humanity – One Woman's Quest

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)

Human Toll

Talks stalled
escapees struggle
lives minimized
burdens heavy
despair palpable

Can they sense
the global hug,
compassion circling?

Do prayers have substance,
or have the displaced
never felt so alone?

(Image mine)

The Test

If there ever has been a test
to measure the worth of mankind,
this is it: Fate’s arrow points
to the crises amongst us:
human sanctity at risk

Why then have so many flipped
the question: answered hatefully
when love is the only response?

(Image my own. This poem originally appeared on Twitter @Vjknutson.)

Says the Bird

You misconceive the calling,
says bird in bush –
troubled times
call for comfort
not derailment
of humanity –
petty, bickering
without soul –
I may be bird-brained
but human sense
has the consistency
of overripe fruit.

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

On Divinity

Righteousness
speaks not of
Divine intent

Indigenous suffer
ungodly loss from
Christian hands

A Muslim community
mourns the brutality
of sanctimonious wrath

Hate is the invention
of mortal minds –

Divine love is a river
that flows for all.

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

On The State Of Humanity

Inwardly we glow…
so it’s said

I shudder
ignorance grating
like branches
on my windowpane

Hope is a fox
mesmerizes,
draws me out,
then disappears

If inwardly we glow…
then why am I so cold?

(Image my own.)

We Will Rest Not, George Floyd

Brazen with whiteness
four toads
exerted presence
cuffed and killed a man

“I can’t breathe.”

On the front lawn
of America
stripped of empathy
the leader knelt

Not in prayer –
reverence burns his lips –
he knelt with authority
or his version, venomous

Three looked on
ignored pleas
gloated in the horror
of life’s final gasp

Humanity’s blood
now cold
unleashing a scream
a primal, reptilian rage

The offspring
of oppression
and hate
uncoiling

Like snakes
nest disturbed
rising against injustice
burning down the walls

As The Man weaves
his tale of dissonance
casting lines of division
few listen..

Black Lives Matter
drowns the rhetoric
the breakthrough is complete
we can no longer look away.

(For George Floyd and all the others murdered senselessly at the hands of those commissioned to protect. Submitted to Reena’s Exploration challenge: breakthrough. Image my own.)

Syntax

Behind the veil
of political maelstrom
lies a modicum of humanity

Or, is it humanity is belied
behind a maelstrom of lies,
politics always falling short?

Present, If Not Accounted For

Invisible
marginalized –
components
of self
devalued
by marketing trends

still sentient enough to need:
acknowledgment
recognition
acceptance
respect

kindness
never overrated.

Imagine Bridges

Connections, like bridges,
run between us –
no matter how subtle –
nations and individuals,
there is no divide…

Imagine if we acted
in this knowledge –
mindful and kind –
not so subtle the outcome,
I should think.

(For Ragtag Community’s daily prompt: subtle. Image from personal collection.)