by Persis M. Karim
It isn’t the dark circles
that underscore the eyes
or lines that break out
in latticework at temples
not the deep
grooves that signal
the constancy of smile
or frown
resting on the face,
or heaviness
of chin
bearing the weight
of difficult decades
but the pinch of skin
just below the ears,
like the apricot
whose golden, taut skin
settles into softness
after too much ripening.
Listen to: Signs of Middle Age
Originally posted 2008-09-15 19:07:10.
By Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006
Animals are incapable of reason, or so we’ve been told, but we imaginative humans keep talking to our dogs and cats as if they could do algebra. In this poem, Ann Struthers looks into the mystery of instinctive behavior.
Not Knowing Why
Adolescent white pelicans squawk, rustle, flap their wings,
lift off in a ragged spiral at imaginary danger.
What danger on this island in the middle
of Marble Lake? They’re off to feel
the lift of wind under their iridescent wings,
because they were born to fly,
because they have nothing else to do,
because wind and water are their elements,
their Bach, their Homer, Shakespeare,
and Spielberg. They wheel over the lake,
the little farms, the tourist village with their camera eyes.
In autumn something urges
them toward Texas marshes. They follow
their appetites and instincts, unlike the small beetles
creeping along geometric roads, going toward small boxes,
toward lives as narrow or as wide as the pond,
as glistening or as gray as the sky.
They do not know why. They fly, they fly.
Excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. The full text of this speech can be read here.
… something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?” I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there.
•••
I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating President by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn’t stop there.
I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but “fear itself.” But I wouldn’t stop there.
Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy.”
Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding.
Something is happening in our world.
•••
Now we’re going to march again, and we’ve got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be — and force everybody to see … God’s children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That’s the issue. And we’ve got to say to the nation: We know how it’s coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
•••
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
•••
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
by Margarita Engle
Descending
into the land
of childhood
a yellow-walled town
on the coast
of light
memory’s
turbulent landing
each rediscovery
of time flow
and place love
always new.
Originally posted 2008-04-27 10:41:05.
by Dretta Grace White
Snow-Birds settling
Made all the difference
She thought of their
Settling
And of the light they gave
And became in her way
As grey
As they
by James Eric Watkins
embracing wind
encircles the universe
swirls the planet
consumes my senses
panoptically caresses the tall grasses
that sway
all around me
and night lies quietly against my skin
The Underlying Tragedy
By David Brooks
Published: January 15, 2010
“The devastation from the earthquake in Haiti should be used as an occasion to rethink our approach to global poverty.”
Excerpt from the NYT: This week, a major earthquake … measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.
This is not a natural disaster story. This is a poverty story. Continue to article…
(Via TidBITS.)
Tech-Based Help for Haiti, by Doug McLean
It’s difficult to wrap one’s mind around the horrific damage caused by Haiti’s recent earthquake, …
AT&T — AT&T cell phone users – including nearly all U.S. iPhone users – can make $10 donations to the Red Cross International Relief Fund simply by sending a text message. To donate…. continue reading this article on TidBITS.
The article includes details for donating using other mobile carries and lists other links that have been set up for this purpose.
01/16/10 Apple has added an iTunes link to help Haiti’s earthquake victims. Donations will go to the American Red Cross relief efforts.
by James Eric Watkins