Resilience

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“Grief and Resilience live together.” - Michelle Obama 

“I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” – Maya Angelou

 As the war in Ukraine enters its 4th week, the resilience of its people continues to leave the rest of the world agog, not least its chief architect, Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who had clearly underestimated the full force of Ukranian resistance.

Indeed, I imagine Putin could well be found guilty of war crimes at some later date, and deservedly so, given that Russian troops appear, time and again, to have deliberately targeted the civilian population; men, woman and children - old, young, the sick and disabled alike.

Such are the horrors of war; so, too, for many, - on a lesser, if no less significant scale to those involved - the trials and troubles of everyday life, even in so-called peace time. More often than not, the spirit of resilience asserts and re-asserts itself, allowing heart-and-soul to overcome the worst, learn to live with it, strive for better times and win through...for others, if not always themselves.

RESILIENCE

As the burden of life on me grows,
so, too, a sense of responsibility to myself,
as much as loved ones and others,
to see it through, to an end often requiring
a compromise of sorts,
while not letting heart-and-soul lie broken
by hurricane forces,
but standing firm to even the worst of all weathers 
to the best of native endeavours

As time continues to wear me down,
would even uproot me from my place of birth,
I can but draw on such gifts
of nature as let a robin sing in bleakest winters,
spring but the likes of dreams away
as inspire human beings to survive a bitter cold,
young and old alike,
engaging with a collective mind-body-spirit to sustain
hopes of rediscovering peace again

Like the willow that bends with the wind,
I vow to survive, for myself as much as loved ones
and others caught up in storms
inflicted by nature and human nature worldwide,
though they underestimate what may lie
behind appearances, often deceived by an apparent
vulnerability, easy prey
to a determined enemy, likely to be caught out in its turn
by the steely stare of self-preservation

Always ready to lend an ear, and more,
to any distress call from heart-and soul under siege
and deserving better, no matter how
or why, although the Here-and-Now as it affects others,
especially as close to home
as some will be, may also affect shape and degrees
of such help as I can rally,
the better part of humanity needing to prove up to the task
without putting itself at too great a risk

Meanwhile, amongst chaos and destruction I dare to battle on
for such peace as offers a collective salvation, and my own...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022