Silent, but for cunning Corvidae, they
of song, sub-song, caw, click and rattle
On ghostly air currents they levitate
high above the quiet fragrant turf
And all the while the heart spins
on the rose garden’s pulsing colors,
kindling fancy into inspiration
A fabled coalition of migrant birds
arrives to sit a spell, to catch a breath of
white jasmine on a breeze that speaks
the tongue of Aleppo, while under the ginkgo
words are braided into narrative thread,
yarns pulled from earthy green waves
and that blue echo of peace called sky
Rev. Ben Meyers, minister of the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo (UUSM), announced today that UUSM members will stand in solidarity for peace, sustainability and social justice on Inauguration Day, January 20th. He invited the greater Peninsula community to join in a peaceful protest from noon – 1 p.m. along the El Camino Real (ECR) from San Francisco to San Jose. “If you too are concerned about the rhetoric and proposed policies of the incoming administration,” Rev. Meyers said, “you are encouraged to come out and show that as a community we will stand our ground and fight for tolerance, decency, economic justice and democracy in our country.”
Protesters are invited to come individually or in groups and to carry their organization’s banner or signs indicating their primary concerns. “Be direct,” counsels Rev. Meyers,
“but PLEASE, no hateful or violent language. Don’t block driveways, doorways, street crossings or traffic. We will gather at noon and disperse peacefully and promptly at 1 p.m.” Further details at ECR Protest. There’s a Group page set up so that you can meet-up with others near you. Ask to join or message Jamie’s personal FB G J Dedes.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
it must be painful for them to write, those poets in tough-times and hard places
where blood and tears and poverty contaminate the air, stain the sidewalks, and consume the people
the blood must be soul-sick and rusted and tasting of acid, not salt,
and the poems meant to heal the writer and stroke the cheeks of the wounded,
to dry their eyes and gently kiss their gray heads
to poem in such places must be like walking shoeless on glass shards
perhaps the most sacred thing in the dream-time meadow of poets’ desire is Light ~
can you awaken to meet the Divine on the battlefield, in the camps, in government housing or in the ghettos?
if so, you are a saint, not simply an artist
2.
in my small world, my civilized world, people fall asleep reading or after making love or playing in the yard with their children
if they wander, it is through books or planned travel
there are luxuries
there is food
there is cleanliness and paper on which to write
no bombs are dropping to scorch and scar the Earth
there is a certain dignity
3.
in San Francisco we walk along the beach at night, near the Cliff House
we walk to the sound of the waves, the song of the Earth chanting its joys
our feet are bare and relish the comfort of cool sand
the air is clear and cold and easy to breathe, tasting of salt and smelling of sea life ~ here is a pristine moment of peace
i want to bequeath this peace to you, to everyone,
as though it were a cherished heirloom
it is really a birthright
i want to plunge into the waters and gather the ocean in my cupped hands, to offer it to you as sacramental wine
i want to form seaweed into garlands for all of us to wear, to hang over our hearts, a symbol of affection
i want to collect pine cones from the trees that congregate along the coast and feed them to the children to remind them to cherish this Earth and all its creatures, themselves included, and to say …
do not make war in your heart or upon your mother’s body
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 