Rebecca Cantrell- Reporter on the Chant :)
Recent Posts are at the Bottom of the Blog
Recent Posts are at the Bottom of the Blog
Torc Waterfall. Killarney, Ireland
Big Ben. London, England
The Louvre. Paris, France
Twinkle, Twinkle, Morning Star
Craig Santos Perez
in collaboration with my wife, Brandy Nālani McDougall
and our one-year old daughter, Kaikainaliʻi
kaikainaliʻi wakes from her late afternoon nap
and reaches for nālani with small open hands--
count how many papuan children
still reach for their disappeared parents--
using my iphone, i change my facebook profile picture
to a graphic of the morning star flag and share
an article about the grasberg mine— gaping open pit
count how many papuan children
are dying from copper poisoning each year--
kaikainaliʻi watches cartoons on our flat screen tv
while nālani and i watch an online documentary
about west papua #forgottenbirdofparadise
count how many papuan children have watched
their loved ones mounted and shot--
after we turn off the tv and close the laptop--
nālani reads to kaikainali’i a bedtime story:
“Twinkle, twinkle, small hōkū / Shining down on our canoe
Up above the sea so high, / Like a candle in the sky”
count how many papuan children have been extracted
to islamic boarding schools in jakarta—
“When the ocean waves are black, / When we feel like turning back,
Hōkū shines its little light, / Guiding us all through the night.”
count how many papuan children are seeking refuge
across borders only to become forgotten refugees--
“Waves may fall or rise up high, / keep your eyes upon the sky,
Hōkū peeks out in between, / Shining out its steady beam.”
count how many hashtags it will take to trend
bleeding black island bodies strip-mined by bullets
crushed into slurry by military boots pumped
through pipelines across poisoned rivers and treeless
lands, shipped overseas and enslaved by our technology--
papuan cousins, imagine someday
we can talk story, chew betelnut, and color
the soil with our spit as our children paint
their faces red and play #papuamerdeka
“Thunderclouds may push and shove. / Rain may pour from up above.
Never fear, our star is strong, / Burning bright the whole night long.”
Source: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/twinkle-twinkle-morning-star
Craig Santos Perez
in collaboration with my wife, Brandy Nālani McDougall
and our one-year old daughter, Kaikainaliʻi
kaikainaliʻi wakes from her late afternoon nap
and reaches for nālani with small open hands--
count how many papuan children
still reach for their disappeared parents--
using my iphone, i change my facebook profile picture
to a graphic of the morning star flag and share
an article about the grasberg mine— gaping open pit
count how many papuan children
are dying from copper poisoning each year--
kaikainaliʻi watches cartoons on our flat screen tv
while nālani and i watch an online documentary
about west papua #forgottenbirdofparadise
count how many papuan children have watched
their loved ones mounted and shot--
after we turn off the tv and close the laptop--
nālani reads to kaikainali’i a bedtime story:
“Twinkle, twinkle, small hōkū / Shining down on our canoe
Up above the sea so high, / Like a candle in the sky”
count how many papuan children have been extracted
to islamic boarding schools in jakarta—
“When the ocean waves are black, / When we feel like turning back,
Hōkū shines its little light, / Guiding us all through the night.”
count how many papuan children are seeking refuge
across borders only to become forgotten refugees--
“Waves may fall or rise up high, / keep your eyes upon the sky,
Hōkū peeks out in between, / Shining out its steady beam.”
count how many hashtags it will take to trend
bleeding black island bodies strip-mined by bullets
crushed into slurry by military boots pumped
through pipelines across poisoned rivers and treeless
lands, shipped overseas and enslaved by our technology--
papuan cousins, imagine someday
we can talk story, chew betelnut, and color
the soil with our spit as our children paint
their faces red and play #papuamerdeka
“Thunderclouds may push and shove. / Rain may pour from up above.
Never fear, our star is strong, / Burning bright the whole night long.”
Source: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/twinkle-twinkle-morning-star
So Much Happiness
Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
With sadness there is something to rub against,
a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn’t need you to hold it down.
It doesn’t need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
and disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now live over a quarry of noise and dust
cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
it too could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
and love even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled linens and scratched records . . .
Since there is no place large enough
to contain so much happiness,
you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
into everything you touch. You are not responsible.
You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
and in that way, be known.
Source: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/so-much-happiness
Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
With sadness there is something to rub against,
a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn’t need you to hold it down.
It doesn’t need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
and disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now live over a quarry of noise and dust
cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
it too could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
and love even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled linens and scratched records . . .
Since there is no place large enough
to contain so much happiness,
you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
into everything you touch. You are not responsible.
You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
and in that way, be known.
Source: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/so-much-happiness
Tiger Tail Beach. Marco Island, Florida
Church of the Holy Trinity. Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Blarney Castle. Cork, Ireland
Spreepark. Berlin, Germany
Source: http://www.duskyswondersite.com/human-ingenuity-category/abandoned-but-beautiful/
Source: http://www.duskyswondersite.com/human-ingenuity-category/abandoned-but-beautiful/
Mellows Bridge. Dublin, Ireland
Anne Hathaway's Cottage. Stradford-upon-Avon, England
Galapagos Islands, Educador
Source: http://www.youramazingplaces.com/the-100-most-beautiful-and-breathtaking-places-in-the-world-in-pictures-part-1/
Source: http://www.youramazingplaces.com/the-100-most-beautiful-and-breathtaking-places-in-the-world-in-pictures-part-1/
Statue of Liberty. New York City, New York
Photo Credits to Maddox Trinklein
Photo Credits to Maddox Trinklein
US Capitol. Washington, DC
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
Supreme Court House, Washington, DC
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
Fall Colors at the White House, Washington, DC
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
Posted on Jan. 26, 2017
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Posted on Feb. 7, 2017
Posted on Feb. 7, 2017
Snapdragons at Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Posted on Feb. 10, 2017
Posted on Feb. 10, 2017
Snow in my backyard, Georgia
Posted on Feb. 17
Posted on Feb. 17
New York City, New York. Photo Creds: Sam Smith
March 27
March 27
New York City, New York. Photo Creds: Sam Smith
March 27
March 27
Rainbow Falls, Hawaii. Photo Creds:http://cruiseweb.com/destinations/cruise-hawaii
March 28
March 28
Swiss Alps, Switzerland. Photo Creds:
http://www.cntraveller.com/guides/europe/switzerland/swiss-alps
March 28
http://www.cntraveller.com/guides/europe/switzerland/swiss-alps
March 28
Disneyland Paris, Paris, France. Photo Creds:
http://www.weddedwonderland.com/disneyland-opens-its-doors-for-weddings-in-a-new-city/
March 29
http://www.weddedwonderland.com/disneyland-opens-its-doors-for-weddings-in-a-new-city/
March 29
Pantheon, Athens, Greece. Photo Creds:
http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/greece/athens
March 29
http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/greece/athens
March 29
Cherry Blossoms, Tokyo, Japan. Photo Creds:http://travelblog.goaheadtours.com/in-full-bloom-japans-cherry-blossoms/
March 30
March 30
St. Louis, Missouri. Photo Creds: http://www.jll.com/st-louis/en-us
March 30
March 30
Berlin, Germany. Photo Creds: https://www.google.com/url?favorite-attractions-in-germany.html
March 31
March 31
Killarney, Ireland.
March 31
March 31
Stockholm, Sweden during Christmas
Photo Cred:https://sweden.nordicvisitor.com/travel-deals/partially-guided-tours/stockholm-christmas-weekend/125/
April 13
Photo Cred:https://sweden.nordicvisitor.com/travel-deals/partially-guided-tours/stockholm-christmas-weekend/125/
April 13
Heidelberg, Germany. Photo Cred:
https://www.goethe.de/ins/de/en/kur/ang/int/som.html
April 21
https://www.goethe.de/ins/de/en/kur/ang/int/som.html
April 21