Perhaps You Have Heard

-
Enrique Simonet - 1892


Good news!
Perhaps you have heard.
Not on your nightly news.
They would much rather speak of society's ills.
But there is good news.
You need to seek it, to find it.
You need to kneel and not stand.
You need to praise and not criticize.

Good news!
Perhaps you have listened.
There are voices that speak with purity.
Those with no agenda other than to share the news.
Those who are not afraid to stand up for one name.
Those who are not afraid to stand up for the words written in one book.

Good news!
Perhaps you have understood.
If so, have you taken care to nourish the seed?
Have you fertilized the soil?
Has it born good fruit where you dwell?
Has it been shared with those who need to hear the most?

Good news!
Perhaps you have heard.
The sonnet is spoken by the preacher in the street.
The words are whispered by a friend at your bedside.
Tune out the syllables of hate.
Turn away from that which divides.
You have been told to not be of this world.
Perhaps you haven't listened.



© 2023 - Donald P James Jr


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