La Plegaria de la Paz *
        - Edgar Veytia

Another year ends, another begins,
as the earth, full-circle comes ‘round to a date etched in endless space.
The world as we know it, wobbly and weary, so slow to catch up this year.
Family, life, friendships and work, all fair game
in this rite of audit, reflection, and uneasy resolve;
terra incognita, the view up ahead, I wish it weren’t so.
Peace, be not a stranger in this world.

Yuletides, riptides, unintended consequence.
Can you feel the barometric pressure rise, stakes ever higher?
The white noise of fear, drowning the seedlings of tomorrow’s good favor.
For what matters art, poetry, doodling and aimless ambling in times like these?
Hope, on the upswing, predictably benign,
n’er more than the antibody, the test positive of fear.
Peace, be not a stranger in this world.

To you my friend, no answers from me. Taoist, I am, this time of year.
Questions, worthy of my intrepid best; answers, through my actions made clear.
To you then, my friend, a prayer of bountiful love for you and yours.
To those that lead and decide, a prayer of wisdom and reminder of place.
To those with mal intent upon us, a prayer of bright tomorrows for your children,
the only prayer to stay the hand of desperate resolve.
Peace, be not a stranger in this world.

And, to all of us, who still dream and make dreams come true,
a prayer and evocation of boldness and courage of heart;
this year ‘round the sun, not as passengers, but as the navigators and pilots we are,
unfaltering, undeterred, unabashed in actions large and small,
a seed of love, a show of compassion, a pardon and an apology.
May the spring of your heart be refreshed by the sweet waters of life this holiday
and into the new year ahead, in your journey ‘round the sun.
Una plegaria, el llanto del alma,
Peace, be not a stranger in this world.

Best Wishes,
                  Edgar
                        & the boys



          * Plegaria...  a submission or plea; to petition the Lord with prayer...
              el llanto del alma...  the Cry of the Soul