Planting Seeds of Kindness
Planting Seeds of Kindness
The birds sang,
and the sun warmed us.
The birds were unaware,
that the spring sun was untrue.
More cold and tough days
were ahead,
but the important work
was to plant the seeds.
Nature knows
how the majority feels.
Nature knows
it is often a raw deal.
The democracy of seeds
should be a safe space.
Color, diversity, and variety
lift each other out of the dirt.
Seeds will sprout.
Birds will sing.
All of us are planting
seeds of kindness.
Poetry
It has been a while since I wrote a poem. I wrote poetry in college as part of my university’s literary magazine. I was an assistant editor, and a poor one at that. Lately, I have been writing for this newsletter and other online works alongside my illustrations.
Mixing writing and drawing has always seemed natural to me. Sketchnotes are where my words and drawings collide. Writing poetry is a muscle that I have not used in decades. It is something new to me again, and the poem above is raw and fresh, without heavy editing. It arose from watching crows enjoy some scattered food scraps in the record setting warmth of a March afternoon. It reminded me of a line from A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
I hope to combine more of my writing and drawing together soon in the form of graphic novels, children's books, and comics. These are all new adventures for me, but adventures that I have wanted to pursue since childhood.
I did create a new sketch of Hemingway but ran out of time to develop it into a final illustration.
Be kind to yourself on your creative journey.
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You have reached the end of the newsletter. The band Tears For Fears wrote a song, Sowing the Seeds of Love, on their third album entitled The Seeds of Love (1989). It is one of their most overtly political songs. The song takes musical influence from the Beatles. The song title was an alternate title consideration for my poem.