Poem for the Last Sunny and Warm Day of the Year

Last Warm and Sunny Day of the Year

And I spend it in this park with you

Ambling slowly, hardly speaking, hand in hand,

Or arm in arm, with you—

The world’s troubles, yes we know them,

Engage them most days, with the “stubborn ounces

Of our weight.” But not this afternoon.

We, you and me, in the sunlight, through the naked trees,

Rustle through the leaf litter, let the sun fall

On our eyes and arms, and

(leaving the coming cold and danger for another day)—

Bask in the warmth of mid-November sun

And the glow of this love we have, smoldering

Deep in our hearts and bones.

                                                            Bob Coughlin / 11 November 2014

"To My Fellow Warriors": The Fighters for the Environment

This morning I saw an email from Debbie Cowden of the Buckeye Forest Council addressed "To My Fellow Warriors." The Buckeye Forest Council is an environmental group fighting fracking, hydraulic fracturing, and they are advocates for the rights of Ohio citizens to clean air and water. Certainly fracking is one of the most urgent threats to a clean environment in Ohio (and in many other places across our land). I was taken aback by the idea of us being called "fellow warriors," but I gradually began to feel she used exactly the right term. Some of the people I have met in the past year or two are indeed brave warriors. I'm thinking of KF, KH, the members of Frack-Free Geauga. There's also KW, Mr and Mrs. W, DP, and KP. These are brave fighters, using their wills, intelligence, creativity--all their resources--to fight for something they believe in. Putting the "stubborn ounces of their weight," in the words of Bonaro Overstreet, into this struggle.

I remember many years ago when Chuck Matthei would point out that there were people in the military putting in long days and long careers doing the opposite of what Chuck and his fellow Peacemakers were trying to do. Chuck didn't think of peacemaking as a part-time avocation. For him it was the central focus of his life. Maybe some of my new friends and acquaintances have this calling--full-time warriors for the environment.

I would like to be thought of as a warrior, but there is a lot of work to be done before I could earn that title. Do I have the will, the energy, the courage, the persistence? Do I have the love in me to continue fighting for what I think is right?

"Stubborn Ounces of My Weight"--Bonaro Overstreet's Great Little Poem

A friend of mine, Kathy Flora, signs off her emails with a wonderful little poem by Bonaro Overstreet, who lived from 1903 to 1985. Overstreet was an author, poet, and psychologist, and her obituary can be seen here: Bonaro Overstreet obit.

Here is her powerful little poem:

Stubborn Ounces of My Weight

by Bonaro Overstreet

You say the little efforts that I make 

will do no good: they never will prevail 

to tip the hovering scale 

where Justice hangs in the balance.

I don't think I ever thought they would.

But I am prejudiced beyond debate

in favor of my right to choose which side 

shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.

Judy Bechtel Blackburn and I used this poem in a biography of Maurice McCrackin we published in 1991--Building the Beloved Community: Maurice McCrackin's Life for Peace and Civil Rights. Hardback copies of this book are hard to find (try Amazon.com), but a revised paperback version is readily available. We used this poem because it was one of McCrackin's favorites.

Anyway, Kathy, just like Maurice McCrackin, puts the "stubborn ounces of her weight" to work in her service to the environment (Frack-Free Geauga), and in her work for the hungry and homeless. So many fine people around here also lend the stubborn ounces of their weight for justice and peace. I will try to acknowledge these extraordinary people from time to time.