Posted on

If Trees Could Talk

If trees could talk

These two trees would be

telling you

they are happy to have

survived the two hurricanes

that devastated Texas, the Caribbean and Florida

They would tell you they represent hope.

 

Please give to the telethon Hand In Hand being televised right now. Oprah Winfrey and many other artists and performers are taking part in the magnanimous event. Give what you can. The one-hour Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief telethon airs live from Los Angeles, New York and Nashville Tuesday night (Sept. 12) at 8 p.m ET with a 8 p.m PT rebroadcast on the West Coast via ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CMT and more.

Posted on

8-21-2017

 

Today at noon London time

Big Ben bongs to announce

its retirement for a while

after all is said and done

the historic clock will be back in style.

 

Today at 2:44 PM New York time

where everyone

no matter where you are from

is in a New York State of mind

will gather to commune

with the sun and moon

witnessing a total eclipse of the sun

 

some may listen to the following songs

that reassure nothing will go wrong

tunes like:

“Let the Sunshine In” or

“Here Comes the Sun”

will probably take top billing

 

I get goosebumps

and a real good feeling

I hope for the future to be bright

hopefully we can all make it right.

 

 

From Oregon to South Carolina

this unique celestial event

brings us together

in an almost spiritual sense

no matter what the cost or expense.

It is all that people talk about

I cannot wait to hear the hoorays and shouts

when Moon covers the sun 70 percent

the totality of love

for our universe will be expressed.

“A total eclipse of the heart”

Glory be!

Will the excitement

ignite compassion,

greater tolerance

and love for each other?

Let us wait and see.

 

Don’t Forget to Protect your eyes!!!  Happy Viewing! 

 

Posted on

Found Poem #5

 

The following is another poem inspired by my fellow bloggers. Thanks for your beautiful posts. The attributions follow. Check out their beautiful work.

All is prayer

When thoughts are still

A rainbow of hope

Fills the sky

And I

Pray

 

All is prayer

And I am here

To tell you

We are one

 

All is prayer

Who am I but a body in time,

I ask the universe for love

I am a woman, an artist, a mother, a worker,

But I want to be like water

Flowing calming

And sometimes still

All is prayer

Let it be what will

 

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/64046823

https://poemattic.wordpress.com

https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/2017/04/18/birthday-poem/

Posted on

2017

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…” Tennyson was right. Hope always smiles. It cheers us on when we are down and helps us to get through many disappointments.  After all hope is all we can hope for because it is a gift from the divine.  The New Year provides us with a clean slate to start a new chapter in our lives. A new year is full of expectations, resolutions, goals, and dreams to be fulfilled.  But if we falter and or somehow forget our resolutions, give up on our dreams or deny ourselves that great expectation then we can always hope that hope smiles again the following year.

2016 is a year to be remembered for sure.  It was one of many tragic events and one where we all focused on the presidential election. Many greats in the fields of science and the arts passed away leaving a certain void in the world. But life moves on. We can only hope that more great minds are still developing and finding ways to save the planet, cure diseases, and help us to truly understand the purpose of our stay on this earth.

2017 can only be as good as we make it. Maybe we can work together to make it so. Happy New Year.

Thanks to all my followers for your continued support.

Grand

Posted on

When We Listen

When We listen

When we listen
we can hear the unspoken words
of the sages of the future

when we listen
the songs of the crickets
are meant to heal our souls

when we listen
we can decipher
the secret whispers
of the butterflies

DSC_1090

Photo by Melba Christie

When we listen
we can hear
the heart strings of a young lover
strumming like an acoustic guitar

when we listen
we can hear
the harp of our soul
playing an opus
to help us become
more aware of who we are

when we listen
there’s no telling
what sounds will resonate
to help us appreciate
the life we take for granted
all the more.

Posted on

The Pope of Hope

As most people here in the Tri-State area, we have seen the presentations and masses pronounced by Pope Francis of the the Holy Seas and many of us have been deeply touched by his message of Love and Peace. This is my poem to honor his visit. I also tried painting his friendly face with all due respect.

Skies of crystal blue prevailed today
As the Pope of Hope
Like Jesus did walked among us

Even for those who were not too close
deep emotions did not fail
to energize and fill all hearts
with glory and hopeful dreams

As he waved to thousands
On what now will be the Holy urban trail
Worshipers screamed,
called out his name,
and cried sweet tears
for this Pope of the People
had washed away their fears.
For many today
Life will not be the same
History records impatiently
The sounds and sights today
Pope Francis of the Holy Sea
Prays for you and me and
For even the non-believer
All he wants is Peace to be a reality.

Pope Francis 2 by Melba

He asked us all to restore our hope
To resolve our differences with respect
For we must live as one
He asked us all to educate the young.

Future generations
must learn the lessons well;
To build our oneness
and fraternal love,
To restore a Nation of Freedom for all
This is our divine call.

He said to Remember the Golden Rule.
Our faces may be different yes
But our hearts beat all the same
Some filled with passion and compassion
Love can only be our gain.

Thank you Pope Francisco of the Holy Sea
for your humble presence and
your words of inspiration.

With Gratitude and Remembrance
I think we will see clearly now,
And forever more.
No more smog or clouds
to block our vision and sincere affirmations
For deep down in our hearts
We know this to be true
United we stand
and in God We Trust.

God bless America

and Pope Francis,

God bless you too.

Posted on

Numbers With Meaning

My tribute goes deep. One of my family members was first responder and we are grateful she is still in our lives. A couple of my former students at the time lost family members. A colleague lost his cousin. As everyone else, I remember vividly the events of the day. I can remember things I said, what I had for breakfast and the pounding of heart. It all started during the first period of the school day. I had to be strong for my students and the teachers under my supervision. I was not supposed to panic. I had to be strong for all of them. I remained as calm as I humanly could and tried to comfort the children who had been entrusted to me.

I did not breakdown until I returned home that evening and looked to the New York City skyline from my car to see the devastation. Although all I could see was smoke, I kept thinking of the people who lived in that area and all the lives lost. I thought about my old neighborhood and how terrified people must have been in those horrific moments. I thanked God that my family was safe. I recently visited the 9/11 memorial. It is amazing. It was very emotional and sad but at the same time I felt hopeful. I know we will never ever forget. I just pray that it gets better for all the family members who lost their loved ones. I did not realize or maybe I’d blocked out some of the facts of that day. Only six people survived. Most especially I was stunned to know that 11 unborn children had also perished. Now that I am a grandmother this fact is harder to accept. However, I believe with all my heart they are our angels of hope.

I did not write a poem this year but I focused on the numbers that appear in every newspaper, blog, flyer, book, and all accounts of that beautiful September day that became the most tragic day in the history of our country. May their souls rest in peace.

A candle in the wind God bless America.

Numbers with meaning

9/11

2001

8:45

1

767

11

20,000

80

110

18

9:04

2

767

175

60

9:45

5

757

77

125

64

15

200

10:30

93

40

500

5:20

7

4

1,800,000

2997

90

11

343

23

37

6

19

Freedom Tower

Water Falls

Posted on

Coming to America

PHOTOS FOR KEEPS 465

 

 

Coming to America

 

She was only 18 years old

Her heart raced in her chest

like galloping stallions on the finca

they left on the island of emerald-green.

 

 

Soon their ship would pass by Lady Liberty;

All decks were packed with passengers

Some would salute proudly,

others knelt thankfully

as if at church,

but she simply held her breath

like when you get ready to

blow-up a balloon at a birthday party.

 

Her dreams danced in her head

like her favorite dancers Fred Astaire

and Ginger Rodgers.

 

She envisioned herself looking out

her bay window framed with lace curtains

as her two young girls jumped rope.

 

She imagined her Cape Cod home

surrounded by a three-foot white picket fence,

daffodils and daisies leaning comfortably against it.

That was her American Dream.

 

Yellow and red flowers growing along a white picket fence in traditional garden Stock Photo - 13865383

 

 

 

 

She knew there was hard work ahead

No one said it would be easy

her heart reminded her everyday

that hope makes everything possible.

 

 

No one warned them about the

False pride and prejudice of some folks

or about the stereotypes (woven

into the fabric of the what they called

the union)

that would always look at her dreams

in the face and call her “SPIC” and stupid.

 

 

My mother was a strong woman

She proved them all wrong.

Her last wish was to return home someday

that was her Puerto Rican Dream.

 

House in PR

 

 

She accomplished both.

She is in Heaven now,

Of this I am sure.

 

I bet she’s wondering

what is going on here?

what happened to our American Dream.

What happened to the “I CAN” attitude?

Mom, you don’t want to know.

 

 

 

Posted on

I Hate Failure

Failure to achieve something meaningful in life can be devastating sometimes. I was thinking about failure today. There are circumstances in life that may get in the way of our success. Sometimes failure is inevitable. But why?

We have little control over nature; often it seems like it needs to fail us or disappoint us in order for us to appreciate it as a gift from God. We have failed at preserving our natural resources. That is real failure because it will have repercussions on future generations.

We may not understand how someone can deceive and fail us when we most need support and compassion. As human beings we fail each other all the time. We fail our children many times by expecting less from them. We fail to love each other unconditionally and to develop compassion. We fail to forgive. We fail to open our hearts. We fail to think before we speak and hurt someone deeply. We fail to keep the peace.

The following is about failure. I wrote it soon after my sister passed away from heart failure. It seemed that everything was failing all at once.

 

I Hate Failure!

The baby steps we made

toward peace yesterday

are now giant footprints

leading to mass destruction.

I Hate Failure!

 

CHILDREN

DIE

FROM

HUNGER,

STILL.

We could do more to help you know.

We don’t though. Why not?

 

I Hate Failure!

We do not do enough,

to do enough,

to snuff out

HATE,

BIGOTRY,

and all the BAD stuff there is to snuff.

We know it’s up to us.

It is our job to make peace

and to teach our children

to accept our differences and respect

diversity. But we don’t. Why not?

 

I Hate Failure!

The moon

forgot

to dance the rumba last night

to make her chuckle

one last time.

The stars failed to show up

when she made her last wish.

No one was there to embrace her

and whisper goodbye.

I Hate Failure!

She never knew

how precious she was

to all of us. I hope she knows it now somehow.

 

I Hate Failure!

I Hate Failure!

I Hate Failure!