EVERY THURSDAY I MEET SEVERAL FELLOW ANCIENT SAVANTS for soup and conversation at Sebastian Joe’s. The soup is tasty, oyster crackers plentiful, coffee roasted right there. We talk books and art, art and books. And for the past month Ukraine, the attempted murder of a nation and its people before our eyes. We are all sleepless with worry and helplessness. I asked neighbor Mark Ritchie, executive director of Global Minnesota, to suggest effective organizations helping the Ukrainian people against this brain chilling assault, and his suggestions are below. Give generously.
THEN, this morning, Palm Sunday in the Christian tradition, I rose into a dawn I can only describe as holy. A rose light illuminated the scraggly fingers of neighbors’ bur oaks, remnant elegant boulevard elms and soaring maple branches, the fingertips of each swollen with buds. Despite yet another eruption of unspeakable human brutality and short-sightedness, spring has again answered our prayers and opened its arms to all.
PRAYER TO SPRING
Open the door.
So many births!
A sun!
And the vernal equinox,
what is that but words
In an ancient tongue
changing everything
to tulips.
Open the door,
what is out there but the rain.
Let the floods come.
Let the warblers tread
home to their nests.
Let the worms glisten in love
under the covers of old leaves.
Let jack-in-the-pulpit open his
sermon with praise.
Let new words erupt:
crocus, daffodil, jonquil,
petals moving their
colorful lips.
And buds! Billions of buds!
May they burst with joy.
Let the bumblebee stumble
from her grassy cave.
And the bear with her cubs
the same.
And the spade and the plow,
let them come,
punch seed into soil,
how much good the dirt knows!
Let oak and elm unfurl
their thousand hands
to shelter with shade
the open door.
Who can stop this clapping!
This audience of everything!
Suggestions for Ukrainian relief from Global Minnesota (and others): The situation is dire and urgent. Delivering aid into the right hands is of utmost importance. There is a need for medical supplies, medications, food, and protective gear–including helmets and body armor. For a complete list of supplies, visit the Help Ukraine Center.
Vetted humanitarian organizations include World Central Kitchen, Unicef USA, CARE, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, USA for UNHCR, and Minnesota-founded Alight.org (formerly American Refugee Committee), all very active in Ukraine and Poland. A smaller Minnesota-based Ukrainian support organization is Global Synergy Group, founded recently by a Ukrainian-American in White Bear Lake, globalsynergygroup.org.
“Prayer to Spring” reprinted from “Seasons of the Urban Coyote,“ James P. Lenfesty, Nodin Press, ©2021.
