The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

Unrequited Resolutions

If only motivation’s power was always the same

as it is during that midnight countdown.

Instead, January’s days slide away,

those broken promises tumbling in their descent.

February dawns with resolutions yet unfulfilled.

But even on winter’s chilliest days,

if you stretch toward your vows,

you can touch them with the edge of your fingertips.

 
 
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The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

From Time to Time

From time to time, she glances at the distant exit door

as her weary fingers make the repetitive stitches that dominate

her seventy-two factory hours.

From time to time, he glances at the distant trees

as his weathered hands reach toward the squash that is hidden in the earth

and his heart aches for home.

 
 
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The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

The End

What did you last see, as the ending arrived:

with one eye, the asphalt? with the other, a sliver of sky?

Did you remember having your child’s hand on your cheek?

Or your mother’s warm arms around your shoulders?

You did not get to hear the word that was such a long time coming.

Guilty.

 
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The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

American Dream

American Dream

How is one supposed to feel,

when so much is

upside

down?

My wrong is your right.

Your black is my white.

How did my hopes become your fears,

and your laughter my tears?

Yet, I trust that we all want

solace

equality

empathy

democracy.

I still believe, eternally, in the promise of our America.

 
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The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

2020

2020

A year like no other.

It is easy to see it as dark.

Earthquakes and windstorms.

A sea of masks.

“I can’t breathe.”

But there’s another side.

Resilience.

Innovation.

Self-examination.

What is it that we will recall, as it fades?

What will we remember in our tomorrows,

when we hold it up against the light?

 
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The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond The World & Other Stuff Joni Anne Hemond

The Virus

Molecules bind to receptors and trigger cascades.
Infiltrated organs fail ―
hearts with no push, kidneys with no filter, lungs unable to exchange
A person gasping for air, dying alone.
A community isolated, angry, divisive.
A society without rudder, broken in two.
A world that had the chance to unite, but couldn’t.
A small, enormous enemy.

 
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