DIANE VALENTINE
THESE STRANGE DAYS
Aunt Diane I call the “Pioneer of our Family.” She was unafraid, boldly carving her own reality— didn’t come into this world to settle for less and wasn’t going to stay poverty’s guest.
These Strange Days— “…Let’s not say goodbye,” she told her Mother.
Is life really hard to deal with,
She knew her tears would soon turn to laughter.
or is it the person in you that can’t deal?
To the finish…her plans were moving— she’d entered the States, her faith undying.
These Strange Days— Is the way of thinking of things so complex,
She was keeper of White Houses, but held on to her good wishes, kept her pride while reaching for gold.
Or is it the person in you who’s confused?
SORRY
One mean Sponsor, and she had to be bold.
These Strange Days— Is a sinner really damned in life
If you are the wrong color,
for the sins they commit,
Her family, church, and school…center of her life.
sorry, that’s the way life has to be.
or is the mind continually playing tricks
Life in America would cause her no strife.
If you are too young,
into thinking that way?
When she became a full-fledged Nurse,
sorry, that’s the way life has to be.
more money was stored in Grandmother’s purse.
If you are with the wrong person,
These Strange Days—
sorry, that’s the way life has to be.
Is it really harder to love
When she’d visited home following “Hattie Hurricane,”
If you have sex with the same sex, it’s OK—
Than not to have loved at all,
never again was our household the same.
but, sorry that’s the way life has to be.
Or is it the lack of affection one has
The smell of the States and happiness reigned supreme. Then she flew Big Sis, my Auntie, my Father, to where she’d been. She was unafraid, boldly carving her own reality.
towards another? You know, life really doesn’t have
These Strange Days
to be that way.
are not as different as we make
She’s come this far with the help of the Almighty.
them, but how we make them strange
“A Missionary Volunteer” in Caracas, Venezuela she is—for the Lord.
If you’re happy inside and out,
within us and live the best way we can,
With the Adventist Church, she’s a “Missionary Volunteer” for God.
just be you and only you.
for we are living in these
Because at the end of it all,
Strange Days.
Iris E. Sankey
you have to answer to what you’ve done in your life,
Inspired by Eloise Greenfield’s poem, “Harriet Tubman” (Harriet Tubman, March 10, 1820—March 10, 1913)
Lorenzo Murphy
and your life alone.
Lorenzo Murphy
Situations
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Situations
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