Last Words Poems

 

Dear Poets

I would like to print one more chapbook focusing on the best of human nature. Life is being dismissed, I think, for the sake of power and profit and I would like us to submit a poem on what life means to us and this planet.

Recently I watched the film Where the Crawdads sing and I thought we don’t often write or display the best of our nature. I am amazed that so much is dismissed in human achievements. There is so much beauty and so much ugliness, however I would like to put down in words my feelings and to seek other feelings from good people. Then to choose a title that best describes the words.

When I think of giving birth and all the sweat and worry that goes into it, all the training that nurses and doctors must do, all the sweat and time to attain a PHD. All the work that goes into building and operating schools, building highways and housing … we have as a species achieved something.

Send your poem to me with permission to publish and a short bio. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Janet Vickers

767 Chelwood Road

Gabriola Island

BC

V0R 1X1

http://jacksonmeadvickers.blogspot.com

janetvickers@gmail.com

Love and Caring Is So Dangerous

 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-afghan-refugee-crisis-is-a-migratory-time-bomb-that-may-soon-go/

What does love look like

what does it feel like

what is the difference between

self love and narcisism?

What is the difference

between comfortable

and rich?

Affordability?

 

The real affordability issue for Canadians is the “overdependence” on fossil fuels, Cosbey said. Over the lifetime of the product, it’s cheaper to power a car with electricity than gasoline, it’s cheaper to heat a home with a heat pump than natural gas, and it’s cheaper to cook on an induction stove. As long as Canadians use fossil fuels for electricity generation, heating and transportation, “we are going to be subject to the kind of inflationary impacts that we saw as we came out of COVID,” he said.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/03/26/analysis/truth-about-carbon-tax?utm_source=National+Observer&utm

The source of the disinformation was the energy-industrial complex, which had launched one of the largest propaganda campaigns in history against the science of climate change. This corporate juggernaut chose shareholders over society, profits over people, and propaganda over science, and Republicans were duped more than most. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/03/28/opinion/climate-denial-american-politics

Hymn to The World

Once upon a time we solved problems

or attempted to anyway

but we forgot to keep the history

to recall how we did it

back then.

Imagine tribes of people

cooperating

celebrating our achievements

the thought brings tears to my eyes.

No! That didn't, couldn't happen

it was history smoothing off

the barnacles of our flesh.

At least we have a house to live in

food on the table

and medicine

so today we are okay

let's watch TV, read books

listen to music, phone loved ones

make muffins

drink wine

... let's not

worry!

Do we want to be extinguished?

Do we want to behave as though

there is nothing we can do?

Dear World

I send this love letter to you and all your inhabitants.

Every soul needs love. It is the first food of its soul.

The soul could be the accumulation of all people

and all ideas that take our attention willingly.

I understand this post looks lazy

to address the world in all its diversity

with one poem. Is it a poem?

or just a blog post?

Dear Reader I will leave you to decide

the difficult questions

details small and hardly noticed

hope that doesn't make me shallow.

I have been known to make hasty 

decisions and then regret them

lose self respect

then cry myself to sleep.

So to make up for my errors

I apologize today

for the last thirty years

expressing my thoughts.

Making judgements just like

an English girl who doesn't have

a Masters Degree

-- is it okay for people

who don't get the certificate

to make generalized judgements

-- yes it is okay as long as I don't pretend

to be something I'm not.

And besides, I love you.

People Are Talking. What do you think?

 

1. "Once a tenant-friendly haven, Quebec is now waging a class war on renters" Ricoshay Media Ziya Jones

2. "The country’s major corporations, seeking to crush union organization, have filed legal papers to shut down the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that enforces labor rights and oversees unionization efforts." The Chris Hedges Report April 5, 2024. 

3. "If the polls hold, Pierre Poilievre will be our prime minister and Donald Trump will be ruling the United States, which — according to the Orange One’s own words — will no longer be a democracy. Trump will act as a dictator on “Day 1,” he’s declared on Fox News."

4. Democracy Is Under Siege Globally. Canada is Being Tested. Michael Harris. The Tyee. 

5. Some provinces reject $6-billion housing program announced by Trudeau ahead of federal budget IAN BAILEY Oliver Moore, Laura Stone. Globe and Mail.

Where is the spirit of humanity? Where is the concern? What other experts are there? 

How can we protest against capitalism? What tools do we have?

We can organize small groups then discuss all the threats we are facing. We can do the research. Write letters to the editor, write blogs, write to those who are in government and business. We are close but not yet an authoritarian state. We can share our intelligence, experience and thoughts together.

We can use whatever gifts we have. And don't give up. Don't always compare what you have with the powers shown elsewhere.

The desire to preserve the world for good people is the best reason for living.

Be also caretakers of yourself. Eat and sleep when you need to. Seek friendship among those who have befriended you. Write lists of people who are honest and nurturing. Avoid contests. Pouring your thoughts and ideas into a contest doesn't honour your gifts and wisdom. Thousands of writers send their work to writers contests. All that work goes to a place where its read by someone who had to choose the winner.

What happens to the work that is not chosen? Who will read and learn from it?

So Worth Saving - Civil Society - thank you Globe and Mail

 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/letters/article-an-open-letter-to-canadas-political-leaders-for-the-sake-of-the/

"We, the undersigned, are calling on you to address urgently the rise of incivility, public aggression and overt hatred that are undermining the peace and security of Canadian life. This issue is so important that it transcends partisanship. 

Whatever the reasons for the increasingly belligerent nature of many of the current interactions between Canadians with different perspectives on hostilities in the Middle East or other divisive issues, we believe that no Canadian should ever be fearful because of their identities or their beliefs. Many are."

As one who has been watching and writing about this tension for many years I was really pleased to see this letter.

This problem is bigger than political parties and other leaders, it's a mental health breakdown that will continue to bring down humanity if we continue to let this mood fester.

Thanks to all those who wrote and used their influence to post it.