You know my friends, when you are bestowed the honor of having your work highlighted in a very special way, you relish in the essence of sheer humility and pure joy. We celebrated Earth Day this week and so many of us shared our passion and commitment to be the caretakers of Mother Earth (the only planet we have) and not squander our resources by allowing her to continue to fall victim to negligence. So it is with great pleasure that I share a heartwarming review from author Rosaliene Bacchus (Three Worlds One Vision~ Guyana – Brazil – USA) in her Poetry Corner April 2024.
Thank you a million times over Rosaliene for including me in this feature. After reading your beautifully orchestrated words, I had to question, is that really me? You should have been a publicist, my dear friend. Be sure to check out Rosaliene’s site and immerse yourself in worldwide storytelling communications that touch the pulse of who we are in this world we inhabit together. But seriously, I am verklempt by this honor and how the poetry of Rosaliene’s words brought me to joyful tears. I am truly grateful.
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“Earth Crisis” – Poem by African American Poet Kym Gordon Moore
By Author Rosaliene Bacchus
Rosaliene’s photo Source: Author’s website bio
My Poetry Corner April 2024 features the poem “Earth Crisis” from the poetry collection We Are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook (USA, 2022) by Kym Gordon Moore, an African American poet and marketing communications professional. The following excerpts of poems are all sourced from this collection.
Moore earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing. Born and raised in South Carolina, she now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
With over four decades as a writer and public speaker in marketing communications, Moore has become an advocate of using poetry in the fight against illiteracy and aliteracy among children and adults. She also mentors young and aspiring poets by identifying commonalities in their personal stories while exposing them to diverse opportunities that transform their experiences into creative development.
Moore’s latest book is not your regular collection of poetry. As noted on the back cover: “This book contains several components that serve as an academic complement giving creative insight into the poetry revolutionary movement. It functions as a dialogue engineer, designed to build and employ the application of poetry in the fight against illiteracy, functional illiteracy, aliteracy, and disparity.”
In the nine-stanza title poem, “We Are Poetry,” the poet draws attention to our shared human experiences and lessons learned that we bring to poetry. The excerpt below includes the first and seventh stanzas (p. 237):
We are children of the universe not an invisible species
caretakers of creation, freedom seekers, and justice makers
bridge builders not wall squads, converging on the path of love
compassion emerging from our hearts like a phoenix rising
[…]
we are poetry, an opulent rainbow of luminous tribes
melding in an earthly crockpot of multifaceted cultures
mighty voices standing up for the marginalized and oppressed
dousing the firestorm of hatred and infected sores of bigotry
The final three-stanza poem in the collection, “Let There Be Peace,” is a call for a peace that surpasses all understanding (p. 277):
We echo, let there be peace on earth
we pray for an end to conflict and wars
emotionally charged anger and bitterness
like a ferocious animal where bloodshed roars
The featured nine-stanza poem, “Earth Crisis,” is my selection for Earth Day 2024 celebrated on Monday, April 22nd. Manifestations of our planetary crisis, covered in the poem, are stark: environmental degradation, intense storms, climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels, melting polar ice caps, floods, scorching wildfires, and industrial waste. Yet, we continue to go about our lives as though all is well. We’ve got this. Technology will make all things right again, we tell ourselves.
From Behind the Pen 