Who could have known
that this was the year of reckoning?
That its blank pages would fill
with the battle of death and courage?
That the voices of all our ancestors
would start to paint the picture
in part
while the blood of the oppressed
would complete the whole
Picture that demanded an explanation?
Forgiveness waits with an air of patience
Waiting for the incessant wailing of
our blood to fade
As history is revisited
and tales of woe are re-read
Who could have known
that this was the year when
our love for each other
would truly be tested?
© Vivian Zems
Poets and Storytellers United- “Unexpected”- Hosted by Rommy
June 24, 2020 at 11:14 pm
This is a thoughtful and evocative poem. BravO!
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June 25, 2020 at 1:24 am
Thanks, Beverly!
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June 25, 2020 at 12:30 am
Somber, thoughtful, insightful, beautifully composed. A poem for today and all of time.
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June 25, 2020 at 1:23 am
Thank you, Helen
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June 25, 2020 at 3:05 am
What a splendid poem, and how well it encapsulates this year of the traumatically unexpected.
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July 2, 2020 at 4:11 am
Thank you , Rosemary 🙂
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June 25, 2020 at 4:01 am
This is incredibly raw and poignant, Viv! 💝 Certainly an unexpected chain of events this year.
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July 2, 2020 at 4:10 am
Indeed!
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June 25, 2020 at 11:36 am
You’ve summed up 2020 perfectly, Viv. Who could have known?
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July 2, 2020 at 4:10 am
Sigh!
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June 25, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Yes it is hard not to meeting up with friends and relatives as normal just to appease the Covid crisis but how grateful we will be if we all survive unharmed.
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July 2, 2020 at 4:10 am
Absolutely!
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June 26, 2020 at 5:35 am
This certainly is a year of reckoning (so far). You’ve nailed.
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July 2, 2020 at 4:09 am
Thank you 🙂
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June 26, 2020 at 10:04 pm
I certainly had no idea 2020 was going to be so, so much this nonsense *waves in the direction of the three ring circus once known as the United States* when the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. I am trying to be grateful for the loves that are passing the test so far rather than despairing over the blatant failures.
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July 2, 2020 at 4:09 am
A good plan, Rommy
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June 27, 2020 at 1:12 am
What a perfect expression of today.
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June 27, 2020 at 4:15 am
Thanks Sara!
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June 27, 2020 at 5:52 pm
This is a year for testing to be sure. The pandemic is one of the worst pop quizzes we students of life could ever be confronted with.
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