THE OBSERVATION BOOTH
OP / ED & PHOTO BY ANDREA DIALECT
We must come together becoming thick as thieves once again. That my darlings is a matter of survival. Yesterday when driving on Washington Street in East Orange, I was prompted to “look over there,” by that whisper in my ear. There, I saw a tree with its top severed and lying below. I was told that this was to be my submission for this week’s article. And I immediately knew I was being told to yank Autumn out of the archives once again.
Autumn is a piece I wrote many years ago about the deterioration and corrosion of the family structure. Read it and weep as I always do. Also moan if ya must then let’s go make amends with one another. That being Kin folk, as well as our fellow man. If you’re in the area join me in this seek and find adventure. Go seek out that tree and see that living testament in real time!
ROOTS
AUTUMN
No longer does the gentle breeze of Autumn soothe me
Nor do I any longer take in air
inhaling the sweet of change
Change such change
For there was a time when the face of Autumn
Would paint a picture of such beauty
But now, Autumn has come forth a new
Although it did not come all at once, it is here
It has crept upon us as we slept, as a thief does
And I cannot welcome this
Simply, what is our fate
if in the most trying of times
upon the changing of seasons, we cannot depend
Yes, Autumn has removed itself from its place
and it has come inside to dwell
Fall has come upon this once deeply rooted,
this once-strong family
And it is as an evergreen no more
Winter nears us and if his visit greets us with great force
wed likely parish
Thus, the need for harvest is no more
When the fall winds blew
rightfully returning those of ripened age
back to the earth from whence they’d come
Their last, their last Autumn was that of our own
Oh, how deeply saddened my heart
Understand that the passing of our strongest
has caused the bough to break
Now, ignorance shades us from the sun
Now, our branches bow as that of a willow tree
A dying willow that weeps
Although it did not come all at once, it is here
It has crept upon us as a thief does
and I cannot welcome this.
What is our fate
If in our most trying of times upon the changes of seasons
we cannot depend
If we do not lift our heads from sleeping, lift our eyes from morning and our weeping and begin till and begin toll
Then, with our eyes cast toward the heavens, we repent
Praying also that our Lord
Might once again grant us
a woven kinship and life
If we don’t
just as fast as a forest fire sweeps through a forest full of life
Just as the same, none being spared
The family, our families, shall surely die!
DID YA KNOW THAT…
Nuclear family, in sociology and anthropology, a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children. Typically, but not always, the adults in a nuclear family are married.
A family relationship is based on personal ties between persons. These are most commonly blood ties. However, you may also be bound to your family members through an officially recognized relationship such as marriage or adoption, or because you live together. Blood relatives.
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