Skyline shifts
beyond boundaries of Light.
Dawn breaks apart
Moon from Starlight.
Friend to all,
Sun takes deep breath
and slowly rises
just beyond the Bend
between neighbors’ yards
and my own.
I sit in wonder.
My Joy wanders,
alone.
Tag Archives: hope
LOOK TO THE YOUNG
To see the future look to the young people.
They are not yet bound by convention,
nor blinded by the past,
as we old people are,
weighed down and eyes downcast
because we must watch the path
we no longer walk easily.
Such history serves a purpose.
It offers cautionary tales
learned from days gone by.
But, it predicts nothing,
moves too slowly to catch up
with the speed of a future
unfolding before our eyes.
We can hardly understand
what we see in broken spans
as we catch pieces of the changes
meant to help us survive.
Look to the young people
racing on by, sharing nods of heads
while busily taking it all in stride,
smiling all the while,
letting us hold fast to our past
knowing we think them fools;
but they know they are simply cool.
And they are so, so, so cool.
They carry our hopes with their own,
and the hopes of ages past grown old
into a world we cannot conceive.
They never break a sweat;
learning more than we can forget.
I want to live long enough to see
this new world they create, strong and free.
I lift my eyes up to them respectfully,
gladly, lovingly and hopefully.
A NEW DAY IS COMING
Morning must wait awhile
for the sun to cross the stile.
We wait in darkness,
shadows their starkest;
unable to see our way,
knowing the sun will rise,
always, on a new day.
But, I am awake for hours;
no years, no decades now.
I have pushed away darkened skies,
I have struggled to plant seeds
in hardened soil stomped on
by supremacist feet of clay.
I have listened to hateful words
until my soul shouts and sways.
Always, always, I wait for the sky
to lighten on a new day.
I listen for the first notes
of morning-birds’ first songs
carried on morning-breath’s first breezes
stirred by sun’s rising heat
overturning the cold of night;
up-ending threatening nightmares
and tossing them away.
Soon, soon, I promise you.
There will come a new day.
BAD KNEES GARDENER
Packets of seeds are starting to arrive,
which may never grow,
in the mail from companies
with greater gardening skills than I.
Buying seeds is a hopeful sign
that my pained leg might soon be fine.
Perhaps one day my knee can bend again
to plant my treasured seeds in fertile soil
and I can return to lovingly toil
among plants that are my dearest friends.
For now, they sit untended on my kitchen counter.
They sit and they wait, then wait some more
for longer, warmer days filled with sunlight;
and, for a leg which can stretch and move
painlessly and endlessly to plant more seeds
than this world may ever need
to make peace and beauty thrive,
among earthlings happy to be alive.
The seeds sit and wait for better days.
As do I. As do I. As do I.
THE FALL
The snow is falling
again.
She feels like an old
friend.
I fall with her at my
ease.
With one request, if you
please.
I beg her to break my
fall,
and allow grace to cover the sins of
all.
Sun strikingly yearns to rise and
heat
the frozen earth beneath my
feet.
My fall, I fear is not easy nor
soft.
Minds cooling their anger keep hope
aloft.
But, I am sinking beneath the
weight
of my own government filled with such
hate.
Will we ever see another summer of
love?
If cold snow keeps falling from
above?
One thing I truly
know.
No one can make me hate the
snow.
My heart melts as the snow soon
will.
I hold fast to love for all,
still.
RISE UP
Early morning risers are a breed apart.
They insist upon rising in the dark.
Their tattered dreams soon forgotten
they move to uncover windows;
not to simply let in the coming light
but, to first, acknowledge the night.
Darkness holds little mystery
to those who accept the misery
of what they watched unfold the day before,
and to believe the new day’s light will restore
balance, fairness, wisdom, hope and more.
Surely, the sun will shine on goodness
and love will once more rise with sun’s rays?
Such hopes can only be born in the dark.
Once sun rises and bathes us in her light
we forget the need for change we felt,
we hungered for, we fought for through the night.
Like babes in dark wombs we struggle to alight.
We yearn to be free of darkness and held tight.
Such memories of those first moments
are waiting to be born now in this morn’s sunlight.
Those who wake and walk in darkness know,
once more of us awake, all can soon be set aright.
STRONG OF HEART
Hardened hearts break easily,
leaving broken pieces to fall
as heavy weights of brute strength,
and painful threats strewn about the streets
bathed in pepper gas and tears
of gas dripping over the faces of our children,
our elderly, our disabled; all allies
of the young who’s futures face flash bangs
of deceit and fraud and outright theft.
All of us thrown to the ground
stumped and stamped upon
by those whose hardened hearts
keep breaking and flung about in rage.
The hearts of those who protest are soft.
They are known for their easy acceptance.
They are berated for their ease of conscience.
Such hearts cannot break apart.
They are part of one eternal heart.
The hearts of protesters are soft, but firm.
Such soft hearts are resolute and unbreakable.
Their love of country and of one another
continue to beat strong and full of love.
Such hearts always remember to BE GOOD.
The only way to stop strong hearts
is to capture, perhaps kill, them.
Hearts connected to one another
always continue to beat on.
Ukraine’s heart beats on.
Gaza’s heart beats on.
Sudan’s heart beats on.
Iran’s heart beats on.
Greenland’s heart beats on.
Canada’s heart beats on.
Central America’s heart beats on.
South America’s heart beats on.
The European Union’s heart beats on.
Minneapolis’ heart beats on.
Chicago’s heart beats on.
Los Angeles’ heart beats on.
The United States of America’s heart beats on.
Freedom’s heart beats strong,
and beats on, now and forever.
LIVE FOR TODAY
Filed under POETRY
LEAD WITH THE HEART
Lead with the heart
and the mind will follow
a path of peace and hope,
strong enough to carry
dreams and generosity
for all those you meet.
No matter how difficult
the journey it will not be taken
alone, silently, fearfully.
The heart knows best what matters.
The heart knows the best path.
The heart unites us joyfully.
The heart beats life determinedly.
The heart overcomes strife.
Lead with the heart and do your part
to create a world worth living.
Some paths are famous and large.
Some paths are unrecognized and small.
Every path matters to those
who walk it and make it their own.
Every path converges as we move
into the great unknown.
Filed under POETRY
annarino writes 
MORNING COMES
Tomorrow will turn into today; 2025 to 2026. We will still resist negativity and embrace one another as we seek to create a more American America, fully embracing, perhaps for the first time, our Constitution and Bill of Rights. It will be more difficult than ever. But, I am hopeful it can be done because of my faith in each of you.
I am thankful to all who read by poetry, political essays and family stories. You cover the globe. Your hands reach across oceans. Your hearts embrace human kindness. Your minds seek truth. Your souls seek justice. You give me the blessing of your attention to address the problems we face. Somehow, united across the globe, such intention to do good and treat one another with mutual respect, will work miracles. We shall overcome the darkness as we enlighten each other’s lives. You enlighten mine. I thank you, dear readers. Happy New Year! A new morning comes.
Leave a comment
Filed under COMMENTARY
Tagged as faith, gratitude, happy new year, hope, resistance movement