What Is Your Family Heritage?

Years ago, as we moved in to a new house and lacked furniture for all the empty spaces, we put plants in one corner. Included in the arrangement were a wood sculpture of a crane by my father and a ceramic pot created by my son. My painting linked the creations of three generations in the light of a summer morning.

The Green Corner
      By Al Vester
 
Calmly crane and pot do sit
Revealing now our family’s wit
The crane by Dad, the pot by son
Loving gifts which they have done.
Now among the plants they fit
And to that verdant clasp submit.
 
Where fish remind us of the fun
Of swims beneath a tropic sun,
Those woven palms, shaped with skill,
Remind us of those travels still
Then bring us back, where we’ve begun,
To this corner set in slanting sun.

Sunrise lights the distant hills
Spilling hope through window sills,
Then and now are closely knit
As past achievements now are lit,
Our prayers ascend up that His will
Does smile upon our beings still,
And grants us power by His might
To welcome life in morning’s light.

Family Heritages

Every generation builds their accomplishments upon the works of previous generations. Countless of prior generations have left the current generation a legacy of language, art, science and a host of inventions ranging from toothbrushes to rockets capable of carrying men to the moon. Continue reading “What Is Your Family Heritage?”

Civility Brings Opportunities

This painting of a young Kenyan woman was sold to raise funds for a charity assisting people in Kenya, Bolivia, and Nepal. The lock on the window is a symbol of the potential of each individual that can be unlocked if given the opportunity. But such personal opportunities require a stable and civil society, a commodity that seems to becoming rarer as time passes. An individual’s need for stability and freedom from violence is true whether one lives in Kenya or in Kansas. The poem below was written after the Watts riots in 1965. Unfortunately, it seemed just as appropriate for the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and also for the current disturbances elsewhere in this world.

Watts Riots
 By Al Vester

A land of great promise rocks to and fro
As hate and dissension hold daily convention
In every back alley and ghetto hole
Where hollow cries of freedom and life
Commence each round of hatred and strife
They claim injustice has raised their ire
The real desire is murder and fire
Never while they shout, “Burn baby, burn!”
Will they every come to know or possibly learn
The dignity is not an opinion to turn
But the product of goals that are honorably earned.

Violence vs. Civility

Violence seems to have become one of the standard responses for expressing anger or frustration by many people. Violence floods the daily news stories. Continue reading “Civility Brings Opportunities”