Another arrow to the heart

Abandoned. 

That’s how it feels. 

 Why does my heart ache 

When I look at this picture? 

Somehow the truck becomes 

Symbolic 

Of all the souls abandoned, 

Left behind and lost 

By those who had the wherewithal to save them. 

And now, each day, 

Another arrow to the heart…

As if…

Crossing the bridge at sunset, 

Something inside me thrills to see 

Sun streaming across the water, 

As if nothing’s changed; 

As if the world’s still beautiful, 

Brutality, prejudice and greed — 

Just things of the past, 

Fading before waves 

Of compassion and justice…

There is still beauty

In that last bright burst of color 

Before night claims the sky 

All the familiar landmarks fade 

 In black obeisance to beauty. 

Yes, there is still beauty, 

Though it’s easy to forget 

In times like these.

Easily startled

A rush of wings,

And the starlings are back, 

To lift and land as one, 

Decimating our bird feeders 

And filling the sky with iridescent murmurations: 

A social media frenzy without the media — 

Easily distracted, easily misled, easily startled 

Into foolish flights of fancy…

Choose wisely

The mountain doesn’t change in the night: 

It’s the clouds who surround her 

That hide or draw attention to her beauty — 

Just as the friends we choose, 

The decisions we make, 

And the words we use give clues 

To both the majesty and flaws 

That lie within us: choose 

Wisely.

Cowering in the shadows

Even this tiny one-eyed shell, 

Cowering in the shadows 

Of broken concrete 

Awakens my sympathy. 

How much more so do we ache 

For all those who now live in fear 

Of deportation?

Impeaching peace

The lovely blush of morning 

Turns our distant clouds to peach:

 Is that impeachment? 

 And how sad is it, 

That that’s where my mind goes; 

That frustration continues 

 To shade my thoughts; 

To overlay visions of peace 

With shades of hope and loss?