Resolutions

 

 

 

Have we learned

have we forgot

that its  not what you have

or what you got

it’s the time spent

the time lent

to the spirit body

to the mind and body

to give to those in need

and take with, but without greed

2001, a new year’s resolution

to lose the baggage

and gain absolution

from suffering pangs

of solitude and try,

try to find a solution

not just for you or me

but for all of humanity

 

Today, the earth shook violently 

and as it did, snuffed 20,000

lives out of India

and all the sacred scripts

couldn’t save the silent lips

of children under rubble

but while we watch TV

in our own little bubble

some feeling nothing emotionally;

perhaps it’s just another talking head

informing us of our own Armageddon

or spewing us news of a land far away

while most wonder how the Nasdaq did today

 

As the death toll rises and funeral pyres

reek the evening sky,

Widows hide their children for fear of aftershocks

And from 9,000 miles away all I can see is

People on line at the A&P

Bracing for another snowstorm

(My god, who’s going to shovel my doorstep?)

And stuck between headlines of Giants and Ravens

Are small mentions of catastrophic dimensions

And the Complacent States of America

Has only itself to argue with, to bargain with

 

2001 times

 

2001 mothers to tell

they lost a child and a husband

not by a mortar shell

but by circumstance

some say it was a biblical warning

others a bomb being tested

under the warming of the desert

but one thing can be found

that life in America is filled with the sound

of 2001 reminders that we are too comfortable, too numb

just look around and flick the channel

change the station,

but God forbid

if you change your mind

 

Oh, I’ve done that too-

thousand and one times

 

It’s ok, America, to feel

for others in need

and do for others in need

starting with the individual

the self, the Unity of the Commons,

the Community,

so a New Year's resolution

is to do unto others as

you wish them to you

and repeat it 2001 times

so then we can start

talking about progress

and being worthy to the world

and never being a slave to apathy and complacency

until then, start counting your blessings

2001 times

copyright 2001, 2004, Frank Messina

 

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