Looking out: One world

Issue 

Looking out

One world

By Brandon Astor Jones

"Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the impassioned expression which is in the countenance of all Science." — William Wordsworth

In the same way that I have chosen sisters and brothers in various regions of Australia, a truly wonderful woman has taken me on as her "chosen one". I am privileged to have "Mother Woods" in my life. She inspires me in many ways.

In the February 24 issue of Green Left Weekly, I wrote of intolerance; in that same issue I read Dave Riley's "Kurds are from Kurdistan". It was about intolerance as well. His regular feature, entitled "the life of riley", I always find thought provoking. The piece in question sent me straight to a collection of my adopted mother's poetry.

If, after reading the two selections below, you would like to read more of her poetry, drop me a line, and I will put you in direct contact with her. Wordsworth was right: poetry is indeed the breath and finer spirit of knowledge.

Hello, Mate!
How did the morning look to you
as you climbed out of your bed?
Was it bright or dismal — damp or dry
when you viewed the day ahead?
With our "hello" we send a wish —
a thought behind the readings —
"May every cloud that dims your day
turn bright with silver linings!"

— Barbara Chapman Woods (May 1998)

One World
If the world is meaningful — purposeful,
Even though — at this point in time —
Far from being just and equal:
INJUSTICE ANYWHERE is not to be regarded
As "normal" and unchangeable.

If meaning and purpose are REAL,
Then injustice, whether law-like or brutal,
Must not be regarded as FINAL,
But as a call on the
Courageous spirit of [human]kind.


The human spirit CAN be purposeful,
And human resolve unshakeable.
If life has PURPOSE, then the lives
of ALL on earth are interrelated and mutual.
— SHARERS of ONE WORLD

— Barbara Chapman-Woods (February 17, 1999)

[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]

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