Let Peace Reign

And if we all should close our eyes

we would never recognize

the difference between the touch of a black or a white hand

– Tarrus Riley

Beyond the surface

 

There is a man in town.

He has shaved his head.

Tattoos cover his whole body;

arms and fingers,

the neck, the skull

his lips, his eyelids

his face

 

I saw him tonight before midnight

on my way home.

 

A small dog walked beside him,

ran between his legs

 

I went up and asked if I could pet the dog?

 

A tiny fragile voice

said

 

Yes

He is only 14 weeks

…

 

just before leaving

I asked the dog’s name?

His name is Bluie.

 

Blue?

 

Bluie, it is  British slang for best friend

and that is what we are going to be.

said

the little gentle voice

 

As he walked away my friend

said

I saw him the other day and was afraid to look

I did not want him to think I stare,

to think I judge him.

 

Do you know how many people think I am

stupid because I am black,

because I am from Africa

 

I know.

You are talking to a man

with a beard down to his belt.

 

And little do they know

we are kind,

a  doctor in mathemathics

and I,

a teacher.

And the tattooed man

a person who will  soon be

the little dog’s

best friend

 

 

 

No Greed

Some time ago a good friend had been gathering clothes

Unconditionally given by people she knows

 

One boy

 

No country

No fixed home

No family

 

She says

please take anything you want

 

He picks only

one sweater

one t-shirt

 

She says:

Would you not like one shirt?

 

I already have three shirts, thank you

Maybe someone else need them

 

 

Helping a snail?

 

I don’t know if picking up

the snail slowly crossing  the road

and putting her/him down

in the grass on the other side

was helping?

Maybe I confused the snail?

 

 

Old hero and heroine

I love my grandparents

my mother’s mother and father

are still alive

 

A few years back my grandmother who was in her 80s had a stroke. It was a severe one and she would have died had it not been for my grandfather.

As he saw the woman he had spent his whole life with

falling down

life slowly leaving her

he managed to calm down and get her to a hospital.

He saved her life.

He loves her.

 

She lost her ability to cook and somewhat to take care of herself. She can’t dial a phone number. She even has a hard time walking and moving around. She does not leave the house alone without help.

 

This year they celebrated 60 years of marriage.

They still stand closely by each other,

gently holding each other’s hands.

They still look like they just fell in love.

 

As we talk about how things were when they were young he always tell her how beautiful she was

and still his.

She smiles and her eyes are full of love.

 

My grandmother is always positive.

She never complains allthough you can clearly see she is in pain.

She is calm and wears a smile on her face.

Always kind and thoughtful.

If someone generalize or say negative things about others

she mildly but strongly let them know that it is not OK.

For that she is my heroine.

 

Last night my grandfather had two strokes

It was late and dark but my grandmother stood up

made her way to the door of the house

walked alone down the stairs

over the road to the neighbors’ house.

She saved her husband’s life.

My grandfather.

I love her

 

I love my grandparents

 

 

The Ghost of Bob Marley?

Some times things are not the way they seem

and yet we are sure they are.

 

As a young man, or not yet a man but a boy,

I sat on the railing of a very high bridge.

my feet dangling

my eyes looking down the gorge.

 

The place I lived in seemed to be the entire world

and at the moment it was not a happy one.

 

The war hadn’t even begun for years to come

yet  inside me it was already there.

 

I thought about leaning forward and letting go.

Letting go of the thoughts that haunted me.

Letting go of my reality painfully pounding me.

And also,

letting go of life.

 

Looking back,

I don’t see why

I just did not take one step.

One step

out of my reality

to see that there is more to things than they seem.

 

Or that even though they are

the way they seem,

one step away,

one small step away,

another reality,

another adventure

is waiting.

 

 

 

I did not let go,

I just sat there

for hours

staring at the black river

making its way forward.

 

 

 

I left

with no money in my pocket

and a broken heart in my chest

to find goodness

in places and strangers I did not know.

 

I also found,

war

pain

hunger

sorrow

and things

I wish I did not see,

but

never

will I stop

flowing forward

from reality to reality

 

For what would life have been worth

had I let go of the railing

not having felt

pure

unselfish kindness

love

friendship

and

tiny moments of inner peace.

 

 

 

 

“If you are not living good,

I beg you, travel wide.

Said I am a living man

I’ve got work to do…”

Bob Marley – Soul Rebel

Mentally or physically, please step out of your reality and into another.

When you feel you can do nothing for yourself, do something for others.

Please do good.

You might find things weren’t the way they seemed.

 

 

Different colors – One people

Lets take this seed planted in South Africa and spread it all over the world

This is the song we all should be singing.

Lucky Dube your music lives on,

PERFECT LOVE!

Kindness Revolution

Imagine if every person on Earth did at least one act of kindness today.

Imagine the kindness explosion and the positive ripple effect it would give!

Perfect love!

How come you are so happy when things are so bad?

Why do you seem so content when you have constant pain?

my friend asked.

 

I think I have no goal in life but to notice the small pieces of happiness and try to do good.

Maybe happiness is not to be reached.

Maybe it is just there for all to see who are not in a hurry to reach there.

Small pieces of positivity

in the midst of pain or daily life,

small moments of joy

if noticed,

will make me think before I die

I lived a happy life

 

For me happiness is:

 

Knowing that a special person knows she has inspired me to do better

Giving a homeless friend a place to sleep, an occasional visit to the cinema or sharing a meal

Hearing my father say to a woman that left me three years ago -I love you my child.

An invite to eat or sleep in an unknown’s home when travelling

A kind smile or look from a passerby

Listening to old people’s stories

Seeing a young person get up for an elderly person to sit down

The smell of rain on dry asphalt

You

To give love

Knowing that I don’t need things I see many others have

Music

Bringing a Thai meal for my 80-year-old grandmother and grandfather to tickle their taste buds in their otherwise bland non-spicy diet

Knowing that one of my friends sends haphazardous text messages with hugs to another troubled friend

Thinking about the bread my grandmother baked

Sitting in the place where my late grandfather and I reasoned for hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and

knowing that my heart, soul and mind is who I am,

not my body,

nor what I can or can’t do.

 

 

 

Good people

In my life I have indeed met some truly good people.

I come to think of it today since

I might have left a truly good woman

giving unconditional love.

 

Sometimes I feel there is something wrong with the world,

but hen I remember:

 

If we see good we don’t think that all is good.

When we see one thing or person being bad,

we generalize and many think that all persons or situations similar must be equally bad.

 

So why should not the opposite also be true?

You see one thing good = more things are good!

If it is, the world is not half as bad as I thought.

There is at least as much good as there is bad.

In fact the people that do good (uncoditionally) are many times not seen,

but they are there, among us everywhere.

Many of them are not older than they can show with their fingers.

 

I am talking about unconditional good

without any expectation of getting anything back at all:

 

leaving nice and comforting notes in a book at the library for a mother to be,

so called guerrilla goodness.

Or letting a refugee live in your house until ready to move on.

Or the unselfish goodness that happens when you most need it:

 

Some 18 years ago (before mobile phones and digital cameras)

I left my home in a hurry. Brokenhearted I spent my last money and flew to the other side of the world.

In the south of Mexico I chopped and cleared jungle for roads to pass,

people gave me food that was left over when restaurants closed,

poor families sharing what little food they had on trains that traveled so slow it took days to get where you were going.

Those were unselfish acts as well as the five Mariachis escorting me from parts of Mexico City in which I would not have lasted long.

Or the veterinarian taking me into his home, treating my typhoid fever for weeks without asking for nothing in return.

 

But above all

the little Zapotec boy

with torn clothes,

not a half man tall,

that just before nightfall

high up in the Oaxaca mountains

spent all his money

to pay the bus

for a skinny bearded long-haired-giant

a stranger

whom he had never met before

also giving me half his bread to eat

even though I did not understand a word of Chatino.

 

 

That is unconditional good

and

I have not forgotten you little hero

 

 

Hala

Today I lost a very dear little friend

a bundle of joy and smiles

 

Tomorrow

you would have turned five

and

the pink cake is

already prepared

 

My heart is shattered.

I have never been

as sad as today

but

thinking about

your big eyes

looking out the mail slot

and

your little voice calling my name

every time I passed by

slowly

reassembles it

and

I will do my best to be

as loving

and happy

as you were

 

Hala we miss you and we love you

 

 

Comfort (14 february)

 

One day has passed and Hala’s family told me about when they had to explain to her that she was leaving. First she did not want to go to heaven but stay with her family here. She asked if they have dolls in heaven and even though they do, she still did not want to go. After some time on sunday when she understood that her body could not make it much longer she said that she would go, but she also said:

 

I will come and visit you.

 

How? we asked

 

When you hear the birds sing outside

 

please open the window

 

it is I