Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Every year for many years now I have celebrated National Poetry Month and invite and encourage those who find poetry difficult or boring to give poetry a try. If you have read my profile you will know that for me poetry is life and life is poetry. I was introduced to poetry at a very young age and had wonderful teachers who inspired me to read and write poems.
I believe that poetry can change your life. I also believe that poetry can heal. Our nation needs healing right now. We are facing a very deadly virus and have been told that there is a possibility that many thousands will lose their lives. The thought terrifies me and saddens me deeply. Hopefully the numbers of people affected will decrease substantially. This pandemic has hit hard in many countries around the world. This is why more than ever we must understand the concept of oneness. Prayer, meditation, and yes reading poetry will help us cope with the tragedy of what is now. I refuse to think beyond that; i must stay focused on the now. We have little control over what may happen as a result of this deadly and highly contagious virus.
I believe in hope. We must believe in the ingenuity of our scientific and medical researchers because we do have the best of the best working hard to find the therapy and finally the vaccine that will work.
Please join me in celebrating National Poetry Month by using poetry to help us heal and to comfort us. Join me to celebrate a Poem in Your Pocket. Look for poems that inspire and fill your heart with hope. Share poems with love ones and even perfect strangers. Write poems. Dedicate a poem to someone who is laboring to make a difference in all of our lives. Share poems via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and any other social media outlet. Let us make poetry viral surpassing any other medium. Surprise someone with a poem inside a greeting card. Remember that poetry is life and life is poetry.
God bless you all and may poetry bring you joy and hope during these very scary and difficult times.
My favorite poem of Langston Hughes is “Mother to Son”. I read the poem during a ballet dedicated to the great Harlem Renaissance poet. The poem resonated with many grandmothers in the audience that evening and I will never forget Ella Mae who came up to me and told me her story. She struggled to make ends meet when her husband died tragically and she was left with three little boys. She was the daughter of a share cropper and never learned to read. But her dream was to see her sons go to school and become professionals. Her eldest became an attorney and the other two sons were both doctors. She finally learned to read at the age of 70 when she enrolled in an adult literacy program. How she managed was a miracle. She said her own children never realized she was not literate. The reason she shared all of this with me was because her favorite poet was Langston Hughes. He was one of the first poets introduced to her by her literacy instructor. This poem is a tribute to all mothers who dream big for their children. I will never forget Ella Mae and her heartwarming story about a mother’s love. Here is a recitation by Langston Hughes himself.
I have received several poems to include in my new collection of poetry. Please indicate if you would be interested in having your poem or poems included before February 14, 2020. If selected payment will be one copy of the publication. Updates about this new endeavor will be posted. Happy writing!
I wanted to thank my fellow bloggers for their interesting and thought provoking ideas that inspire me everyday. A special thanks to all those who faithfully follow Poemattic. Thank for your continued support.
Thanksgiving day was very quiet; unlike other years when our children, grandchildren, and other family members gather for a traditional dinner. I was sad we would not have the family together but it gave me the opportunity to gather my thoughts about what giving thanks signifies.
So I wrote a few poems to share with you and chose this one for today even though it is belated.
Why Give Thanks
Why give thanks today more than any other day?
Who really knows?
I remember pictures in an old school history book
where depicted were Native Americans and the New Americans feasting
together in peace and harmony.
I want to believe that was how is was in truth,
Could it have been a photo opportunity though?
You know, like a Hallmark TV commercial,
It is all about what it is suppose to be about.
But the truth is today many of us are split;
separated by biases and “alternative facts”,
conspiracy theories, and oh yes, by the enemy
of the people. Do we know who they are?
We are not suppose to believe what we see or what we hear anymore.
Do I give thanks for that?
I witnessed homelessness at its worst the other day;
and on a cable channel
someone was flaunting a home that had 10 bathrooms.
Do I give thanks for that undeniable truth?
So few have so much and too many have nothing.
Another senseless shooting in New Orleans just yesterday, very sad
and by the way,
A little girl went missing again taken from right in front of her mother;
Do I give thanks for that?
My thanks are desperately waiting
for us to sincerely unite
So many of us do understand the urgency
for purposeful and mindful conversations
about the issues that really matter.
But every time I watch the news or open up a newspaper
it is mostly about negative stuff, crazy stuff, and unbelievable stuff
stuff you cannot make up kind of stuff.
Senseless mass shootings, climate change, and government corruption,
Do I give thanks for that?
Pardon me if I sound pessimistic today of all days
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If we speak or act with a pure thought, happiness follows us, like a shadow that never leaves us.”
– Buddha
Pure thoughts
rare like sea lions
drift among us
at times, they try to become embedded in our hearts
