Amidst a time of illness, a time of aggression,
racism, hatred, fear, a time of political distress,
selfishness, prejudice, a time of losing jobs,
homes, loved ones, a time of death and disregard
for life— there is, despite the darkness, hope.
There are still times of love and care
times of gentleness, of selflessness
times of helping hands and gratitude
times of consideration for strangers and neighbors
times of laughter during ordinary moments
times of connectivity through experiencing the
same uncertainty with everyone in the world.
There are rare times when all of humanity
shares the same page even if only for a moment
before change revises it all.
It is during these times of transition that the
contrast between good and evil sharpens
and the pencil is placed back
into the hands of the people
to mix and make sense of the
gray areas together…
a time to speak a better world into existence.
Blog
The Grandfather
A young boy held his dying grandfather in his arms and said, “Please don’t leave me. It hurts.”The old man replied, “My son, when everything is okay you must smile-““But it’s not. I can’t!”The old man rattled on, “but when everything is not, I need you to remember this: the most important thing you can do is to keep on living.” Then he coughed once more and died with a smile, as if the dead man knew something the rest of the world did not.
The night will always shift to day. That is the world’s greatest reminder that change is okay.
Vacancy
It’s okay to say no. Life is too short to waste your breath as a ventilator for someone else’s lungs. You can’t save everyone. After too many abhorred life circumstances, sometimes you must cling to the only things you have. Besides, always saying yes, always giving to people who don’t appreciate your help or people who break you down, will only leave you emptier the next time around. And there is absolutely no point in living life if there’s a vacancy where your heart should be.
You may not be able to save one from the depths of despair, but you can always love them. Sometimes that’s all they need to repair.
Do you ever feel so fragile
that all you want is hug?
Yet are so damn scared that
you just might get crushed?
The Children’s Laughter – A Small Bit of Hope
One time in grade school, I shared an experience to prove a political opinion in class. Later, I got made fun of by my teacher and my peers for having what they referred to as “daddy issues”. But, I don’t think they’d find it funny to watch him break other women like toothpicks in his puppeteer hands, nor when pulling strings with people he should never have gotten tied up with in the first place. I don’t think they’d laugh if they had to experience what it felt like to truly fear someone’s temper, to watch and take the abuse with conformity as the only truce. No. If they lived it, I don’t think they would have found it funny. As much as I wanted to cry from humiliation, instead I smiled. Because I was glad that some people in this unfair, cruel world were fortunate enough to be incapable of empathizing, people who were still fortunate enough to laugh.
Existentialism
Life is weird man
it’s not a joke
I had a mini crisis
staring at old folks.
A memory of young me
at a grocery market
with an old man patting
my shoulder at Target.
“Someday, you will be
just as old as me.”
He lifted a finger, an
arrow- it kept shaking.
to point at my 20/20 eyes,
too close, I couldn’t see.
Then he walked away
bones clanking with heavy feet.
While I stared off, mouth salivating
at the sight of the isle with candy.
“Mommy!” I said. “Can I go get a
chocolate bar?”
A smile. Some wrinkles. “Sure, you can
have a treat. But stay close, make sure I
can see you. Life is old, love. But it’s not
old enough for me.”
Table for Two
It’s been a year since you died. But, when I sit to order food, I still ask for a table for two. My heart has never starved until it got a taste of you.