Sweet rejoicing

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.
~John Calvin

For Music Monday, In Dulci Jubilo from Christmas with The Singers. You know I love choral Christmas music!

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights / Jamal Khashoggi

I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.
~Jamal Khashoggi

Today's post is a response to the following message from the international literature festival berlin:

On December 10, 1948, 70 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was announced by the United Nations General Assembly at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. On this anniversary, the international literature festival berlin (ilb) calls upon individuals, institutions, universities, schools, and media who value freedom of the press and human rights to organize and participate in a worldwide reading in memory of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Poems in honor of
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and the memory of Jamal Khashoggi

Preamble
Universal Declaration for Jamal
by Linda Mitchell

Whereas
barbarous acts have outraged us.

Since Jamal,
of our human family, is murdered.

Because Jamal
championed freedoms of justice and peace.

Considering Jamal’s
rights should have been protected.

Insomuch as Jamal’s
dignity and human worth were disregarded.

We reaffirm
better standards for all peoples and nations.

Forasmuch as Jamal
is compatriot, colleague, father, spouse, friend, brother

Albeit
We are not his
Although
We are not his
We reaffirm
This Declaration
Amen
and, Amen

© 2018

*************  

Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

REMEMBERING JAMAL KHASHOGGI
by Michelle Kogan
Golden Shovel built from Article 03 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A human life is the responsibility of everyone.
When a voice has
spoken for those oppressed, the
voice also needs right-
ful protection. To
slaughter any life
is a blight against all liberty
everywhere, and
all measures of human security
need to unite to right this heinous act of
dehumanization toward that person.

© 2018 Michelle Kogan

*************  

Article 6.

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article VI
by Tabatha Yeatts

For you,
made of the universe,
breathing stars with every breath,

For you,
who unfurled like a flower
in the world's womb,

The right to be seen—
replete with spirit
a complete unit of life—

For you,
spark of life's fire,
personhood
wherever you go.

*************  

Article 18.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 18
by Harry Yeatts
iambic tetrameter blank verse pentastich

These folks hold tight to their beliefs.
Those folks over there do the same.
And both believe diff'rent from me.
So then we're all non-believers,
And have every right to be.

© 2018

*************  

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

When
by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
an acrostic

all I need is
determined by
elected officials who
question my value and
understand nothing of the
allowances made
to make
ends meet

perhaps it's time to
reject the
optimistic view
that these
elected officials
can comprehend
the truth of
inadequate
opportunity—
nothing is ever secure.

© 2018 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes

*************

freedom to be nice
by Donna JT Smith, © 2018
found poem from the UDHR

born
  with reason
  and conscience
  in brotherhood
  everyone
  has rights
   of
   thought
   religion or belief
   to
   understanding
   tolerance
   and friendship
   for
   Peace
 may nothing be
  aimed at
  destruction

*************

A concrete poem by Brenda Davis Harsham:

© 2018

*************

Elizabeth Steinglass has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Liz!

Reading the paper

[Nick] Davies does a bit of teaching, and he has his students imagine that they are asked to write a report on what the weather will be like tomorrow. They interview a woman in one room who says it will be sunny. Then they interview a man in another room who says it's going to rain. Your job, as a journalist, is not to simply write up what you have been told, he says. Your job is to look out the window.
~The Economist

Journalism-related art today, getting ready for a Khashoggi post tomorrow.

Newspaper Reader
photo by Dr. Avishai Teicher

Women’s photojournalism course in Farah City, Afghanistan
photo by ResoluteSupportMedia

Allegory of communist press censorship
by Jacek Halicki

Die Zeitungsleserin
by Adolph von Menzel

Newsgathering
by Suzanne Scheuer
for the U.S. Works Progress Administration

Portrait of Emma Zorn
by Anders Zorn

Trompe l'oeil mit Porträt
by Martin Orthner

A final quote:
News is what someone wants suppressed. Everything else is advertising.
~Katharine Graham

Use as needed

I suspect that we are all recipients of cosmic love notes.
~Sam Keen

Sometimes I don't know which way to go with Wellness Wednesday because I'm not sure what you need this week. My younger daughter came down with a stomach bug last night, so I mostly need electrolyte recipes and permission to nap. But what is on your plate? My Australian friend Kat just told me about the bushfires that recently blazed through her area and how stressful that experience was (thank goodness for rain!). I ended up going with a little bit of a bunch of things...use as needed:

Smoke pollution from fires:
* Fire Support: Herbs for Lungs and Trauma

DIY Electrolyte drinks:
* 4 Homemade Electrolyte Recipes

Gratitude:
* Gratitude Journal: 67 Templates, Ideas, and Apps for Your Diary

Relaxation:
* Study: Tetris is a Great Distraction for Easing an Anxious Mind
* Relaxation Apps

Grief:
* Nick Cave on death and grief

Truffles:
* Amaretto Cream Truffles (I made them Sunday and had planned on using amaretto extract, but at the last minute I decided on strawberry. TBH, I couldn't taste the strawberry, but the truffles were still a hit.)

Anything you want to add?

Anita Baker

I used to sing at funeral homes for families that didn't have a vocalist. I didn't get paid. I needed to sing.
~Anita Baker

Anita Baker's Rapture album (1986) was one that I listened to on a daily basis. For Music Monday, Anita Baker:





One more Anita quote:

I'm picking and choosing in terms of the stress factor. If it's not fun, I'm not going to do it.
~Anita Baker

The Papery Dark

It makes your teeth feel good to say it: Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. It feels like eating peanuts. Try it.
~Sylvia Cassedy

Two Maggies today. I just love this Maggie Smith poem with its gold butterflies and shadows:

Mountain Child
by Maggie Smith

When the girl leaves the mountain,
she is no longer a child,

but she has not outgrown the hawk.
She wears its shadow on her shoulder,

an epaulet. It bears the weight

of allegory. When the girl leaves
the mountain, it’s autumn,

so many yellow leaves on the gingko,
clusters of butterflies seem to cling

to each branch. Each time
the wind blows, a few take wing...

read the rest here (scroll to the bottom)

Ginkgo Tree by Will Power

***********

I love this (admittedly dark) Maggie Blake Bailey poem, too:

Glacier Climbing
by Maggie Blake Bailey

...Years ago, I left to climb a glacier
in Alaska and learned how to cling
to the mountain, how to bracket...

read the whole thing here

***********

Last day to turn in human rights poems!

Carol's Corner has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Carol!

Phillips

[Vilhelm] Hammershøi's art is about being present in the world as it is, accepting its beauty, and living in the moment.
~Richard Dorment

Today's post was inspired by a visit to The Phillips Collection in DC.

Interiør med kunstnerens staffeli
by Vilhelm Hammershøi

Grey Thaw
by John F. Folinsbee

Garden at Vaucresson
by Édouard Vuillard

Moulin à Saint-Jacut or Les Villas
by Édouard Vuillard

Bird
by Nathalie Djurber
photo by Tabatha