AND THEY CALL THIS VICTORY?

Photo from the Internet

SHATTERED

The people of Nazaz St. in Gaza City returned home during

the 12 hr. ceasefire in hostilities not to resume their lives

but to bury their dead and pick over the remains of their possessions.

                                                            ~The Telegraph

if you live on Nazaz  St.

            you have 12 hours to look for

            and bury your dead

You have 12 hours to see

            if your home  still stands

            if the portrait of your grandparents

still exists        if the treasured blue bowl

            that your mother made

            remains unshattered

you have 12 hours to learn

            if you can still pray    

            still hold hope
          

                        still put the broken pieces of you 

                        back together again...

                       

FOR THE BUTTERFLIES

Photo by S. Auberle
Monarch butterflies must have milkweed to nourish their offspring and the plant is being decimated by pesticides.  Plant it if you have a spot...what a disaster it would be to lose these beautiful creatures...

CRASH

But most of all I shall remember the Monarchs, that

unhurried westward drift of one small winged form

after another, each drawn by some invisible force…

                                             ~  Rachel Carson

the Monarchs have crashed they say

as if a great plane had carried them

on their mighty journey south

and the hand of a jealous god

smote them down

certainly not our fault we say

and so we mourn them and orate

and pontificate about what to do

how to save the few     who remain

who remind us of what once was

and the number who understand

is as small as those fragile creatures left

to grace our emptying skies

who soon may join the passenger pigeon

the ivory-billed woodpecker

all the scorned-as-unimportant…

o let there be somewhere a place

where whatever passes for hearts

and arms welcome these--open wide

awestruck       immeasurably grateful for each

HAPPY COAT

Photo by S. Auberle

Those of you who know me know how I love resale boutiques, garage sales, flea markets etc.  Not only do they provide me with cool clothes and stuff, but also now and then a poem.  Such as my most recent purchase for one little dollar--a Japanese happy coat.  Mind you, it's not a true "happi" coat, but a faux one, or not even that.  But when I went to pay for my purchase, the cashier volunteer said oh, I have a happy coat…  So I asked him if he were happy when he wore it, and he said yes.  That got me to thinking about how wonderful it would be if this were truly a happy coat…one that I or anyone could don, and no matter how rough things were at the moment, slipping on this bright red robe would be magic.  Why not?  Troubles would fly away like the embroidered yellow bird on the back.  No matter how frigid the weather, there would be flowers and sun, which are also sewn on the material.  All this for $1!  So here I am--eating sun-warmed cherries out on my porch and watching my happy coat dancing in the wind.  Sappy, you say?  Yes, but happy…  Already I'm happier than before and I'm not even wearing it.  The idea makes me smile inside and how much we all need more of that…