Concrete to grass

 

From concrete 

to grass

in a few short steps,

with different surfaces

on we go.

May 2011

Jamaica

International Ecumenical Peace Convocation

And in the end

And in the end
God gives a song.
When death has come,
and pain aches deep,
it's all we have,
it is enough.
For in the end,
God gives a song.

And in the end,
God gives us hope.
When all seems lost,
despair runs high,
it's all we have,
it is enough,
For in the end,
God gives us hope.

And in the end,
God gives us love,
when hate reigns strong,
when fear looms large,
it's all we have,
it is enough.
For in the end,
God gives us love.

And in the end,
God gives justice.
When systems wound,
exclude, exploit,
it's all we have,
it is enough.
For in the end,
God gives justice.

And in the end,
God gives us peace,
when wars rage hot,
violence strikes,
it's all we have,
it is enough.
For in the end,
God gives us peace.

And in the end,
God gives us Christ,
when all is done,
and all is said,
Christ's all we have,
Christ is enough.
Give thanks to God,
God gives us Christ.

25 May 2011
Jet Blue 868
KIN - JFK

Customs form conundrum

The question has been faced before,
but never can I recall my answer,
so every time it looms anew,
I pause to deeply ponder:
is coffee food?

25 May 2011
Jet Blue 868
KIN - JFK

Jet Blue Flight 868 - Random observations

The complimentary head set really isn't that sweet of a deal when you sit in the row where the monitors don't work.

For a good time, nothing quite beats riding for 3.5 hours with a strange dude's elbow embedded in your rib cage.

Of course he may well be thinking that it is truly a joy and delight to sit by a dude whose shirt smells like it has been used to rub down the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

They actually are charging for pillows and blankets on this flight. I have heard of such, but this is the first time I have seen it.

Duh, should have read the fine print. It's a "never-been slept on pillow" and a blanket that's "mine, just mine." If only I had seen that sooner - I have been experiencing such an overwhelming desire to own a miniature pillow.

One flight attendant wore rubber gloves to stow our bags and no gloves to pass out customs forms. Another flight attendant did the exact opposite. What's the deal with that.

I have seen things on this airplane that I have had no desire to see. Ever. There really should be fashion police for those people who wear too few clothes.

See you along the Trail.

25 May 2011
KIN - JFK

Outline

Like a tooth peeking through gums,
stone walls work their way
through the hard-backed earth,
revealing an outline,
posing a mystery:
what secrets lie buried in this ground?

22 May 2011
University of the West Indies
Kingston, Jamaica

The big blue truck

Sweat plasters his bright red shirt to his back,
sweat rolls out from under his doo-rag, stinging his eyes.
Heat rises from the macadam
to greet the sun's hot rays.
Along the roadside he trudges,
keeping pace with the big blue truck.


The sickly smell of decomposition
rises from a pile of plastic bags -
refuse, scraps, detritus of consumption - 
that blocks his path. 
He stops, stoops, 
futilely tries to shoo some flies, 
then slowly, deliberately
one
by 
one
picks up each bag
and throws it into the truck bed.


While the final bag is in his hand,
gears engage,
the truck slips slowly away.
As that last bag hangs suspended in the air,
he shifts his shoulders,
kicks the dirt,
and starts toward the next pile,
following the big, blue truck.

25 May 2011
Norman Manley International Airport
Kingston, Jamaica

Red Stripe under a Jamaican moon

Heat radiates from patio stones

even in the darkness.

Sweat beads roll slowly down the amber bottle.

O’er the mountain,

its green shades seen as black,

the yellow orb climbs quickly

to add its reflected light to the night

as it hangs like a Communion wafer in the sky.

A breeze stirs the leaves.

I drink

and remember.

23 May 2011

University of the West Indies

Kingston, Jamaica

Nightmares

Life ended

and the nightmare began

when they came,

the so-called soldiers;

came and took her,

took and armed her,

armed and used her,

used and raped her.

Life began,

new possibility,

when she learned

a child she carried;

stirring in her womb,

crying at his birth,

nursing at her breast,

laughing at her side.

Life ended

in another nightmare.

Again came

the so-called soldiers;

though loved by her so dearly,

tormented by the children,

rejected by the village,

her young son went with them.

23 May 2011

University of the West Indies

Kingston, Jamaica

Ultra Deck

Under the great white tent,

beneath our trampling feet

through the holes and around the seams

of the Ultra Deck,

slender green shoots spring;

seeking sun,

affirming life.

22 May 2011

University of the West Indies

Kingston, Jamaica

Arpilleras

Flour sacks and

scraps of cloth

brightly colored,

pieced together,

stitched together,

transformed by skilled hands:

art of resistance

witness to sorrow,

remembering pain.

Flour sacks and

scraps of cloth

brightly colored,

pieced together,

stitched together,

transformed by skilled hands:

art of resistance

love’s affirmation,

proclaiming hope.

23 May 2011

University of the West Indies

Kingston, Jamaica