Time sleeps
For those who weep
It’s passage stopped by grief.
Time awakens
For those shaken
By tears’ release.
Glorious morning!
When light is reborn
Time freed of fear and scorn.
People awake who longed
For angels in song
Announcing the birth of a babe.
A babe who restarts time
Reawakens hope
And restores our joy.
Merry Christmas morn!
Delight in this gift given
The day Jesus the Christ is born.
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One day is all it takes
for Autumn to blow away
on ice-laden winds
that shock lawns
with frost as thick as thieves
robbing us of long walks amid the trees
which shelter us from too strong a breeze.
Our path is no longer clear
of the detritus of Fall,
of our fall from grace, putting us in our place
inside the hidden thoughts of our minds;
until the sun shines strong and deliberate,
with a design to clear the mind.
For now, we wait in hope
for longer days and shorter nights
until we can alight guided
by a Stronger Light
until Spring returns
to awaken our sight
and warm our souls.
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THE LITTLE AGITATOR
12-23-2021
Did you earn a nickname in your childhood? you know, like a mobster, sticky fingers or tattle-tale ? Some nicknames are freely given merely to shorten names; Elizabeth become Beth, Edward becomes Eddie. There are nicknames dragged from the mouths of aggravated parents in place of a curse, as patience wanes. Such nicknames only work to guide a child’s behavior to the extant they understand all it definitions. Children are quite literal, unlike adults who have learned to use nuance to avoid consequences of unwise words and actions.
My nickname was “ The agitator”; at first “little agitator”, and as I grew older simply “agitator”. In my childish mind agitator had only one meaning: the central post in the washing machine which swished water around to remove dirt from clothes and allow it to be washed away. I found it quite a compliment to know my effort to wash away the dirt hiding others’ motivations, true belief behind their statements, and misleading or misguided behavior was recognized. It was a puzzle why Mom seemed so upset when praising me so often and so relentlessly. This “little agitator” looked for dirt everywhere to wash it away with words. I washed it out of the house, the playground, the schoolroom until everyone could cleanly and clearly see the uncomfortable truth.
The older I got the more I realized it had been meant not a an encouragement but as an effort to block my truth seeking. Stirring up the dirt to wash it away is not always a sound practice around mothers overwhelmed by small children who care not for the daily bath. Politicians and leaders fear a bath as well.
Too many of us prefer to hide behind the dirt. Too many of us allow others to hide as well. We fear our own hypocrisy, I think. Entire industries exist to heap more dirt on the truth of who we are. Sometimes dirt is thrown merely to entertain and distract us from what lies beneath the surface. Those seeking to hold on to their wealth develop artificial turf, and artificial dirt, to create an artificial world where they can hide their greed and their misdeeds.
Nicknames last forever. I claim mine gladly. I am “ the agitator”. Throw your clothes in the hamper and start the wash. It is time we came clean.
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Three dreams in a row
And all I know
The first taught how
To design a plow.
The second showed
The purpose of the plow.
The third dreamed warned
Of the uselessness of fields unfurrowed
Where no seed can grow.
Time for plows, shovels or spoons
Fields are waiting.
The time to dig is now.
Filed under Uncategorized
SOME WORDS MUST REMAIN
SILENT ON THE PAGE
INSTEAD OF SPEAKING OUT LOUD
THEIR OUTRAGE.
NEED I SAY MORE
TO THOSE WHO EXPLORE
EVERY NEWSPAPER AND PODCAST,
AND BROADCASTS GALORE?
YOU KNOW WHAT WE FACE
AND THE FEAR THAT REPLACED
THE EXCEPTIONAL HOPE
AMERICAN BIRTHRIGHT BESTOWED
ON THOSE WITH OPEN HEARTS AND OPEN SHORES,
OPEN MINDS AND OPEN POLLS.
NOW SHORES AND POLLS ARE BEING SHUTTERED
SCHOOL BOARDS AND STATEHOUSES CLUTTERED
BY THOSE NULLIFYING NOT ONLY OUR VOTES,
BUT OUR RIGHT TO CLAIM
OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
IN MORE THAN NAME
ONLY. IF ONLY, WE COULD SPEAK OUT
UNASHAMED AND ALOUD.
WE ARE NOT PERFECT, PEOPLE, BUT WE MUST BE ENOUGH
AS THE GOING GETS TOUGH. WE MUST BE ENOUGH.
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OUT OF THE PIT
12-18-2021
We yearn to turn corners
while we burn
for familiar faces
and easy spaces
where change is paced
and we can remain sedate.
But, transformation
of a dying nation,
shaken to its foundation
can never feel safe
by standing in place,
while violence and fear
obscure all we hold dear.
Using both brains and brawn
we must soldier on
crossing boundaries beyond
those we set long before the big con,
like filibusters and indictments
of former president’s incitements;
until our path is no longer blocked
by those who should be locked
up.
Up, look up!
It is the only way to climb out of the pit.
Climb, even though Republicans sit
on their hands, hands out for any bit
of coin, or power, unwilling to admit
failure. They only look down, sit down,
lock down the march to save the crown
jewel that is the republic where world-wide freedom is sown.
This is not the time to count the cost
of what it takes to regain what we have lost.
Up! Up! Look up!eoublican apart
Filed under Uncategorized
OUT OF THE PIT
12-18-2021
We yearn to turn corners
while we burn
for familiar faces
and easy spaces
where change is paced
and we can remain sedate.
But, transformation
of a dying nation,
shaken to its foundation
can never feel safe
by standing in place,
while violence and fear
obscure all we hold dear.
Using both brains and brawn
we must soldier on
crossing boundaries beyond
those we set long before the big con,
like filibusters and indictments
of former president’s incitements;
until our path is no longer blocked
by those who should be locked
up.
Up, look up!
It is the only way to climb out of the pit.
Climb, even though Republicans sit
on their hands, hands out for any bit
of coin, or power, unwilling to admit
failure. They only look down, sit down,
lock down the march to save the crown
jewel that is the republic where world-wide freedom is sown.
This is not the time to count the cost
of what it takes to regain what we have lost.
Up! Up! Look up!
Filed under Uncategorized
Babies conceived by woman
alone
no fuss, no sex, no mess, no male.
responsible for it all,
alone.
Keep all women virgins
then, now, forever.
Keep all men out of it
and out of women.
Except, we don’t.
it is all pretend,
a virgin birth
play without end.
“Sacrilege!” some would say.
But I remember Sister Robertine’s words:
“It is a man’s world, but a woman’s heaven.”
Girls suffer to be saints
while men sin.
So easy, then, for men
to decry a woman’s need
to end
the fruits of their sin.
Love supplants virginity,
not sanctity.
Filed under Uncategorized
Caring need not mean
carrying another’s burden;
nor lifting a load too heavy
to bear alone,
yet often does.
There is a danger of injury
in shifting loads.
Better to brace
weakened strength
and leave the load in place.
Better to widen the stance
on planted feet
solidly grounded
while arms embrace.
Better to dance together.
this, too, lightens a load
with far more grace
and less harm.
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Too bright a light
washes the image
from our sight,
and blurs the edges
as if night
hid the view
in plain sight.
Spotlights have their use.
Their brilliance overrides
the fear of missing
what disaster often hides:
Scenes of tortures
deep and wide
meant to remain hidden.
“Smaller is better”
says the mother of a short child,
in a tiny house, with a small income.
“Too big is too wild”
she states without guile;
“It is the tiny smile
which touches hearts”.
The twinkling stars
in the darkest sky
remind us how far
our souls have journeyed.
And the star atop the tree
joins those strings of lights
to brighten our way.
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annarino writes 