Archive for the ‘poetry’ Category

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The Wall

February 10, 2017

The Wall

The great wall of China,
The Berlin wall,
The wall of indifference,
The walls of Jericho,
The Buddha lived behind a wall, until venturing over the side
Where he observed suffering for the first time,
and he wept for what he saw,
A wall is a barrier, It blocks our view,
It shuts people out, It locks others in,
No matter how high you build a wall,
We are one, I can feel their tears,
Whose family are you walling out?
(Not yours, they roam easily)
Who do you think you are walling in?
(not me, my heart is free)
Your arrogance is your downfall,
Your greed the end of your power,
We, the people, live here now,
Go back to your ivory tower,
The walls of Jericho crumbled and fell
With the sound of a trumpet call,
“Some things you may wish you had never said,”
said a friend to Marie Antoinette.
                           cfblack 02-10-2017

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Sunrise

December 31, 2016

The Darkness gives way,

Orange fingers reach across the night,

Then pink, becomes Light.

 

cfblack, 12-31-16

sunrise

Posted in haiku, poetry | Leave a Comment »

End of semester

December 3, 2016

I sit, at my desk,

after 10 hours’ sleep

where I tossed and turned all night,

my body, settling,

my brain, active,

thoughts of my students raging aloud,

The morning sun streaming,

my coffee, strong,

it comforts me as I take it in,

For the end of a race,

you must save energy

for the final sprint, where you give it all,

Knowing this balance makes all the difference

and determines who wins the race,

My final sprint is a thousand emails,

a hundred papers to grade,

Notebooks filled with assignments

from anxious students on the last day,

… but a crisp, Fall morning beckons

for a leisurely walk around

my favorite park, with trees still standing,

as their beauty falls to the ground.

 

cfblack, 12-03-2016  

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In the Garden of Ridvan

December 1, 2016

I don’t know why, this poem came to me tonight. To understand it, you have to know the story of Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Baha’i Faith, who spent 12 days in a garden before being banished from his native land, for teaching principles such as unity of God, His religions, unity of humankind, equality of men and women, education of all children, spiritual solution to economic inequality, agreement of science and religion.

In the Garden of Ridvan

I stand outside,

the breeze picks up,

His tent flaps in the wind,

I stare at the ground, ask why I’m here,

My heart sinks

With unworthiness.

His presence

fills the air with joy,

a perfume like honeysuckle,

The birds know, and respond with song,

This is the Day of reunion.

And I know, this moment,

this is the time

that Poets prophesied,

This is the New Jerusalem,

This is the Dawn of Wisdom,

I stand in complete and utter awe,

My heart is lit aflame,

My spirit thankful to be this near,

And then He calls, my name.

cfblack, 12-01-2016

The time of Ridvan in the Baha’i calendar is April 21 – May 2nd.

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Time travel

August 2, 2016

Time travel exists.

Research your family.

With each generation, they become so real.

Their lives, their households,

the births of their children,

the places they work,

and where they live,

the times they migrate from state to state,

newspaper stories of birthday parties,

their journey north from Tennessee,

the time they served in the military,

It takes you back, to the time they lived,

You sit at their kitchen table,

They welcome you in, and serve you coffee,

tell you the stories of their lives,

Their time of death, who was at the funeral,

what is written as their epitaph,

any land they owned, any written will,

what they died of, who they left it to,

and then you jump back to their parents’ lives,

and start all over again.

It is a journey into the past,

more than records, and more than graphs,

This is the family you never knew,

You share their DNA,

Their blood courses through your very veins,

They are a part of you.

cfblack  08-02-2016

Posted in family tree research, poetry, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Aging

July 20, 2016

I can no longer run,

my knees don’t allow it,

if I ignore them,

heedless,

they knock me down.

Callouses grow in the strangest places,

on the bottom of my toe,

near the ever-larger bunyon

and the curving hammer-toe,

I sometimes stare at my own hands,

with their brown age spots

and rivers of veins,

A walk in the park is exercise,

I enjoy a mile or two.

I want to age,  gracefully,

enjoying the time I’m given,

My experience makes me who I am,

each day a gift from heaven,

My life is ages, and stages of trials,

with twists and turns unforeseen,

The beauty of life is appreciated,

the more age intervenes.

cfblack  7-20-2016  

 

 

 

 

Posted in aging, poetry | Leave a Comment »

Close to the end

July 16, 2016

It is close, or much closer, to the end of this journey with my husband through recovery from surgery and resulting infection. He still has probably weeks or months before he is walking but he improves every day. Being of service to others is a special gift. Sometimes we have to think, “What could I do for someone today?” I realized yesterday that this journey has placed me in a perpetual state of service. I in no way uphold women being subservient to men, that is another whole ball game. But being of service to others in this life is something we should all strive for. Helping our fellow human beings.

This journey placed me

in perpetual service,

through the grace of God.

cfblack   7-15-2016

 

 

Posted in haiku, poetry, Surgery Haiku's | Leave a Comment »

Of What Value is a Life?

July 9, 2016

Eric Garner couldn’t breathe,

You didn’t notice he was dying,

 

Tamir Rice was a 12-year-old boy,

You didn’t notice he was playing,

 

Freddie Gray’s back was broken and bruised,

But you didn’t hear his screams,

 

Trayvon was walking home from the store,

You saw him as an intruder,

 

Amadou was reaching for his wallet,

You decided that he had a gun,

 

Anthony Baez was playing football,

You strangled him in a choke hold,

 

Michael Brown ran toward you in a threatening way,

You shot him, then left his body lay,

 

Walter Scott was running away from your car,

You shot him in the back,

 

Philando obeyed you at a traffic stop,

You shot him in front of a child,

 

Alton was tackled and unarmed,

You raised your gun and fired,

 

Of what value is a human life?

The most precious of all things,

Once you take it, it is gone,

Never to return,

 

The question is NOT “was his death legal?”

The question is, “was it preventable?”

 

WORK to de-escalate a situation,

Not jump in like it’s a war zone,

 

VALUE each life for what it is,

See the person in front of you, as one of your own.

 

cfblack                  7-08-2016

Posted in poetry, stories in the news | Leave a Comment »

2 from a few days ago

July 8, 2016

Teeming life on earth,
All attempts to stifle it
Overcome with hope.

 

Thousands of life forms
Squirrels, cicadas, lizards, birds,
Back porch witnessing.

 

 

Posted in haiku, poetry | Leave a Comment »

We mourn the fallen

July 8, 2016

 

We mourn the fallen,

Violence leaves an emptiness,

only filled by love.

Posted in haiku, poetry | Leave a Comment »

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