Category: current affairs

Turn away but stay informed…

Yesterday I had to tell a young woman that the charity who were offering free flights out of Poland has discontinued the program. She shared that the countries around the Ukraine have also withdrawing help.

What could I say?

Many of us have stopped watching the news as the devastation is overwhelming. Television outlets now minimize reporting.

History repeats itself because humanity lacks the stamina to for the long haul. As many as 15 million Ukrainians will be displaced because of this war joining the 100 million displaced due to other world conflict.

I don’t have the answer to this dilemma; I’m just stating what I observe. Our collective priorities do not offer solutions. We fear losing our own status quo.

Understood. Turn away, but please, stay informed.

(Image mine)

Undefendable

Every child bears the spark
of eternity’s promise…
Where’s the threat in that?

What mechanism of hate
equates slaughter
of innocents with justice?

This is society’s bane –
the unconscionable policies
of greed lacking accountability

(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)

Cryptic

Is the writing on the wall so cryptic?
Graphic images depict rage
flames of dissonance
young men bleeding at their own hands
compassion incapacitated.

A sad awakening
for a society fixated
on rights and privileges,
dominating culture
excluding the nurture
of humanity,
or preservation of life.

How can we continue
to closet our children’s pain –
their vitality oozing –
hopelessly abandoned
by morality’s shelter?

It is the wall,
not the spatters
of blood upon it,
which needs amending –
adolescent minds too tender
to wade through
the cryptic priorities –
messages divided.

(Cryptic first appeared here May 2018. Edited here. Image my own.)

Time for Reflection and Courage

Time stands still;
we wait.

The noise of speculation
stark contrast to the reality
that confronts us…

Where do we go from here,
and what authority to trust
and in this imposed solitude
can we find the strength
of reflection, the courage
to follow an inner lead?

(This poem first appeared on One Woman’s Quest II, in April, 2020. Image my own.)

Roadmap for Change

Everywhere collisions:

Mindless consumerism
tripping up ambitions
defeating progress

Social networking
mutilating communication
disrupting movement

Consciousness obliterated
by blind compliance
intrinsic motivation extinct

Victims splayed,
flayed, bloody,
numb

Values – not possessions – endure
understanding eliminates dominance
integrity ensures power for all.

Mindfulness calms chaos
quenches grasping urgency
restores hope, direction

Purpose harmonized
with communal focus
realizes potential
releases greatness

(Image my own)