Rick Levine’s 2023 SOLSTICE POEM/WISH
‘Twas the days before Christmas and all through the land,
Was the feeling that things were not going as planned.
The soldiers were loading their weapons with care;
As we hoped that compassion would soon find them there.
?
The children were frightened, all living in dread,
While visions of bombs danced in their heads,
And parents uncertain of how to react
To the terror of knowing that they’d just been attacked.
?
When up in the sky there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my browser window to see what was the matter.
Away to my charts I ran like a deer,
And to my surprise, what should appear?
?
Although there was tension ‘tween Pluto and Mars,
Colonialism and greed can’t be blamed on the stars,
From the news that I’m watching every day.
It seems as if conflict is here to stay
?
And I in my fervor and incurable hope
Had just about reached the end of my rope.
I’ve grown tired of hearing bad news on TV,
So I closed my eyes tightly and tried clearly to see.
?
I saw the whole picture as plain as could be,
Things that eyes wide-opened just never could see;
I saw Arabs and Jews living side by side;
I saw an end to the mass genocide;
?
I saw black, white, and brown folks living in peace
Without politicians and without police.
I saw walls of anger and fear come tumbling down;
I saw enemies join hands and dance all around.
?
I saw a time and a place where everyone had
A home and a meal and I was quite glad,
For we’d worked ourselves into an unworkable place,
Like rats running round in a crazy rat race,
?
Where politicians had taken from all of us folks
The feeling of power…but it’s only a hoax
‘Cause I saw revealed as I closed my eyes
A very clear vision of paradise.
?
Technology flourished, but no longer for war;
We had decided that peace was worth fighting for.
So we fought with our hopes; we fought with our dreams
And political wars fell apart at the seams.
?
Political problems need solutions, not hate.
Death on the battlefield’s an unacceptable fate.
But back to my vision of Heaven on Earth,
‘Cause I saw it for real and I know what it’s worth.
?
I saw leaders talking about things of concern
And admitting they knew not which way to turn;
Admitting they’d worked themselves into a hole,
And admitting that things had grown out of control;
?
Admitting the fate of the whole human race
Was caught up to its neck in this wild goose chase
Of tribal boundaries and claims of material wealth,
While Mother Earth had fallen to disease and ill health.
?
Electronic technology has cast a new net
Around the whole world and we’re all getting wet,
For the flood that occurred in the Biblical Age
Is happening again with a frenetic new rage,
?
But this time the waters don’t fall from the sky,
The waters are different and new laws apply,
For emotional waters run fast and deep.
Now they are flowing to make a clean sweep.
?
It’s the same thing that’s gone on for so long,
But now technology’s singing a very new song;
A song where emotions send bio-terrorist death
That is carried by drones to take your last breath,
?
A dirge where a rocket is guided by heat
That lays a warhead at your enemy’s feet;
Yet I hear a song where each tribe must get along with the rest
Where’s there’s no room for discussion about who’s way is best.
?
What happens in a far-off place
Affects the folks of every race;
Israel and Palestine with their fears
Wash the planet in painful tears.
?
Repression in Florida sends out a wave
That does a part of all enslave;
Blood spilled on the Black Sea’s shore,
Sends the message home once more.
?
Old men turning their fears into laws
Have impaled women with their claws
Under the illusion of pro life
That only manufactures strife.
?
Homophobic leaders making rules
Racist politicians telling schools
What can and cannot be taught to youth
Without respect for teaching the truth.
?
Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jew,
Pagan, Mormon or Hindu;
We are all part of a greater whole
We are each part of the human soul.
?
Technology’s singing a sad requiem
For those who still think there’s an “us” and a “them.”
The media have shrunk this planet so small
That there’s no room for misplaced emotions at all.
?
Dams can’t constrain the anger and fear;
We must deal with our feelings, so let me be clear:
We can each help right now in our own little way
By making the right little choices today.
?
We can each fight this forest fire of hate
By controlling our brush fires before it’s too late,
For we each contribute to that greater whole;
We clean up the world as we clean up our soul.
?
As we eliminate wars amongst family and friend
Peace will spread and conflicts will end.
Global change takes place in the heart
With each of us playing our own little part.
?
This time of year, these days of rest,
When Persian Astrologers journeyed west,
We each share in love; we seek its glow;
We have one another; that’s all that I know.
?
And I know that this truth handed down from the past
Is urgent right now and I hold it steadfast;
It’s a truth handed down from days of old,
A truth worth its very own weight in gold.
?
Just look into your heart and to stars up above;
Remember that ancient truth we call love.
And now, as another year fades right into the past
Remember that even these times won’t last.
?
Remember that future is an extension of now
We can change what’s coming and I do know how
But we cannot wait for someone else to take charge
Although the task seems oh so large
?
We must each act in our own personal way
By making right choices throughout every day
Today and tomorrow and each day that arrives
For this is how we must live our lives
?
As the Great Wise Woman said in a pinch
The most lasting changes comes inch by inch
So, at this special time of year
In every moment choose love over fear!
?
Think cosmically; act locally.
~Rick Levine
?
?