We had a fabulously warm last weekend when I went to visit my grandson, met my son and daughter-in-law there in Lexington, Kentucky. He goes to UK. Then upon return, THAT next storm moved in and temperatures plunged 50 degrees in about two hours. Now we have had more snow since yesterday and highs pre-teen, lows, does - 1 seem real? February mercurial, yes! Warmer coming again, along with Daylight Savings Time!
I am impatient. I want change now! I want those in power to make life better all over the world. I am doing what I can, little me trying to be a better person for and to everyone. Wishing the events in the Russian war against Ukraine were not true, yet they are. Wishing the events happening in our own country weren't true, but they are. This is one poem I wrote for Laura Shovan's birthday poetry group, reflecting on all of our actions, asking a question of readers. It is from a wonderful prompt, a collage created by Linda Mitchell, with the theme of time.
Will We Spark A New Kind of Joy?
Can we recuse ourselves
from parts of history
packed tight into
the basket of the past
holding power over the future?
Are you unpacking,
discarding,
revising
what was then
into a better now?
Linda Baie ©
Your poem sparked a joy within me, Linda, because there is tangible hope in "unpacking, discarding, and revising". Linda's collage is terrific, too! :)
ReplyDeleteLove your poem, Linda. So much to unpack, repackage, dig deeper. Best to you in this crazy mercurial time. Same here, by the way, tho not much snow.
ReplyDelete-1? Wow. Compelling and provocative poem, Linda. Hopeful too -- moving forward, doing better having learned from the hard lessons of the past. Love Linda M's collage too!
ReplyDeleteI love this statement: "I am impatient." And your poem is so thoughtful...readers can spend a lot of time with this one! xo
ReplyDeleteOh, this is powerful, Linda! (And wow on dropping 50 degrees in a couple of hours. We're having some temp swings, but even MN is not that extreme right now!)
ReplyDeleteI am right there with you, Linda, wanting change and wishing people in power would do the right thing. Yes to revising into a better now--and soon!
ReplyDeleteTemperature changes, world in disarray, etc., we need to spark a new kind of joy, as you prompt us in your poem. Linda's collage is an amazing piece of artwork that I am glad you commented on. Your ending question in the poem allows me to dig deeper into the now and what each one of us can do to bring about a small amount of change. Stay warm. We are in the high 60s here and tomorrow snow is expected. Go figure this scenario out.
ReplyDeleteI will sit with wanting "a better now" -- knowing that sitting will not produce it. I, too, am impatient. Here's to praying our words, our poems, our stories, our art will move children to empathy, that we may avoid the craziness of climate change and future wars.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I love this, Linda:
ReplyDelete"revising / what was then / into a better now"
ooooooh. I love what you did with this poem. It is killing me how much the world has yet to learn from past mistakes. The Russian War against Ukraine is exactly the way to phrase it. I feel like everything is packed tightly into the basket of my chest these days. Poetry helps...thanks for using the collage as an inspiration piece.
ReplyDeleteI love your poem Linda! I particularly love how you shift from "we" to "you" - the question with "we" invites us into this discussion, as we nod in agreement, and then the next question is personalized - making us realize that that answer to the question has everything to do with what the answer to the first question will be. Thank you for sharing this with us today.
ReplyDeleteI really love this! Definitely making me think about how we are constantly revising our lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this excellent, and probing poem Linda! I hope more and more of us will do some of this "unpacking" and
ReplyDelete"revising
what was then
into a better now?"
And it needs to happen right now!!!
We got the 50 degree drop and the snow last night into today! Hoping for some steadier warming!
ReplyDeleteThe questions in your poem have me wondering if you subscribe to the excellent newsletter of historian Heather Cox Richardson? If not, I totally recommend it. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
Thanks, everyone. I've been working at the bookstore much of the day, so just now read many of the comments. Thanks for your response and Mary Lee, I will look for that newsletter!
ReplyDeleteWow, a powerful post, Linda! I particularly loved: "Can we recuse ourselves /
ReplyDeletefrom parts of history." I wish we could right now. Thanks for a moment of respite.
Your poem is full of important questions, Linda. Linda M's collages are stunning and the ones it provoked you to ask led to the most important question of all: How do we get to "a better now?" Stay safe in all that crazy weather!
ReplyDeleteSuch a profound question. Surely we can learn from the past??
ReplyDelete"Are you unpacking/discarding/revising/what was then/into a better now?"
ReplyDeleteWords to live by, always.
Thanks, Linda. xo
Love you and your "impatience" (which can actually be translated as "compassion, love, caring, humanity.") xo
ReplyDeleteI could have sworn I left a comment on this one last week, but I guess I didn't so I'm glad I popped back in!
Wanting to recuse myself too! Great poem.
ReplyDelete