Last night I went to church*. Church in this case was a mixer for Literary Cleveland at Platform Brewery in Ohio City. It was loud, the beer was flowing, the congregation distracted. Between the words, text and talking – I heard only one voice. Kisha Nicole Foster on stage, on the altar, her words, her strength. I was listening. The homily was what I wanted to hear, to learn from, to find something called wisdom.
Poetry is a curious thing to me. I don’t read it as much as I should. I want to give it the attention it deserves and has earned. But life gets busy and to sit quietly and join words in my mind on the paper – to decipher meaning and find my place in it has me confused at times. Last night though, I was not confused. The words of Kisha Nicole Foster were clear and I found my place quickly in the golden rays that bathed us in the pews, all in her audience.
I thought this poem was important for our time and how to find our path – away from violence and of the sadness that haunts me (us) in the news and our daily lives. Thank you, Kisha Nicole Foster for standing up last night and bringing us into your thoughts. My favorite line: ‘your love will increase’. We need that now. Enjoy.
God is making rounds
There is so much to say about sorrow
About grief
bad news on a sunny day how to smile through tears when birds are chirping
To sit in retrospect over those loved ones lost gone to a place much calmer than this life
What are we to say as comfort
As balm
How can we say it’s going to get better when our nights are sleepless and our mornings groggy
To lift our heads when they are heavy and deformed
Waves of grief have hurricaned our spirits
I’m asking where are we to go for refuge
Aren’t we made in the image?
Why we can’t act like it…
Can’t we say for the peace that passes all understanding will hold you?
What about considering it all joy for the testing of your faith produces endurance and we must let endurance have its perfect result…aren’t those words good? Sacred?
How many times are we gonna sympathize and dismiss someone else’s obstacles and issues for our own?
When…
What are we waiting on…it should be automatic to hug, to embrace, to spread love…
For love is the point of our daily movements!
You know that right?
That you may serve any God you want, and you can live your life your way, yet if you have love your ways become selfless and not of your own.
Having love-purely and unconditionally raises your vibrations to a new frequency and you no longer order your steps.
They become ordered.
I’m asking who gets on knees bended and prays for a stranger, for the family on the news, for Cleveland and her citizens?
Who is prepared to consecrate for the illness of a loved one…who
is standing in the gap?
For the 108 plus families who has lost a child or man or woman to murder…
I’m seriously trying to figure words to express these unknown emotions that have been flooding and over flooding my internal
I’ve been thinking of a way to say I know it’s not easy
To rub your back, stranger, and say I know what it feels like to lose a love you lived for
That I have cried myself to sleep at five am only to wake up at seven am and run on fumes from grief
It chips away at happiness
Deflates clean air
I understand the hot tears on a cold face and if nothing else I love you
Who else wants to say that…to someone… This new living is
So much more than happy hours and nine to fives
Much more than gossip or judgement
And only a few are paying attention…not many get this
What I’m trying to say…
What had happened was…
Autumn is upon us
God is making rounds
Pray
If you can
Start slowly
It is simple
You will grow…
Your Love will increase…
Promise
—————————————————
Reprinted with permission from Kisha Nicole Foster’s blog: https://monalisasrandomthoughts.wordpress.com/ Kisha Nicole Foster’s books can be purchased from GUIDE TO KULCHUR Bookstore: guidetokulchurcleveland.com located at 5900 Detroit, Cleveland OH 44102, (216) 314-4644.
Leave a Reply