The news has been hard to watch lately, sitting in my easy chair watching the horror of war. How do we express what we feel, process what we are seeing before our eyes, how do we help, when we feel helpless?
The precious moments that come our way over the news waves give us glimmers of hope; a little girl singing in a bunker, a couple of soldiers getting married on the front lines. I see our own communities rising up with fund raising, creating awareness, meeting to pray.
I find poetry helps me to process, and I used the form of Haiku to express these words. Haiku is limiting; it gave me parameters and form… and it limited me. We do feel those limits these days, not knowing at times what to do. In our own ways, we can all offer help, whether it is in the form of encouragement, listening, financial aid, or posting a sunflower in solidarity.
Another sad day
Another sad day
Blue sky, warm house, spring coming
While war rages on.
Comprehension fails.
People fleeing for their lives.
A bully prevails.
Bombs drop in real time
The brave step up to defend
Mothers weep, hearts break.
Our fractured planet
Marred by greed, terrorized by
One without a heart.
Courage overcomes the
fear, cries for justice prevails
Brave leaders stand tall.
A multitude of
prayers, all over the world
Uniting in love.
Sunflowers become
Symbols of hope, bright yellow
Light in the darkness.
Another sad day
To pray, to breathe, and to help
However we can.
Bound together by
Hope, wrapped in prayer, we stand with
the oppressed, and wave
Flags of yellow and
blue, large sunflowers bright
Somber hearts united.
Another sad day.
We weep, with those who cry out
for our help. We weep.
Sunflower
