pictured words

a simple pairing of pictures and poetry
April 2, 2025

Life’s View from My Recliner

 Life’s View from My Recliner

The chair Mom rocked me in when I was a baby,
and when I wasn’t ready for her to stop.

The chair from which Grandma would flash that playful grin at me,
holding out the adorable ceramic kitten she would let me hold,
as long as I was in her lap. (That kitten is now mine.)

Decorative pillows Deanna brought home from Nepal for me
that now enjoy both my mom’s and my grandma’s touch.

The Tiffany-style lamp Dad turned from gas to electric,
and that now throws rainbows across my floor and onto my walls

and that sits atop the chess table he made
and the box that holds the wooden chess pieces.

The African violets started by my father-in-law. 
They received the best upbringing, as he stroked and spoke to them.

Large windows that let in sun’s cheer, even as the scenes change
outside them.  Visitors that grace those scenes …

colorful, talkative birds; various kinds of squirrels; chipmunks; deer;
delivery trucks that had halted during the pandemic;

moms and dads and grandparents pushing strollers or walking dogs;
children riding bikes;
the love of my life cleaning the gutters before tonight’s expected storm.

© Marie Elena Good 2025

Robert Lee Brewer’s April 2025 PAD
Day 2 prompt: From where I sit

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April 2, 2025

In these times (no poem, and no picture)

Dear all:

The first time I was eligible to vote, I registered as a democrat. I proudly/excitedly/confidently voted for Jimmy Carter.  In the very next election, I registered republican to vote (shaking in my shoes) for Ronald Reagan.  For much of my life, I’ve considered myself a conservative republican.  After my party went too far right for me, and the democrats too far left, I haven’t known how to politically label myself.  I have always voted my conscious – I have never been a party-line voter.  I am, and always will be, a follower of Jesus Christ.

But in this time we are in, I am democrat.  Not because I agree with everything they think and do. Not because I have seen them accomplish all they say they are about (because I haven’t, because they haven’t). But because I see them as the only path to restoring our checks and balances in this America I already no longer recognize. 

In this time we are in, I am American. I am Ukrainian, Syrian, Lebanese, Haitian, Afghani, Iranian, Iraqi, Sudanese, Somalian, Canadian, Burundian, Mexican, Peruvian, Cuban, Brazilian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan … you get the picture. 

In this time we are in, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I am Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto …

In this time we are in, I am female. I am male. I am straight. I am lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, she, he, they …

In this time we are in, I am a citizen of the United States of America. I am a refugee, a parolee, an asylee. I am legal, illegal, undocumented …

In this time we are in, I am innocent. I am guilty, convicted, chained, and imprisoned.

Why do I say I am all these, when clearly I am not?

When Jesus’s feet were on this earth, He showed love and compassion for all.  Yes, He stood for righteousness.  He didn’t waiver from purity and holiness, and He encourages us to do the same (though it is impossible for us). He was sinless in His thought life.  He was sinless in His behavior. He was all-loving, all-just, wholly compassionate, wholly empathetic, and (please hear this), He was sinless in His compassion and empathy.  It is in large part why He came.

As a follower of Jesus, it is my duty and my privilege to honor with dignity and compassion every person ever created. We are all created in the image of God. It is His way.  It is what He flawlessly demonstrated, and will do so eternally.

May He help me … help my country … be more like Him.

With all sincerity,
Marie Elena

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