Poppies for
remembrance.
Fallen soldiers.
Fallen journalists.
Blood spilled in fields.
We cannot sleep.
Go tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
The scent of tyranny —
truth under attack.
Liars speak in code, trade
integrity for coin and
judge without evidence.
We are not sheep.
We’ll tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Sunshine on beaches,
on our children’s faces,
a sunflower’s petals,
a goldfinches’ wing,
wakes us, remakes us,
finds us, reminds us
To find truth on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Notes: Happy Poetry Friday and thanks to Buffy Silverman for hosting.
Poetry bubbles up in the tar pits of daily life.
The Brits planted poppies and wear poppies to remember their WWI fallen, a custom started by an American, Moina Michael. She was inspired by the poem, In Flanders Fields, by Canadian John McCrae, May 1915.
My poem harkens back to a time when truth mattered, when gospels like Go Tell it on the Mountain were sung to a loving but stern higher power that watched over us.
Warning, reader beware. Politics follow:
A goldfinch visits the feeder while on the news, a president refuses to honor the pledges of his predecessor and pulls out of the Paris Agreement. Implies an agreement’s name is more dispositive than its content. Enshrines oil-share-owning self-interest above scientific research. Rejects facts and history. Rejects the realized benefits of clean energy job growth to praise nonexistent smog- and acid-rain-creating jobs that were eliminated by industry automation, not governmental policy. My uncle, a former West Virginia coal miner, was on disability because of black lung disease. Will the president’s sons ever toil in mines at the risk of black lung? Will they make space for slag heaps beside their gilt towers?
Timothy Snyder, a Yale University historian, warns that truth is the heart of democracy on the Daily Show. He reveals that modern autocrats have a method for murdering democracy: lie constantly while asserting that opponents and the media are liars until they destroy our belief in truth. Game over. Democracy falls. Fascism takes its place.
Remembering, studying and learning from the past is the only way to stop repeating our mistakes. Journalists honor truth. Some give their lives for it. I remember Javier Valdez. Miroslava Breach. As Valdez said, “No to Silence.” Mexico. Ruqia Hassan, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Syria. Anna Politkovskaya and Dmitry Popkov among many others. Russia. The tip of an iceberg that threatens to drown truth. Egypt. Turkey. United States. Je suis Charlie. 1239 Journalists killed since 1992. I appreciate their sacrifice.
If fear of a higher power cannot deter lies, let nature remind us that no one can steal truth. Facts are facts. Questions have answers.
Whatever your politics, I hope you can agree that the truth matters.
Will you march Saturday, June 3, for truth? Protests are expected in over a hundred cities around the world. Many will be asking for an independent commission to look into the Russian links to the presidential campaign rather than a special counsel in the president’s chain of command. Many will be seeking a return to a respect for truth above spin. Loyalty to the country, not ideology.
Commendable piece of work
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Thanks.
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This is a powerful post, Brenda. Thank you. The way you incorporated the familiar song into your poem — so effective, a call to action.
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Thanks, Laura.
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Thank you, dear Brenda for your visit on my website! Am happy i crossed yours – the delicate beauty of your posts is exactly the inspiration i needed these days! Big hugs from Berlin and keep up with the amazing vibe.
Luiza
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Thanks, Luiza, for the smile you brought me. Hello to you in Berlin!
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Reblogged this on VIRTUAL BORSCHT and commented:
Although the #Marchfortruth took place, this blog post gives us hope.
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Love to you Brenda for your courage in speaking the truth so beautifully, undeniably and powerfully. We are living in terrifying times with a madman and his familial minions at our helm.
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JUNE THIRD, 1989—A day (for Diana and I ) to remember—our wedding day, 28 years and counting! 🙂
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
GREAT POEM, BRENDA! AND THANKYOU FOR BEING OPEN ABOUT YOUR OTHER THOUGHTS, AS I AM. 🙂 LOVE YOU SIS!
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Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
Fellow-blogger Brenda Davis Harsham offers us a poem and some thoughts on truth, especially as it relates to our world today. Please take a moment to read … I found it touching and timely. Thank you, Brenda, for this lovely post and for your generous permission to share it!
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This is an excellent … beautiful, touching and timely post! Would you mind if I re-blog it? Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts!
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Sure, Jill. Thanks!
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Thank YOU!
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I love the refrain. Your voice is so moving. Thank you for this!
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Thanks, Kiesha!
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You tell it, Brenda!
I checked out the marches. The closest one to me is in Buffalo, so I won’t be able to go, except in spirit.
Anyway, I’m commenting from my Art Gowns blog, because Georgiann from Rethinking Life challenged me to model Tenesa when she heard I was making her an Honorary Art Gown. I said I was too, old, and well….. you’ll see. xoxo
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We marched! Woo-hoo!
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WOO HOO!!!! So awesome! ❤
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Woo hoo hoo! Girls go!
So, inadvertently, as I am working on my next Art Gown, I stumble upon fairy featheriness.
Saving that for yours, which is the one after!
Wish I could make them faster, but an Art Gown is a lot like a fairy. You can’t rush either. ❤
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Like my most recent poem, there is room to bloom, no rush. Excited to see it one day. XOXO
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Powerful poem, Brenda. Thank you for sharing your voice for truth. May we always seek truth and never let our prejudices or opinion cloud it when we find it. Love your poppies. I think I have a spot in my “garden” to plant a few. I believe in remembering. Plus, poppies do so well here.
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I planted poppies, too. To remember. To have faith. I hope they will do well beside the thyme.
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Take heart, listen to the VPR segment here: http://digital.vpr.net/post/climate-change-markowitz-expects-state-and-local-leadership-increase#stream/0
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All of us caring, that’s what’s needed.
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Hi, just wanted to let you know about The Blue Nib a totally free resource for all poets. The site is split into two sections. The Poetry Project which is an open site for all to post, has the usual bells and whistles, community/social features/contests. The second part is the magazine which runs an open/frontend submission policy but all work is reviewed by editors before acceptance. I hope you come join and add some of your stellar work to both sites.
the site can be found at thebluenib(dot)com
Regards
Dave K
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I checked it out. Great site.
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I hope you decide to post some work on it, I am also looking for contributors and links for the magazine which I am hoping to have up and running for Monday (gulp)
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Today, I’m marching. Tomorrow is a new day. Best of luck with the new mag.
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Thank you 🙂
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Thank you for being a truth-sustainer, Brenda— for raising your voice and speaking your mind. And for painting such glorious poppies too. 🙂
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Thanks for adding your support, Michelle.
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Thank you, Brenda. One begins to expect lies. Ire may h
Thank you, Brenda. We have grown to expect lies. Truth telling is an antidote.
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My ipad is having issues this morning. Apparently too many posts re our fractured thinking tyrants. Ire is good.
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True! Thanks.
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Thank you for this rich and powerful post Brenda, Your poppies image and poem are full of energy and movement–transforming wonderfully from the blood of the earlier soldier to the quiet, celebrated joy of sunshine on children’s faces and in nature. I only wish there weren’t so many issues that we are all confronted with presently, though you’ve covered many here heroically. My daughter and I will be marching together tomorrow too!
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Good for you! Truth!!
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Fantabulous poem! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
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Thanks, Dorna!
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You tell it, honey! We’ve got to tell on mountains that are safe and clean.
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We already can’t drink the water. Soon it will be like that Tom Lehrer song, just don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air.
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Your post reminds me that on my poetry “must read” list are poems from the World War I poets — Owen, Sassoon, etc… Tragic. And the news is, as well.
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The poets lament days like these. I suppose that affirms that I am indeed a poet. 🙂
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Oh Brenda…amazing! 🙂 I have been a bit absent, life!, but good to see you and hope you are well!
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I’m well and talking the talk that makes my heart sing. Glad to see you stop by.
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Keep it up!! 🙂
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Our Remembrance Day is in November, and there’s a tradition of wearing poppies on our lapels, which matches so perfectly with this poem, and that beautiful image.
Sometimes I feel like I’m watching a terrible movie when I turn on the news – it just doesn’t seem possible that it could all be happening.
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Thanks, Jane. I was happy to be painting again. Sad, because I suspected that I’d be using it to mourn broken promises. I am baffled by the news nearly daily.
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A big Wow to you today, Brenda, for telling it like it is on the mountain. Truth! Your drawing and poem are wonderful contributions to the cause of finding the truth!
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Thanks, Carol.
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We must all tell it on the mountains–truth matters, the earth matters, our children’s future matters. Thanks for your poem and your thoughtful words. Resist!
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Yes! I agree with your every word. Thanks for your support.
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Thank you for your powerful, articulate poem and your incisive comments. When I selected “Truth” as my OLW in January, I had NO idea to what extent, or on what fronts, we’d have to fight for it. Journalists have become our new heroes. Tyranny at this scale is something we’ve never seen before in this country. It is scary and heart-wrenching to even consider the evil motives of those who would seek to destroy our democracy. I try, but it is unfathomable to me, that fellow human beings could be so short-sighted, willfully ignorant, greedy, and power hungry.
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Thanks, Jama. You speak truth, and I appreciate hearing it. I’ve never witnessed first-hand such an attack on truth and the media. Deliberate, overt yet subversive, too. So many good people are caught up in it. I hope we will all speak for truth and point out the lunacies we are being expected to swallow.
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Such a powerful post and poem. I hope and pray that truth will win out in the end–and that we do not destroy too much in the meantime. My poem today also dealt with the attack on truth we are facing.
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Yes! I had seen your poem on FB, and I enjoyed re-reading it. We can’t let truth and our belief in it be eroded.
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This is a scary, scary time. We need to sing loud, shout loud, resist loud and not let Democracy fall to fascism on our watch! Love your poem. Love the refrain. Sing it for TRUTH! And yes, I’ll be at our March for Truth tomorrow!!
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Yay! My daughter and I will go to our local march. Last time we were head-to-toe pink for the women’s march. Not sure what color Truth is, but we will be part of the tide.
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Staying awake is so important. Politifact shares a good article today. I am so in love with my poppies that I keep taking pictures! They mean a lot today as they have done in the past, Brenda. Thanks for all you shared, including your lovely poem. “Go tell it on the mountain” indeed!
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I planted some poppies in my garden, with their fuzzy stems and curved leaves. I may paint a few more poppy paintings. Thanks for your lovely comment.
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Brenda, I am in love with these happy poppies! And the lines “We cannot sleep,” which works on a number of levels here. Thank you!
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Thanks, Irene. It was healing to paint the poppies. To remember they will bloom long after our follies are forgotten.
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That is a powerful poem, I really like how you have managed to show strength through delicate and gracefull things. Abosulotely lovely!!! I guess that’s how I would like to be in life, I would like to be like this poem of yours.
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Sounds like you already are like my poem. What a lovely comment. Thank you for sharing your heart and the beauty in it.
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Oh Brenda, you are always so kind.
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XOXO
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Wonderful post and poem!!!
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Thank you!
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truth
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Thanks, Beth.
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Powerful post, Brenda. Thanks for raising your voice and sharing it here.
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Thanks, Molly. I hate this new normal.
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If a person was trying to make choices that would mess up the U.S. as much as possible, they would behave similarly to what 45 has done so far. I could enumerate what I mean, but I’m sure you know. Here’s to remembrance, sunshine, and not being sheep!
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I agree, Tabatha. I’ll drink to that.
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