Category: Animals / Insects / Water Life / Plants / Nature
“Shore Lark”
Click through to hear its song while it eats snow!
Peace & Justice History for 12/12
December 12, 1870 Joseph H. Rainey (R-South Carolina) took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first African-American Member of Congress. More about Rainey |
| December 12, 1916 Dr. Ben Reitman was arrested in Cleveland for organizing volunteers to distribute birth control information at an Emma Goldman lecture on birth control. He was sentenced to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine plus court costs.  Dr. Ben Reitman |
| December 12, 1947 The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor over the AFL’s failure to organize workers in mass production industries such as textiles, automobiles, steel and rubber. |
| December 12, 1969 The Philippine Civic Action Group, a 1350-man contingent from the Army of the Philippines, left South Vietnam. The contingent had been part of the Free World Military Forces, an effort by President Lyndon Johnson to enlist allies for the United States and South Vietnam, similar to President George Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing,” the multi-national force in Iraq. |
| December 12, 1983 Seventy people were arrested in Boston outside a hotel where a “New Trends in Missiles” trade conference was being held. Inside the hotel, over 1,000 cockroaches were released to symbolize the likely survivors of nuclear war.  |
December 12, 1986 From a pershing plowshares action 1984 Plowshares activists disarmed a Pershing missile launcher in West Germany. In a statement of intent the four said, “With awareness of our responsibility we understand that we are the ones who make the arms race possible by not trying to stop it.” Details of their action in Pershing to Plowshares |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december12
Delightful Poetry On Thursday
Just click the title to read more about the poet and the poem.
In a Grain of Sand by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
To see a world in a grain of sand …
—from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake
We are Starseeds
every one of us –
you & me,
& me and you
& him & her,
& them
& they
& those
Who know of this
are truly blessed …
True for all
living beings,
beings living –
not humans only,
but ants & trees
& the open breeze,
things that breathe
air or fire,
water, earth
all kinds of dust
& dirt,
particles
a part of all,
all a part
of
Everything
that is
in everything;
Thus, it Sings!!!
& its song
is Life,
& Life
is!!! …
a seed of Stars,
the dust of Suns
& Moons
rocks & dust
& outer smoke
in outer space
Floating
in a bath of timelessness,
counted, measured
numbered
by some species –
others caring not;
Science & Mathematics
trying to plot
Poetry in motion,
Motion
in a Helix’s curve,
And Life
on Earth
becomes visible
to You
through the naked I!
Copyright © 2024 by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 11, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Wed.AM Poem
As always, please click through to learn more about the poem, and the poet.
The Talking Coconut by Ed Morales
Sunset at Luquillo wetlands
Brings the biting flies
As night sky caresses
The murmuring sand
El coco que habla
Me preguntó, cowrie eyes smiled
About the twilight Idlewild
Donde llegó mi papá
He said he was Elegguá
But was wise to front Changó
At parties, in the bodega
Where he had to let go
And declaim the colonial critique
Of privatized electric chic
The long hours spent sweating
The centuries of remembering
Surplus avionetas in northward flow
Slow danced mainland passage
Loss of original language
Nostrand is no place to go
When the jíbaro dance
In the Caborrojeño
Spelled the death of the docile
Somnambulant bugaloo
The coco could only
Speak in tongues freely
The babble of the balneario
Espíritu of the coíony
The décima ringing
Spirit called Lavoe
Alchemical singing
Breaking bad flow
Changó outside,
Elegguá down low
The crossed flag of Lares
Always lets you know
Copyright © 2024 by Ed Morales. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 10, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
I Just Had To-
Peace & Justice History for 12/10
| December 10, 1948 The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” Since 1950 the anniversary of the declaration has been known as Human Rights Day.  Human Rights Day |
December 10, 1950 Ralph Bunche the Peacemaker Detroit-born U.N. diplomat Ralph J. Bunche became the first Black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was in recognition of his peace mediation during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. From his acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway. “There are some in the world who are prematurely resigned to the inevitability of war. Among them are the advocates of the so-called “preventive war,” who, in their resignation to war, wish merely to select their own time for initiating it. To suggest that war can prevent war is a base play on words and a despicable form of warmongering. The objective of any who sincerely believe in peace clearly must be to exhaust every honorable recourse in the effort to save the peace. The world has had ample evidence that war begets only conditions which beget further war.” |
| December 10, 1961 Chief Albert Luthuli, President-General of the banned African National Congress, appealed for racial equality in racially separatist apartheid South Africa after accepting the Nobel peace prize for 1960 in Oslo, Norway.  Albert Luthuli Mr. Luthuli said he considered the award “a recognition of the sacrifices made by the peoples of all races [in South Africa], particularly the African people who have endured and suffered so much for so long.” “It may well be that South Africa’s social system is a monument to racialism and race oppression, but its people are the living testimony to the unconquerable spirit of mankind. Down the years, against seemingly overwhelming odds, they have sought the goal of fuller life and liberty, striving with incredible determination and fortitude for the right to live as men – free men.” Watch and listen to Chief Luthuli’s speech |
| December 10, 1964 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded Nobel Peace Prize. From his speech in Oslo: “After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that [civil rights] movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.” King’s Nobel acceptance speech: |
| December 10, 1997 Julia Butterfly Hill, age 23, climbed “Luna,” a 1,000-year-old California redwood, to protect it from loggers. She stayed up in the tree for more than two years.  Julia Butterfly Hill atop Luna Julia’s web site |
December 10, 2003 Shirin Ebadi Iranian democracy activist Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman (first Iranian and only the third Muslim) to win the Nobel Peace Prize, accepted the award in Oslo, Norway “for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.” More about Shirin Ebadi |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december10
Poetry on Tuesday Morning
(This one fascinates me. As always, click on the title to learn more about the poem, and the poet as well.)
I stay at an underwater hotel
My room cost $40,000 per night
But I used my hotel points I earned
From all the traveling I have done over the years
My room’s floor-to-ceiling windows look out into the royal purple waters
A Convict Surgeonfish swims by
Its electric blue body tilts as it veers to my left
Two snorkelers dive below me
Paying close attention to the rapidly changing current
And watching out for the camouflaged stone fish
Whose spine releases a poison that can cause paralysis
There is no antidote for its venom
Glad that I’m far from the crowds
And in my room relaxing
I dine at the underwater hotel
My table placed against the glass windows
The deep waters below me
And shallow waters above me
I look through the glass ceiling
And see a white light at the top,
Which is a reflection of the sunlight
I visit the underwater hotel’s spa
Tucked underneath white sheets
With hot stones placed on my upper back, neck and shoulders
I close my eyes
Hearing the sounds of rainfall, breaking waves, wind,
Landslides and earthquakes from the depths below
As I get massaged by candlelight
I depart the underwater hotel
The boat taking me back to shore
Where I meet a taxi that takes me to the airport
We glide over turquoise, shallow waters
I look behind me
I see the hotel becoming smaller and smaller
And the deep waters becoming a darker and darker blue
A storm is approaching
The sky reflects how I feel
Now that my solo vacation has come to an end
Copyright © 2024 by Tennessee Reed. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on December 9, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Meep, Meep!
Aaaahh!
I only got up about 2 hours ago; I was up late again, and stayed abed like a lazy person. I just read this in email, and it really hit the spot for me! Enjoy.
“Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding, the third.”
Marge Piercy
Scottie's Playtime 