.

As I face myself in the mirror…
I’m looking for holiness within my human face… 
that will come along…

.

I was looking deeper than at my face. I was facing myself just as I’d been doing many dozens of times before, but this is what I need to share  — it was different this time. I was looking through myself and beyond the past of myself, even faster than the speed of light it was. I was really this time in acceptance that I’ve been doing the best that I can do. I know darn well that nothing that I can or did do or even will do makes me worthy of God’s Grace; no matter if I even by some chance may do one thing even perfectly. In fact, I wouldn’t have to work at it to tear up my mental image of myself doing the best that I can — recalling…

in the wink
that is a lifetime
moments paused between
the places
we became –
as spirit learned
of music we’ve forgotten
the beauty of the dance
times
we swore
some other
to return

without a map
for making –
to places we exist
a warmth
that is the sun
against our night
seasons robbed of color
constellations
turn in time –
breathless complication
of our easing into
flight

a day
a week
eternities –
tree steps and backward two
turning
gently turning
to the waltz of falling leaves
touching on
a memory
reminders why
we came –
to wake again this wonder
left the soul to grieve

. . .

This is the first in a series on climate change issues, especially as they relate to the Caribbean and the tropics. There is so much to say, to try to explain and to understand about climate change. But I agree with this recent observation by Barbara Walker, co-owner of Hotel Mockingbird Hill, a Jamaican eco-resort: “Climate change is the defining issue of the 21st century.” If we don’t face up to it, our survival on this Planet, even relatively short-term, is in doubt. I am not going to be alarmist, however. I plan to let you know about some developments in the region – and efforts to adapt to this reality. Because adapt we must. Change we must. And NOW.

Deputy Principal of UWI Mona Campus Professor Ishenkumba Kahwa browses through the publication.

On June 11, I attended the launch of a publication at the University of the West Indies…

The past does not matter
for it was only preparation
for where you are today.

Put no more rocks
in that sack
on your back.
Is not the burden
heavy enough already?
Better yet, lay down
that load
move with swift feet
to the healing room
where serenity is
handed out in large doses
and life is lived
as it was meant to be.