2024-04-24 02882-tod-019873 Cattail

NIKON D7100 – ƒ/7.1 1/800 140mm ISO200 – Prior Lake, MN

Source: Sharpshot Nature .Com 02882-tod-019873 Cattail

Source: Biden’s piecemeal student debt forgiveness ‘transformational’ for borrowers, advocates say – UPI.com

Source: New Biden administration overtime rule increases pay for millions of workers – UPI.com

I allow the past to rest between the pages of my diary 
the call of loneliness 
in my memory 
and as I reminisce inside these pages, dried rosette mauve petals help me remember 
nostalgia reels on pages woven with echoes of past gaiety’s vanishing into paling tints lacquering my heaving breath 
and yet,the deep scent of vintage pages ruffle the quietness of my eyes 
language of memories 
brings a quiver 
to my veins 
as I swallow yesteryear’s anguish and close that lingering chapter finally 
the pain has healed me upon a new page’s behest.  

Source: My Diary – yaskhan

The capitulation of the House of Lords over the government’s Rwanda bill was predictable – even if some opponents had hoped against hope that peers might force a climbdown. As of now, UK law states that Rwanda is a “safe country”, making it possible for ministers to send asylum seekers there. The shameful course of action embarked on late last year, after the supreme court ruled the deportation policy unlawful, has thus concluded. Two years after Boris Johnson first announced the plan, Rishi Sunak is set to try again.

From parliament the focus now swings back to the courts, where lawyers will try to have individuals removed from flight lists. The law allows for this if they face “real, imminent and foreseeable risk of serious irreversible harm” from being sent to Rwanda – which some undoubtedly will. Mr Sunak’s calculation is that the policy makes political sense despite this and the £1.8m estimated initial cost per deportee. Its appeal is two-pronged, and combines the fuelling of xenophobic sentiment among voters – by ensuring that irregular migration stays in the news – with papering over cracks in the Tory party between hard-right populists and what remains of the liberal centre-right.

Where will it end? The passage of the bill undoubtedly boosts the government’s chances of fulfilling what Suella Braverman, when she was home secretary, described as her “dream”. But given the small numbers and the logistical challenges – not only in the courts but also on arrival, where the arrangements for processing and resettlement have yet to be tested – one thing that can be asserted with confidence is that this scheme will not resolve the issue of irregular migration.

Source: The Guardian view on sending refugees to Rwanda: the UN is right – this law sets a bad example | Editorial | The Guardian

…Serious Black 🗳 (@NicsuPR) posted at 7:07 PM on Mon, Apr 22, 2024:
Mark Thompson on @thereidout
just said that, with Biden scheduled to speak at @Morehouse, to expect whats happening at #Columbia to spread to #HBCU campuses.

We can’t #FreePalestine if we lose our freedoms and Black folk will lose under a 2nd Trump term.
(https://x.com/NicsuPR/status/1782561790754226614?t=GaPsspdDfvICBVyMuSoeAg&s=03)

Source: Open Thread | President Biden to Deliver Commencement Address at Morehouse College…and Those College Protests… | 3CHICSPOLITICO

You know my friends, when you are bestowed the honor of having your work highlighted in a very special way, you relish in the essence of sheer humility and pure joy. We celebrated Earth Day this week and so many of us shared our passion and commitment to be the caretakers of Mother Earth (the only planet we have) and not squander our resources by allowing her to continue to fall victim to negligence. So it is with great pleasure that I share a heartwarming review from author Rosaliene Bacchus (Three Worlds One Vision~ Guyana – Brazil – USA) in her Poetry Corner April 2024.

Thank you a million times over Rosaliene for including me in this feature. After reading your beautifully orchestrated words, I had to question, is that really me? You should have been a publicist, my dear friend. Be sure to check out Rosaliene’s site and immerse yourself in worldwide storytelling communications that touch the pulse of who we are in this world we inhabit together. But seriously, I am verklempt by this honor and how the poetry of Rosaliene’s words brought me to joyful tears. I am truly grateful.

~            ~            ~

“Earth Crisis” – Poem by African American Poet Kym Gordon Moore

By Author Rosaliene Bacchus

Rosaliene’s photo Source: Author’s website bio

My Poetry Corner April 2024 features the poem “Earth Crisis” from the poetry collection We Are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook (USA, 2022) by Kym Gordon Moore, an African American poet and marketing communications professional. The following excerpts of poems are all sourced from this collection.

Moore earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

With over four decades as a writer and public speaker in marketing communications, Moore has become an advocate of using poetry in the fight against illiteracy and aliteracy among children and adults. She also mentors young and aspiring poets by identifying commonalities in their personal stories while exposing them to diverse opportunities that transform their experiences into creative development.

Moore’s latest book is not your regular collection of poetry. As noted on the back cover: “This book contains several components that serve as an academic complement giving creative insight into the poetry revolutionary movement. It functions as a dialogue engineer, designed to build and employ the application of poetry in the fight against illiteracy, functional illiteracy, aliteracy, and disparity.”

In the nine-stanza title poem, “We Are Poetry,” the poet draws attention to our shared human experiences and lessons learned that we bring to poetry. The excerpt below includes the first and seventh stanzas (p. 237):

We are children of the universe not an invisible species
caretakers of creation, freedom seekers, and justice makers
bridge builders not wall squads, converging on the path of love
compassion emerging from our hearts like a phoenix rising

[…]

we are poetry, an opulent rainbow of luminous tribes
melding in an earthly crockpot of multifaceted cultures
mighty voices standing up for the marginalized and oppressed
dousing the firestorm of hatred and infected sores of bigotry

The final three-stanza poem in the collection, “Let There Be Peace,” is a call for a peace that surpasses all understanding (p. 277):

We echo, let there be peace on earth
we pray for an end to conflict and wars
emotionally charged anger and bitterness
like a ferocious animal where bloodshed roars

The featured nine-stanza poem, “Earth Crisis,” is my selection for Earth Day 2024 celebrated on Monday, April 22nd. Manifestations of our planetary crisis, covered in the poem, are stark: environmental degradation, intense storms, climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels, melting polar ice caps, floods, scorching wildfires, and industrial waste. Yet, we continue to go about our lives as though all is well. We’ve got this. Technology will make all things right again, we tell ourselves.

Source: Reblog: “Earth Crisis” – Poem by African American Poet Kym Gordon Moore (from the archives of Rosaliene Bacchus) | From Behind the Pen

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