Saturday, December 1, 2012

Occupy the Blues



If the wet gray skies
are getting you down,
and the rain is trickling
under your coat, down 
the back of your neck,
if there is too much 
Christmas to buy
and not enough dollars,
if some of your loved ones 
are far away,
and too many Christmases 
have passed,
with too many faces
no longer around the table,
if love never arrived,
at least not in the form 
you had expected it,
take a little time to
Occupy the Blues.

Go ahead.
Feel it all and,
if you're strong enough,
widen your vision
to encompass
all of the unwanted, 
abandoned animals
who will spend Christmas 
in the SPCA,
or the creatures
who live their whole lives 
 in cages,
waiting to cross our tables,
or the wild ones displaced 
from their habitats,
then picked off when they "encroach"
on "Man's" Territory.

Are you depressed enough yet?

Just watch the news.
I know. I don't do it often,
and each time I do 
I remember why.
The humans may be 
even worse off
than the animals
in so many places.
And for certain,
the environment
is in complete distress.

I'm riding my Bus of Dreams
down the gray, rain-drenched streets
through the worst part of town -
where the disenfranchised
eke out their bare existence.
They remind me I have so much
to be grateful for.

I see them carrying 
their small packages home
with gladness in their hearts
to make a small Christmas
with their loved ones.
We all dream
the same dreams.
We all love to give.

When my heart aches
for humanity,
for this suffering
and unbalanced planet,
for the 99%,
for the melting at the Poles,

I remember that
even in its distress,
Mother Earth continues
to love us,
to provide for us,
to sustain us.

She wakes up every morning
beautiful.
She presents us 
with her best sunrises
and sunsets,
her bluest skies,
her fluffiest clouds.

When I see her resilience,
I roll up my sleeves
and get ready to
begin again.

I decide to Re-Occupy Hope.




30 comments:

  1. Hope keeps the wheel moving. It gives the strength for us get off from where we are for action. You've stated it so well, Sherry!

    Hank

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  2. Well said, Just a little hope keeps us coming back each day. Hope brings faith that we can make things better

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  3. As Alan Ginsberg famously wrote, "I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel."

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  4. I love seeing a young childs eyes open when they witness, when they observe something refreshing, we should all revisit that youthful view. Some call this 'hope', some call this 'choice' but all living beings desire this as the fuel to life. And, I agree with Fireblossom's reference to Alan Ginsberg but I'm excited of how Sherry articulated this in her artistic observation.

    Gracias mi amiga, Sherry

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  5. Well expressed, Sherry! There is always hope alive and well in the world.

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  6. I love this one as one of your very best! A reminder that she does still love us.... I wonder why?

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  7. Beautiful Sherry. You took my emotions on a roller coaster. The deep fall, then the slow rise. It's the rise that is exciting and your poem makes me think there is always a rise, that mother earth knows how to ride life, how to survive and how to love.
    Thanks Sherry.

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  8. I love this Sherry...there is so much to depress us..to turn our vision bleak. I will join with you to Re-Occupy hope!

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  9. I am joining you and will Re-Occupy the Hope.. Just Beautiful.

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  10. I loved this Sherry!! Tears at my heart and pulls at hope--just a wonderful write!

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  11. "I decide to Re-Occupy Hope."....that should be the spirit, Sherry! A heart healing piece...so well penned. Thanks!

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  12. Yes, for all it's badness, sadness, greed, it's never been Mother Earth's fault, and we must never give up hope.

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  13. one of your recent bests.what an idea..occupy hope!march on!

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  14. Wonderful! Just loves the ride through the Blues and how you decided to get off that bus and board the ultimately life-giving Hope! As depressing as the world can be, it's the only one we have and you expressed the right stuff in the last few lines, rolling up your sleeves!

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  15. You take us on the perfect journey, Mary. We see all that could cause depression and despair, and then the path out of there. So wise.

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  16. I agree with your use of "occupy" and "re-occupy" because it is our choice.

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  17. I guess we won't call Earth mother for nothing.. I like how I felt someone is poking me and telling me.. Go on child.,, your life ain't that bad compare to those living on the streets.

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  18. Beautiful
    that love
    like a mother :)

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  19. Nature can be a sober reminder of how lucky we continue to be, very thought provoking.

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  20. Occupying the Blues is too easy for me, Sherry, and too, I usually do it artlessly. Re-occupying the caring--like Jesus, is hard too these days. I can write, though, like you and get the word out, about how with hope, we can give up thinking small, stand up and be seen as part of the solution.

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  21. Ahhh... you took all the fun out of being depressed! No, seriously, this is a poem I'd love to share with my co-workers who can whine and complain about the most innocuous things (as I myself can as well) and your poem is the perfect antidote for that.

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  22. "Re-occupy Hope" is a great way to put it, Sherry. I love this poem!

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  23. Sherry you are fantastic! You brought tears to my eyes...felt it by heart..

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  24. Sherry this reminded of the advice that when we feel down is when we should do something for someone else less fortunate than ourselves. And your ending is wonderful.

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  25. Very inspiring, so true, we are lost without hope. Nicely done!

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  26. Beautiful sentiments. We have so much compare to two thirds of the world even if we think we are poor.

    I like your optimism and hope.There are many generous people but the way to judge people is the way they treat their animals.

    I can never understand people who have children and yet do not treat their animals with the same care.
    Dumping them when it is holiday time.

    Thank goodness for nature and her magic.

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  27. A worthwhile Occupy movement!

    I'm so glad someone mentioned animal plights...there is a huge portion of the world who needs our effort to have any hope.

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  28. Hope is a place I keep close... This was beautiful and poignant.

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