Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Death Didn't Part



A woman walks up a steep hill.

She does it twice every day before

she eats breakfast

and before she goes to sleep.



Her journey is long,

the air is hard to breath,

and without her cane

her muscles would give out halfway.



The hill is a high steep incline,

with rocks in certain locations.

If she were to lose her footing

then she would surely be killed.



She has never missed a day

and the weather is never a factor.

The clouds don’t control her desire

to make it up the hill.



She has struggled through

rain, wind, thunder, and snow.

She has crawled through

ice, mud and has never slipped.



She doesn’t forget the danger,

she knows all the risks

even at her old age.

It doesn’t stop her from her desire.



She goes when she has a cold,

when her temperature boils,

 and her arthritis is in effect.

What’s up that hill is her heart.



A cross that’s been there for a decade.

Underneath it, is the person

who gave his heart to her

and made a vow she broke.



They swore till death do them part

but she hasn’t left him

even after he left.

She lives, as if he still does.



She puts on a pot of coffee,

she goes up that hill,

kisses the cross

and says, “Good morning.”



During the day.

She keeps their chairs together,

 she’s watches their shows,

and tend to daily events.



She connects with his family and

shows his picture to the new generation.

She does what she can,

to keep his spirit alive.



At the end of the day.

She’ll put on a pot of soup

and go back up that hill

to kiss it and say something.



The one thing that death can’t control.

“I’ll see you tomorrow my love.”

Sunday, January 1, 2017

2016: Enough Said


                There’s a difference between an event that makes you remember certain things about that day and last year. The events only take a few moments to happen but they stay with you the rest of your life and this year was like an event but with never ending moments. The year 2016 was an exhausting psychotic episode full of death, frustration and violence. From the endless round of celebrity deaths, a war between colors that matter and an election based on bigotry and corruption that has only lead to a divided nation. It’s been one of those years that makes you ask, “What happened to us in 2016?”

                Let’s start with celebrity deaths; about half my childhood died this year with the passing of icons like Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman and so on. Nobody seemed safe from start to finish, even when we were approaching the goal line. The biggest heartbreak came recently with the passing of music Icon George Michael who passed away Christmas day, then Hollywood legends Carrie Fisher then her mother just shortly after. It got to the point where people were wondering if celebrities should start heading for their bunkers. Celebrities weren’t the only ones that left us too early, there were victims and heroes.

                The only thing that happened more frequently than celebrity deaths were incidents involving either police brutality or deadly assaults on police officers. People were dying with incidents involving the police and some say it was unwarranted while others come to the defense of the police. Whichever side you believe in is something I’ll leave up to you because this isn’t about proving innocence. The result of these incidents were deadly attacks on police in several cities where many heroes fell. Rage and frustration were the motivation behind these attacks and it was also the motivation to get an outsider into office.

                Donald Trump won an election that will probably go down in modern American history as the most controversial campaign between two unpopular candidates. A choice between two candidates; one who appeared to be a corrupt politician and the other is a business man whose mouth is bigger than his brain. It seemed clear that we were all in trouble no matter who won this election and Donald Trump came out as the victor in this race. I wish him well as president and hope he does a good job but all things considered, people are on edge. The year can be described in many ways depending on your point of views and believes but the word I chose to describe is unique.

                Something brought out all the negativity in us and it showed for all the world to see and now we need to accept it. I understand that things are complicated and people just want things to be great again but we forgot the most important question. What is the point of being great if it brings out the worst in us? I hope things do get better after this year because I think I speak for a great deal of people when I say this year was almost too much to handle. Whatever next year brings, I wish you all many blessings, good fortune and good luck.