Guest Poet
Gayle J. Greenlea
Defibrillation
Defibrillation
The bones of Winter lie like soldiers disturbing earth's peace
a clutter of carnage bearing witness to the assault on life
Arab Spring, your hope is
tarnished
stains of blood weep
widening Rorschachs in the snow
while brothers betray expensive
victories won
Mothers sift through cold
debris to wrench
their children from
death's jaws
lonely, rocking pietas
shock to the chest
defibrillating the world
heart
Cold fingers of other
nations probe from a distance
Desire, power, syncope,
politics
Fresh snow stifling a Spring of hope
Interference like
residual white noise from the Big Bang
Too little, too late
Time to move now while
the bones clatter and yearn to dance
Decisiveness and courage
to partner voices
that cry for Unity. Compassion to melt the stubborn snow and
free the green blade rising
Determination to join the
dance
like a journalist
taking off her shoes.
Gayle J. Greelea
Copyright 2013
(In memory of British journalist, Marie Colvin, who was killed in a 2012
rocket attack in Syria while going downstairs to retrieve her shoes. Colvin was
supposed to be leaving Syria, but had stayed to
finish one more story.)
Info about photo: “Mideast Tunisia Revolution Revisited. Manoubiyeh Bouazizi, the mother
of Mohamed Bouazizi, the local fruit vendor who set
himself
on fire Dec. 17,
holds a picture of him, in the town of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Tuesday March 8, 2011. The desperate act
set off mass protests that brought
down Tunisian President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in
less than a month and inspired others who toppled autocratic Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak,
launched an armed rebellion
against Libyan despot Moammar Gadhafi, and rattled
governments in Yemen, Bahrain and elsewhere.”
- The Associated
Press
(AP Photo/Giorgos Moutafis)
Gayle J. Greenlea began writing poetry at age eight, inspired by a love of trees which has remained a central theme throughout her life. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, she now resides in Sydney, Australia where she works as a professional Counselour and Spiritual Care Practitioner in the health system.
A peace and justice advocate for more than three decades, Gayle has worked to further multicultural and interfaith collaboration, provide care and support in the gay community, promote prevention of violence and sexual abuse and ameliorate healing for survivors. She holds an MDiv in theological studies from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus Ohio and is recipient of the Anna Seidler Award for Systematic Theology, 1988.
One of her poems was commissioned for the Fair-Well to Violence event in San Antonio, Texas in 1995, and she has written liturgy and presided as Celebrant for gatherings of the National Association of Mental Illness and the National Hispanic Ministries Conference for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She has worked as both a print and broadcast journalist, Press Secretary for the Democratic Party and Get Out the Vote in Texas, and co-authored a paper on Spirituality and Health, published in the Australian Health Review, March 2010. Her poem, "Wonderland," received the PROD award from Australian Poetry in 2011.
In addition to poetry, Gayle is writing a novel, sings and plays guitar and dabbles in photography, art, quantum physics, string theory, and cosmology. She has a passion for theatre, nature, Space, cats, coffee, chocolate, cooking, Spanish language and culture, human rights and the dignity of all creatures.