused by the fires on the west coast of the USA, I tried to put myself in the place of the victims and simply start shaking at the thought. It saddened me so much to hear about the number of deaths including a young child. I believe that climate change is the ultimate culprit for these calamities.
I wonder if we will be able to reverse the damage so far. Three states are suffering from the fires and who knows how many people will end up with serious respiratory illnesses in the weeks to come. Louisiana is soon facing yet another possible hurricane. Puerto Rico has to deal with the sand storms that come from the Sahara. You have to see it to believe that so much soot can accumulate within just a few days. The island has also experienced several earthquakes as have so many other places.
We can only hope that science will figure out what needs to be done. We know what we can do to help the situation. During the pandemic shut down, many cities were observing how the environment seemed cleaner. Obviously, there were less cars on the roads and therefore less pollution. It simply makes sense the more we work together the better the results. Sometimes it takes something like a pandemic to help us see reality.
Racial tensions augmented during these last few months. All races came together to stand up for racial justice. I recently reread a copy of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. I had underlined these quotes so many years ago when I first read his work and which still resonates today.
“Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death–ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.”
“And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”
― James Baldwin
Life only happens once. And for those who believe we reincarnate it still happens one life at a time and within a specific time. I hope and believe that we can make life better for each other when we decide to accept that each of us is deserving of a good life, a healthy existence, a peaceful coexistence. I still hope that we awaken to the essence of our oneness. Are you ready?
Poemattic: Poetry and Art for the Soul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.