Elsewhere

while birdsong and morning sun
pour through my open window
sweet in the early spring air
uplifting with its natural charm

elsewhere

thick acrid smoke chokes
the atmosphere
billowing clouds of death hang
suffocating and heavy

praise each moment of peace
praise each living day

here today gone tomorrow
that’s the way of our world

Reviews

[Victor D. Lopez]

Reasonable people may differ on religion. But is is hard not to see that an earthly heaven and hell exist in the here and now. Their locations change, but not the duality of the human spirit in its capacity for good and evil, humility and hubris, love and hate. Your words are a painful, vital reminder that in the best of times and most alluring of places, pain, sorrow, tragedy are befalling innocent people in too many places on our tiny corner of the universe. We should indeed "praise each moment of peace / praise each living day." Thank you for sharing!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much Victor for sharing your valued thoughts on my poem. Lovely to find your review here. Have a good weekend.

Chris

[Soren]

I have lived under both and choose the clean air. Day and night where some are not allowed to choose day and must live in the smokey darkness. The message is clear Chris and I am with you on this one.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Soren for seeing it my way. Your thoughts always welcome and much valued.

Chris

[Soren]

You are most welcome Chris

[Neville]

how write you are our Chris .. there are a handful of folk who have an awful lot to answer for aren't there 💜

[Chris Shaw]

Sadly the few are men of immense power and money. They wreak their havoc on the rest of us. We live in times of great apprehension. Coming to our doorstep soon? How’s that bunker you are building?

Chris 💜

[Neville]

Still working on it our Chris pretty much round the clock in fact .. 💜

[Chris Shaw]

You’ll need alot of concrete:))💜

[Neville]

You bet 💜

[Davidgeo]

I like to eat thc infused cookies and watch/listen to Sean Carrol talk about entropy. It's very interesting at first but then it gets boring but the thc kicks in and you just fall asleep. It's perfect. There was something else I was going to say to make that relate to your poem but I've forgotten... because I'm a stupid american and we always drink too much on fridays

[Chris Shaw]

Enjoy your Friday drinks and I thank you for stopping by to read me.

Chris

[Davidgeo]

It was my pleasure. Have a glorious weekend.

Dave Master 9000

[Curly Grace]

A quiet, sobering contrast... morning light at the window set against the world’s smoke and suffering.
The simplicity makes it powerful: beauty and horror sharing the same day, the same planet.
Your closing lines land with a gentle ache, a reminder to hold peace close while we have it.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Curly Grace for sharing your thoughts. Yes, gratitude for what we have. It can be gone before we know it. We live in a world in conflict.

Chris

[Vol]

Chris,
I am reminded of my current circumstances; I have to drive thirty-five miles to spend money, but can hear the rumble of traffic on I-40. Unlike the lush forests where I spent almost all of my life, my view is of endless brown pastures, and no songbirds. There is, though, an almost complete absence of billowing smoke, and the night sky is a colorful canopy of stars.
Vol

[Chris Shaw]

Your words remind me Vol, we each have to search for a piece of heaven no matter where we live or the conditions we find ourselves in. The stars and the night sky are closer by far. I am grateful for what I have. Have a great weekend and many thanks for stopping by.

Chris

[Vol]

You, too Chris... I've been absent a lot, lately... hope to get back in the swing pretty soon.

[John the Baptist]

Yes, those of us who dwell in places of peace enjoy birdsong and morning sun, while areas caught in the grip of war experience a different reality. I will awaken to the former tomorrow, but those in Tehran will see something else. I sincerely hope the 25th amendment to my country's constitution can be brought to bear ASAP.

[Chris Shaw]

So much conflict in our world John. I thank my lucky stars I still have sunk light and birdsong. So many don’t. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

Chris

[Randall]

Chris, it sounds like two worlds existing in the same place.
Your open window with the "sun" and "sweet spring air" coming in.
Then, as if somewhere in the same world, the "acrid smoke chokes," suffocating all, "death clouds hang" about. Perhaps there is hope and a "moment of peace for each living day." But in the end, it is the same for both worlds. "Here today, gone tomorrow.

Both sides are fools. They won't realize it until they look at their hands and see that they have cut off all of their fingers, needed to rebuild the world they foolishly chose to destroy.

Randall...

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Randall. So much conflict, so much destruction. I stay close to the flowers and the sunlight. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on my words.

Chris

[Brandon Houser]

A great mixture of dark and light. The world can be a big bucket of manure. As hard as it can be we have to keep searching for the flowers in that bucket. If we focus on the manure, we won't see the flower and one day it's gone. Easier said than done. Beautiful and sad. It spoke to me immensely.

[Chris Shaw]

You are so right Brandon, I keep searching for the flowers and the sunlight too. I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you so much.

Chris

[Lorry]

Seems some aren't happy unless they are destroying. They should all take a chill pill and calm the funk down.
Now it seems they aren't happy about people who try to be happy, despite all the carp they throw at us, making us pay more for less service and the same old story takes another spin, making some rich who are most certainly not despots or tyrants... maybe.
They'll be charging us next for air and I bet they've already tried to!
Those birds sound as if they have life sussed. Now if only we could stop poisoning them with pollutants I might just try growing feathers and joining them! 😋

[Chris Shaw]

When the going gets tough, I always look to the natural world. Long after this planet is blown to smithereens, the sun will still shine. There might not be much else left :) There’s cheerful for ya. Have a good weekend Lorry, I’m going to make sure I do. Thanks for your thoughts. Always appreciated.

Chris