by Ernie McCray
Oh, what a world.
A world, that, too often,
seems like a nightmarish dream.
Makes me want to scream.
But there came a moment
when I turned my television on
and there, before me, stood Nanci Griffith
|singing “From a Distance,”
forever one of my favorite songs.
And suddenly,
like river waters
emptying into the sea,
tears poured from me,
her words, and the sheer
beauty of her voice,
so emotionally comforting to me,
her wishes for a better way of being,
washing over me,
allowing me to contemplate that, yes,
there are battles in Ukraine,
but movements to end wars
still remain,
that, although, there’s a long history of
Xenophobes terrorizing dark skinned folks,
that will someday cease,
that there will be a rising
of voices of hope
and voices of peace
and a time will eventually arrive
when women
will truly be free,
that there will be
a world of harmony,
harmony that,
as Ms. Griffith sings,
“echoes through the land”
as the “hope of hopes”
and “love of loves,”
the “heart”
and “song of every man.”
Oh, I shed so many tears
I could barely stand.
But, by the time
the waters in my eyes
had dried,
my spirit had risen sky high,
compelling me
to continue to do what little I can do
to keep hope alive.
It appears that all we need,
every now and then,
to keep on pushing for a world
better than ours has been,
is a good cry.
It’s so cleansing.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Ernie wrote this days ago, but it seems very appropriate for today when the whole nation is crying.
Oh, so much more to cry about.
Thanks so much for a heartfelt reminder of Nanci Griffith’s performance of “From a Distance,” which became my favorite when I first heard it on David Letterman MANY years ago. Listening to it again allowed me, too, to let my river of tears flow after the events of last week.
It’s a great feeling isn’t it, Nanci.
We indeed lost a Nightingale when she died last year!