Soul Glimmers: Crossing Borders with the Heart
Maira Hernández
Glenwood Springs
This poem has been translated from Spanish.
I arrived in a strange place,
with streets that spoke
another language,
with faces that did not recognize my story,
and with a sky larger
than any dream
I had ever had.
Loneliness wrapped its arms
tightly around me,
fear bit into every step,
and the cold of uncertainty
crept into my bones.
But there was light, too,
small gestures of kindness
that reminded me I could still
plant something new in this unfamiliar soil.
Every hard job, every obstacle,
every held-back tear
became a brick
for the home built inside me.
And although my childhood still whispers to me
of pain and lack,
I learned that the heart is stronger
than any border,
and that freedom is measured by the courage
to keep going, even when everything seems impossible.
Just Imagine …
By Nancy Bo Flood
Four Mile
“The world of imagination is the world of eternity.” – William Blake
First, I frowned. Then I began to think about it and let the walls
of “no way” crumble. Instead,
just imagine.
Science fiction is about impossibilities, but then those impossibilities become real. Science fiction writers follow the trajectory of scientific events and carry it beyond today into their imagined future. When I was in graduate school, one single computer took up two entire floors of a university building. We laughed about the possibilities of having a computer in our office and another in our home. It never occurred to any of us that we might have a computer in our car, around our wrist, or in our shirt pocket … And several at home! Just imagine.
But eternity? What did Blake mean: “The world of imagination is the world of eternity”? I’m still pondering that statement. But I’m not dismissing it. Einstein implied something similar when he stated that imagination was more important than any skill or ability. John Lennon sang about our world and humanity and imagining what is possible. Imagine peace.
Perhaps we need to write more from our imagination. I’ve been having fun lately writing preposterous poems … power of imagination. As I continue these wonderings and wanderings and cope with the ups and downs of life, of our world, I try not to despair. I imagine. Poetry can help us go beyond sadness, grief, cynicism, and imagine what is possible. To imagine something
is the first step towards making
it happen.
William Blake has something more to say:
“Imagination is not a state: It is human existence itself.”
While you think about that, listen to John Lennon: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8