Poetry for ChangeHeart, ohhh sweet heart,
I long for the days you were red,
Not a sunburnt heart full of dread.
Trampled heart
Disillusioned organ full of cheer,
Don’t give the fight that’ll impart
Moral, knowledge, friendship,
To all those who value
Mentorship over the need for material that rip
Your heart and soul
Replacing them with a money bowl.
By: Malak Kalmoni Chehab
I look upon the four hundred year old Cedar tree
That has survived such chaos, death, decimation
Of great forests of pine trees by invaders who ‘free’
It of its natural resources, life, and vegetation.
Encased in the trunk of the ancient tree, the world
Is small, burning hot under the summer sun, flashing
Its heat and brilliance to help everything grow into a postcard
That’s photoshopped into being breathtaking
In its organized life, only disturbed by humans barking
Out order for dissolving the inner and outer beauty of its solitude.
Slipping out of the of the cedar tree, I take my human form
And gaze astounded on my reflection: wrinkled skin,
Darkened splotches, and great disillusionment
Darkens the depth of my eyes as I lay bare upon the bank.
The scenes of war and decimation I witnessed
Have been imprinted on my soul, waiting for any deed
That will alleviate my despair that humanity is a dying breed
That needs new blood, ingenuity, and values
To help it defeat famine, war, racism, and religious discriminations.
I looked upon the sleeping angel whose sparsely
Covered head in tufts of flyaway hair, place her
Thumb in her mouth, curl her index in her fine hair,
As she lays curled up around her bunny.
The bunny wasn’t as soft or as sly as she,
But he got around and needed just five minutes
Of rest before the ‘devil’ woke up and sang hymns
As she ran circles around him with great care.
Watching the merry go round of the joy and play,
The cheery laughter that I want to last another
FIVE minutes, as time lapses exponentially,
And we are never ready to see them grow, ever.
They grow slowly, then life changes and imposes
Its disillusionment and disappointments
That are an inevitable result of interactions,
Familial, social, peers, and business.
I wish that infant would stay innocent for longer
Not needing to face oppression, recrimination,
Racism, nor dicrimination which implode into a hater
Rather than a lover who accepts the other in compassion.
What is a heart?
Is just the physics of pumping blood?
Is it a chemical reaction that spurs your heart?
Or is it the emotions that empower you in a flood?
The heart full of compassion, love, passion,
And empathy, heralds horror for those who honor
Their loved ones, friends, and co-worker.
They fear their tender heart will be crushed by disillusion.
What do you inundate your heart with to keep it safe?
Do you pour cement in it to harden and protect
Your deliriously delicate heart from hurt?
Do you swamp it with frozen clumps of ice?
Or do you keep it open for more disappointment?
Fear of being wounded by others can be paralyzing,
For out of dread, you might drive those closest
To you away by building fortified walls around your heart.
Yes, hope and trust in others CAN be painful,
But do you retreat and hide?
Or do you expose your compassionate heart
To ensnare others in your warmth?
The decision is yours, of course,
But don’t miss out on life’s pleasure Just because a few experiences were sour!
Poetry for Change 