Reconciliation poetry | Interruptions of grace - War poetry asks us to consider the impact of war and the need for a cease-fire. Love poetry is about the joys and pains of intimate connection. These are important topics! Reconciliation poetry is poetry about interruptions of cycles of violence. If these cycles are not interrupted they last generations (that is we condition our children to not…

  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/reconciliation-poetry-what-is-it/ Reconciliation poetry: what is it? | Reconciliation poetry - A link to an essay about reconciliation poetry (and how it is different from war poetry) may be found here. A link to an essay about war poetry may be found here.
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/what-is-reconciliation-poetry/ Reconciliation poetry | Reconciliation poetry - The poetry of reconciliation – of loving enemies – is different than war poetry. War poetry asks us to consider the impact of war and the need for a cease-fire. These are important topics! Reconciliation poetry realizes that wounds do not heal with peace treaties (though that is an important start). Reconciliation poetry seeks interruptions of cycles of…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/famous-examples/ Famous examples | Reconciliation poetry - Reconciliation poetry includes deep, non-sentimental, very real lament. This is not unbridled angry pain that hurts others – it’s acceptance of terrible realities. But to believe that lament is all there is would be to live a lie.  Flourishing can happen again, and it’s what we were made for. Much of what I learned about the…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/honeybee-motif/ Honey bee motif | Reconciliation poetry - Bee imagery is some of the most beautiful in reconciliation poetry. These two poems, The Stare's News by My Window by W. B. Yeats and As I lay sleeping by Antonio Machado use the metaphor of the honey bee's energy. ------------   The poem by Yeats is highlighted in Seamus Heaney's Nobel prize acceptance speech, excerpted below…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/every-grain-of-sand-by-bob-dylan/ Every Grain of Sand by Bob Dylan | Reconciliation poetry - The song Every Grain of Sand by Bob Dylan is considered one of his finest works. It was recommended in a lecture by Cambridge Chaplain, Rev. Malcolm Guite as a resource for reconciliation. The song richly describes the challenge: “given all of the bad things that have just happened, what am I committed to becoming?” This page provides clues about how the…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/original-poems/ Original poems | Reconciliation poetry - The links here provide original reconciliation-themed poetry. Currently they are by Allegra Jordan, and I hope to have others' poetry eventually.
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/a-duet-for-rex-copeland/ A duet for Rex Copeland | Reconciliation poetry - In 2016, a Discovery channel drama aired about a friend's murder. I didn't participate in it, and was surprised when I finally did watch it. My feelings about the tragedy are complicated. Even so, the first few minutes of the film reminded me of great beauty in my life. I'm older - 27 years older - and I see things through older eyes. I believe that…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/haint-blues-other-low-country-poems/ Haint Blues & other Low Country Poems | Reconciliation poetry - Haint Blues Haint blue is a spectrum of marine blue you see on porch ceilings of coastal South Carolina and Georgia homes to prevent frustrated spirits from coming into your home. Gullah legend says ghosts or "haints" can't cross water. I find there is something quaint and Truly endearing to see how humans learn History while pulled…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/el-morro/ El Morro | Reconciliation poetry - “Was it hell to build?” I ask. “The lash, the ox, the muscles straining To forge this invincible fortress? Tell me your story El Morro. I come from a land Under a different sun and Have not heard your name before.”   I perch on the parapet of its giant wall As an osprey and…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/cardiff/ Cardiff, Wales | Reconciliation poetry - Cardiff Bay The stiff gray winds of Cardiff Bay push along white swans Yellow & green grass dance in the wetlands. The sun is up. All is in motion now. There is no solid ground once you leave shore. To venture forth You must feel the waves, and divine the path. It’s not ballet But…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/kyiv-ukraine/ Kyiv, Ukraine | Reconciliation poetry - I went to a wedding in 2013 in Kyiv, Ukraine and wrote these two poems about reconciliation. Many things are true At an outdoor wedding Many things are true. There is dust, breath, & pulse. Today we see how that mixture combusts. How will we commingle, caress & rebuff When our cosmic particles meet? To…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/alabama-graveyards/ Alabama graveyards | Reconciliation poetry - I've several friend and relatives in Alabama graveyards. I wrote a novel about one. The first poem is about a man after service in war. The second is about my grandmother, Willie Mae.  Alabama Graveyard Grandmother ----------- Alabama Graveyard He confronted Life with antique Courage And Death with Christian Hope. -James Louis Petigru (1789-1863) gravestone…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/on-moral-relativism/ On Moral Relativism | Reconciliation poetry - Immanental non-transcendental thought Ascribes problems to nature or nurture But not the numinous. That saves your skin Because a moral sensibility Can get you killed in this rough world. What’s skin Worth divorced from knowing love is real? I Cannot empirically prove any love Transmutes, heals, and calms the soul. And neither Can you. You have…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/conversationswithgod/ Conversations with God | Reconciliation poetry - Each poem has elements of reconciliation (awareness, lament, hope). However, they are heavy on lament. These are about painful transitions that eventually, in time, led to better joy for all people concerned. PSALMS (2009) and SUITE LAMENT IN LEXINGTON (2005). Psalms for a Broken Marriage The book of Psalms in the Bible is a difficult…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/ww1/ World War I & Reconciliation | Reconciliation poetry - The pages under this menu heading discuss aspects of reconciliation after World War I, the topic of my novel The End of Innocence.
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/the-controversy-over-wwi-commemorations/ The controversy over WWI commemorations | Reconciliation poetry - I wrote a novel, THE END OF INNOCENCE,  about overcoming wounds that are not healed with a peace treaty. It’s based on the true story of  Harvard University’s 1932 fight over how to memorialize Harvard students who had fought for the Kaiser. The truth is that a terrible war raged, killed, maimed, wounded.  And after…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/harvards-memorial-church/ Harvard’s Memorial Church | Reconciliation poetry - How can you have a memorial to members of your community who fought for your enemies? What does that signal? How can justice and mercy co-exist? I was surprised to learn of how Harvard honored its WW1 Veterans who had been students and who fought on both sides of the war at Memorial Church. After 20 years…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/mercy-grace-in-war/ Mercy & Grace in War | Reconciliation poetry - There is much that is wrong and very broken about our world. During the times when it's very dark, it helps to remember stories of people who reflected what was great about humanity. 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I and stories are coming to light of times where soldiers from opposing sides…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/when-music-calls-imprisoning-the-boston-symphony/ When Music Calls: Imprisoning the Boston Symphony | Reconciliation poetry -   Nearly 100 years ago during World War I, a soap opera emerged in the U.S.’s elite symphony halls more sensational than anything Downton Abbey may offer. In Boston, the world-famous Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor, Karl Muck, and one-third of that orchestra were clapped in prison chains and hauled down to Georgia. They were classified…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/prison-camp-music-world-war-i/ More context about the incarceration of Conductor Karl Muck | Reconciliation poetry - The End of Innocence (formerly Harvard 1914) is set in the “forgotten years” of free speech. This essay is about the forced interning of the Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor and 29 members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in World War I. While these forgotten histories surprise us given where Boston is now,  we must not be hypocrites.…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/the-song-the-stopped-a-war/ The Song that Stopped a War | Reconciliation poetry - One of the most hopeful moments in history this past 100 years came from soldiers singing on a battlefield. It was Christmas 1914 on the Western Front. One of the coldest winters on record to that point. Germans and British soldiers were hunkered down in muddy trenches not that far from each other. They sat for hours in…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/what-is-reconciliation-poetry/war-poetry/ War poetry | Reconciliation poetry - For the novel The End of Innocence, I learned about war poetry. This essay describes the war poems in the novel and their background. World War I poetry engaged profound emotions: horror, beauty, despair, hope. In my novel, the characters write poetry that represents the cadence and confusion of their changing culture. War poetry is different from reconciliation poetry.…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/endofinnocence/ From THE END OF INNOCENCE | Reconciliation poetry - This poem is from the novel The End of Innocence. There it's written by a German soldier. It was based on an actual poem by a German-American who desperately wanted reconciliation in the early days of World War I. The original poem by Harvard professor Kuno Francke can be found here. A Prayer Is this how…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/why-bother/ Why bother? | Reconciliation poetry - Why bother trying to love enemies? The below essays make the case that it's a way to flourish in a broken world. These essays discuss: -How reconciliation fits into life's purpose -What cycles of violence are -Three practices for interrupting cycles of violence. As a reminder of something you will see on a number of…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/really-bad-things-happen-whats-next/ Really bad things happen: what’s next? | Reconciliation poetry - Bad things happen. How do we think about the unbearable without giving way to cynicism? How do we move towards a flourishing community? Consider the words of Seamus Heaney: “We are rightly suspicious of that which gives too much consolation in these circumstances; the very extremity of our late twentieth century knowledge puts much of our cultural heritage…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/aspirations-for-a-new-conversation/ Aspirations for a new conversation | Reconciliation poetry - I wrote a novel, The End of Innocence, a book about a community overcoming identity politics. In its context, there was a brutal war (World War 1) with real atrocities, real espionage, and civil liberties were not well-protected for even the highest ranking members of Boston society. These tears were real to people 100 years…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/why/ Why are we here? | Reconciliation poetry - This brief essay about one of the big questions of life recommends four quick points: 1. We are here to flourish. 2. Ask: "Does my next action take me closer to or further from flourishing?"  I personally ask "Will my next action take me closer or further from God's heart?" 3. When things break down,…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/not-forcing-forgiveness/ Not forcing forgiveness | Reconciliation poetry - Reconciliation is a wonderful goal, and its timing cannot be forced. Forgiveness, or the process of healing from a wound, is an important part of reconciliation where both sides must address their wounds and then decide whether or not they wish to have a relationship going forward.  I wrote this essay about my experience in dealing…
  • https://reconciliationpoetry.com/other-resources-on-not-forcing-forgiveness/ Other resources on not forcing forgiveness | Reconciliation poetry - I support public forgiveness in order to stop future acts of violence, such as in the Charleston killings. I am grateful for people who make this choice! I also honor that abuse victims should not be shamed into forgiving people who have it in for them. That being said, I believe it's good to have the…

    Country: 192.0.78.25, North America, US

    City: -122.4156 California, United States

  • lluera - Best Shampoo ever

    I couldn't be happier. This shampoo leaves your hair so clean and shiny and stays clean. It is also a huge bottle so it really is very economical. I will be buying this shampoo only for now on. It even has a nice scent.

  • Kittygyrl - find another accounting software

    Stay away from QuickBooks if you can. This software constantly stops working with your banking and you are left not being able to log in to pay any of your bills. You will spend HOURS on the phone with technical support and still not have a solution. You will end up manually doing your bookkeeping until it starts working again THEN you have the mess of having everything duplicated and double/triple pay bills until you can stop all of the transactions. Tech support will keep you on the phone for greater than 6 hours then just hang up on you and not call you back.

  • Morty - Saved me physically and emotionally!

    I was told it would take 16 to 20 weeks to heal a bone in my foot. So I grabbed a pair of crutches and started the healing process. The gravity of how limited my activities were hit me very hard that day. Two weeks went by and I couldn't have been more miserable emotionally and physically. I needed to be a mother to four children still. With my husband away four or five days every week I was unable to do most simple things. I bought a knee scooter off of many recommendations form people. I could accomplish much more and get around much easier. However, it was still very difficult to do most things. Because my hands were busy driving it!!. How was I to get the milk to the counter? Or the pot of cooked noodles to dump in the strainer in the sink? So, I got on the computer to search out options and found this iwalk product. I ordered it immediately. It only took a minute to get my balance on it. Then I started doing everything again. I have been able to go on walks, go up and down stairs (this took some getting used to...I go down sideways) yesterday, I shoveled a couple inches of snow. The only thing I would change is the padding. Maybe they don't plan on someone using it for 20 weeks, but it packed out. So, I pulled it up and inserted some foam under the padding in to keep it comfortable. I can go sit down and take it off and set it next to me in class or a restaurant. Then I stand up strap it on and walk !!!!!

  • Laura May Long - Size is wrong!

    I ordered these for my four year old who wears a very true size 13 shoe- I ordered the 1/2 size and they were much too small. They were the equivalent to her old Chooka size 10's. They're just a tad too big for my two year old, so I'm keeping them with her in mind (because they are darling) and buying another brand for my four year old!

  • Embryo - This is a truly frightening work of fiction!

    It is a truly frightening work of fiction by this well known sociopath, socialist and communist. OMG are we in trouble if this pair sees the White House. I thought Bill was bad. He must have gotten tips from Hillary. Don't bother reading this. Amazon will change my rating from one star to five anyway.