Posts Tagged With: neighbor

Is It Just Me?

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Now that Spring is around the corner

I’m not sure after all the longing for it

That I am ready to come out of my den

To feel the warmth of the sun

Which will become overwhelming soon enough

Or meet my neighbors again

After endless days indoors behind

Screens and masks, six feet apart

To greet, to smile, to chat in a cafe

The energy it will take to come up with

Lively conversation, to make that first step

To toss my masks on a heap

I have become surprisingly attached to them

All the questions I will have in my head

Are they safe? Did they get their second dose?

Who did they vote for anyways?

Do the bears, snakes, bats and other hibernating animals feel this way? 

Do they tentatively step or slither out of their comfortable holes and caves

Or do they rush out without a care driven by hunger and excitement?

Categories: Lent, Life, pandemic, Poetry, Seasons | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Which Way

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There are those

Who spread fear

Just as black ink

Splatters thick

across the paper

 

Then there are those

Doing the slow work

Of love

Meticulously erasing

The stain

One person at a time

And filling the space

With glorious colors

Where beauty can take shape

And life can grow again

 

Here is a suggestion

Instead of standing against

The “Other”

Come along side

Listen to their story

Sorrow and pain

Love and joy

Understand

They too are human

Just like you

 

How did this happen?

The bridges slowly built

With care and love

Years of hard work

Dynamited in seconds

Rubble of hate and fear

Left behind

An enemy came

And spread seeds of destruction

Instead of kernels of peace

Fingers stop pointing

Look instead to the heart

Am I a good neighbor?

Am I my brother’s keeper?

 

© 2016 Julie Clark

The Path to the Garden

Categories: beauty, Faith, growth, Hope, Life, Love, Paths, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Daily Bread

Bread for life

I ask for daily

Given more than I need

A neighbor comes

He doesn’t have enough

For his weary travelers

Just arrived

After mid-night

Ok, Ok

Stop your knocking

You are waking us all up

Especially the dogs

Here’s your bread

I don’t share well

But since you are such

A pest

And I want to go back to bed

I will give it to you

 

What if he didn’t have to ask?

What if I had given it to him

Earlier?

How was I to anticipate

His need of my extra bread?

Maybe if I paid attention

And asked

What am I to do with this extra?

I would have known

He was running on empty.

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

 

 

Categories: Faith, Hospitality, Life, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My Front Door

There is a world out there waiting

An adventure ready to unfold

When I step out my front door

It’s uncomfortable at times

I don’t know my neighbor

I don’t’ know how to ride a bus

Or start a conversation

But once I take that first step

Say that hello

Make eye contact

Smile

The journey has begun

The question moves from

Who is my neighbor? To

Am I a good neighbor?

What if we each do our small part?

What if we stepped around fear?

What would we find?

Perhaps a new friend

Or some way I can make a difference

A new purpose to keep me going

Put a new spring in my step

Categories: Faith, Life, Love, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Ordinary Life

An ordinary life

An ordinary day

Every day

Steps to take

One foot in front of the other

Towards the goal

Of being a better person

Of loving my neighbor

Of finding my place

It takes listening

To that True Voice

Who tells me who I am

Who tells me what I am worth

Who puts the extra

Into my ordinary

© 2010 Julie Clark

Categories: Life, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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