Little Black Book Index
This morning I awakened with the sunlight beaming through our window, I immediately became aware of everyone who is suffering.
In our area of Nebraska, the flood waters are impinging into personal lives with a fury. It will be the end of a particular way of life for those who have been devastated by the raging and destructive waters. The earth is groaning through its convulsive land shifts as levees burst under pressure and the rain representing how the sky is weeping in deep sorrow for all of the suffering in our area and our world at large.
Then, more personally there are those who are undergoing hidden distress in a way that is not obvious to others. My sister-in-law is grieving the unforeseen loss of her grandson, the young man she raised for 18 years. Another, a confidante, who has been impacted by injustice through the legal system. Another, business connection which has been patiently nursing her husband back to health for several years. The suffering is relentless, and no one is immune. I could continue with “another and another,” as I am a mental health therapist by vocation and an empath by design. I bear with those who are suffering. As I consider the suffering, a spontaneous poem emerged this morning, and I want to share it with you:
(Listen to Crystal narrate her poem. 1:28)
There is ~ No Way ~ Except the Way
I too,
know the shock
and grief of loss
when facing forces larger than myself
It is an end.
And then
A beginning
A beginning is thrust upon me
beckoning me
to go
where I never wanted to go
No way
There is no way to hold on
to what is past
what once
was solid ground
is now flooded with muddy water
No way
There is no way
to my dreams now
Except the way
Except the way my feet could take me
No way
There is no way
to rely upon old paradigms
that could not
endure with me
No way
There is no way
to walk the former path
that brought me here
to this place
All that is left of me
will walk on
to what is before me
Crystal Anzalone
March 18, 2019
Crystal
The reticulated feminine imagination of Firefly Horizons and aesthetic architect of its contextual nature. Crystal establishes artful metaphor and metonymy in interpretative language to convey abstract questions to easy answers. Through sovereign reflection, she initiates imaginative beginnings. Read more about Crystal • Articles by Crystal
John Glick
Oh Yes! So beautifully and truthfully spoken— “No Way – Except the Way.” So many of us walk on with our own losses and ills. Mine do not even register compared to the older couple watching their livelihood wash away in the flood, or the farmer who will no longer plant his crops. My suffering does not compare to those in the jaws of injustice, or those facing the violence of ones who have chosen the “way of hate”.
While I walk on, Crystal you awaken in me compassion and a prayer for those whose walk is through tragedy and the uncertainty before them.
Bonnie
Wow! What a blessing to rise this morning and read your wonderful encouragement! Thank you! Your poem brought tears to my eyes as it helped me remember that we never walk alone.
Thank you!
Bonnie
Tom
Your the “articulation” of your poem was touching my innermost place. The music, the narrative, and the voice inflection; all made more meaningful through our ONENESS on the Bridge of the U.S.S. Heretic…Captain Barley
stacy
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!! goosebumps!
Joni
This is so impactful. So many heavy hearts. Thank you for sharing.
Love
Francis
Sheila
I was trapped in Omaha several days as I did not leave early enough from work and could not get home to my family. I was scared and felt so powerless as I just wanted to be with them and could not. It was something I will never forget. -Sheila