Who wants a Revolution?
in WHat? WHere? why? and How?
Let the songs talk to each other, and then join the conversation. (I'll pull out a few quotes beneath each song.) Please add songs and poems, too, that inspire you about the idea of revolution, past or future.
We are the wave
We are the flowWe are the wind
And soon the rock must go
No one can win the war individuallyIt takes the wisdom of the elders and young people's energyWelcome to the story we call victoryThe comin' of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory
I've been standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion
Don't you know
Talking about a revolution?
Listen to the animals
Listen to the trees
Listen to the spirits of the Earth
Begging us please
Stop listening to greed
Let all the little plants and the animals have their say
Biodiversity, hurray hurray!
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Give us voices, songs, new ideas! The Beatles and Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott-Heron (none of whom I include here) can't be the last to talk revolution. And all the songs about the environment seem to mourn the irredeemable.
Is that where we are?
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Let me pause here for a moment of joy to fuel the revolution:
Don't Hesitate
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
by Mary Oliver
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
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Don't forget to include this link in your post.
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Greetings, Friends! Welcome to this week's prompt at "What's Going On?" The prompt is Susan's, but she is in the midst of moving right now. I hope you will read it, listen to the music, reflect, and write on this 'revolutionary' prompt! Looking forward to reading your words!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary. I'm eating at Panera just to tell you I won't have internet until late Friday!! Thank you for hosting. I'll visit all as soon as I am connected. Maybe I'll even have a poem.
DeleteSounds good, Susan!
DeleteHi Mary, thanks for hosting Susan's wonderful prompt. I especially loved the two nature videos (of course). We need the best kind of revolutions - kind and earth-based ways of living on the earth.
ReplyDeleteThis prompt can call upon so many meanings of Revolution. I just read Kim's poem, which was quite another kind! And, yes, the nature videos Susan provided were wonderful. My own poem took a darker turn.
DeleteTerrific prompt and after a dark turn which has been simply a continuation of a dark feeling - actually Harry - and the island beats lifted me out to another space.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating, Pearl! Your write was thought-provoking!
DeleteThank you to those who visit and take time to comment - a revolution is happening for me and Alice and we are finding it hard to be...but thank you for the words - Jae
ReplyDeleteOf course, I will visit and comment. Glad to see you, Jae.
DeleteLate to the party--my own party--I thank Mary for hosting. I moved into a retirement community this week, and was without internet for 4 days! I was also very tired. But today, I feel like revolution. Today, I want to try living a revolutionary life.
ReplyDeleteWell, this day must end! I'll be back to enjoy the rest of the feast of your writings tomorrow.
DeleteLiving a revolutionary life sounds like a good plan, Susan!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you and Mariah are in, Susan. Now you can slowly settle in, finding just the right spot for everything, a process I always enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI love the last line of that poem: "Joy is not made to be a crumb."
ReplyDeleteMe, too!
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