Poem - After an April Rain

I can get lost in the beauty

of the garden after an April rain,

and forget that the bulldozers

will soon be here.

If the driver could see these flowers up close

he might step down and walk away.

I can get lost in the beauty

of this garden after an April shower,

and forget about  . . . that soldier

with his eye on a computer screen

who will soon discharge

a lethal weapon 

to a target
 6000 miles away.

If the soldier 

could see into the eyes

of his victim

he, too, might step down.

and walk away.

I am still so proud

of that Chinese student

who stepped in front

of the tank in Tiananmen Square.

There are so many better

things to do than make war,

like eating wild strawberries

or taking a nap.

~ ~ ~

I started this poem because I’d taken

these beautiful garden photos.

After completing most of the poem

I remembered a photo I’d taken

of the napping Buddha, so I added that thought.

But I needed another illustration.

Soon after that I was walking around the yard

and saw those wild strawberries.

~ ~ ~

That’s sort of the way I write music and lyrics

One art form enhances and prompts the other.


and now I've made a video
http://www.youtube.com/janamedrova#p/u/0/uGjPnsPq314

~ ~ ~

stay tuned . . .