photo by Alex Lear
YESTERDAY WAS
SO BEAUTIFUL #2
(and its passing so sad)
/in memory, in heart for Gloria Firmin
and so many others encountered along the way
1.
when the day transitions
it goes to night
first, before
there can be another
day
sometimes
a day has been
so beautiful
that in the night
instead of looking
forward
to another day
we can only grieve
for what is gone
but each day
is its own being
each being
has their own
day
whatever beauty
we find missing
tomorrow, whatever
we might miss
from yesterday
well, that beauty
we must become
tomorrow
we must be
as beautiful
as the departed day
we mourn in the anguish
of night
2.
ultimately, our beauty
the heart we extend to others
the way we transform the mundane
successfully make butterfly wings
out of this world’s ordinary caterpillar
toils and troubles, shake off inevitable
disasters and overcome the multitude of ongoing
bills and debt as we undertake long marches
survive treacherous journeys to meet, duel and
deal with the man, hard dances we do with the devil
the cost of admission to the grand balls of our times
and oh we so do love to dance, absolutely adore
making music, breaking sweet bread
with bosom buddies and laughing
while embracing close family, friends
and the multitude of others, the fellow pilgrims
we encounter while passing through
economic slaughter, wading across dirty political
waters, raging red, whites and blues,
these seas that too often flood our lives
this is our duty: use the hammer of beautiful
yesterdays to sculpt and shape the troubled rocks
of today into tomorrow’s beauties, procreate
inspirations for generations yet to come, give birth
to the most sacred homages we can conceive
honoring ancestral legacies and the memories
of those whose hands we had the joy of holding
as we made our moves, sang our songs, fought
our fears, and freely dedicated our lives
to encouraging ourselves and others to do
all that we can, all that we
are capable of doing to make
this world a better and more beautiful
place than when we first arrived upon
this bitter earth which we make sweet
using the force of our kisses and work, our
deepest love and daily struggle