{"id":86753,"date":"2019-03-21T13:29:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T20:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=86753"},"modified":"2025-04-28T16:06:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T23:06:01","slug":"two-poems-by-sandra-bradshaw","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=86753","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems by Sandra Bradshaw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BB-6-GG<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Debtor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I would offer you something \u2013 but everything I have<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">is either<br \/>\nborrowed or stolen.<\/p>\n<p>Stolen from the bulk of Humanity which can claim<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">nothing as its own.<\/p>\n<p>The faintest smile; the slightest moment of respite\u2026<br \/>\nbelongs to others.<\/p>\n<p>The despair of the millions; the agony of those<br \/>\ndeath claims slowly\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">is no less mine.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2013 Debt \u2013 Is \u2013 So \u2013 Great.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing is transferable\u2026<br \/>\nno negotiating.<\/p>\n<p>Where then in this barren womb is the renewal?<br \/>\nWhat is there of nourishment for the \u201cintangible\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>Nothing\u2026<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">but the dying<br \/>\nconviction reflected<br \/>\nin familiar, trusted eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Unqualified commitment is the only Redemption.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/p>\n<p>BB-6-VV<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Where now?<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps there is hope for life someday \u2013 but not for our lives.<br \/>\nPerhaps there is hope for happiness somewhere \u2013 but not for us.<\/p>\n<p>No expectations\u2013 only the acceptance of the Void\u2013 the profound, inexpressible void\u2026<br \/>\nThat all-encompassing vacuum which demands from us that we function according to Duty.<\/p>\n<p>Who is keeping score in this absurd game? Will it never end?<br \/>\nAnd who makes the rules?<\/p>\n<p>Such trickery!<\/p>\n<p>If we wanted to \u201cwin\u201d \u2026 we would have already lost\u2013<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">pitifully so.<\/p>\n<p>But I wonder \u2026 when it is all tallied \u2026 when it is asked:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u201cWhich wars did you choose? Which battles did you wage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Who could answer better than we?<\/p>\n<p>For did we not have a high road to travel and the way made clear?<br \/>\nDid we not find the depth of oneness never before encountered?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2026 a moment being equal to a lifetime?<\/p>\n<p>What greater heights could we have reached?<\/p>\n<p>Did we not see life\u2026 and prefer death?<\/p>\n<p>Is there not some Victory in the choice of Reality?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">* * * * *<\/p>\n<p>BB-6-TTTTT<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Reflections<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Look around-<br \/>\nWhat do you see?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Greed,<br \/>\ncorruption,<br \/>\nviolence&#8230;<br \/>\nNothing worth saving!<br \/>\n(except for the children)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">So many soul-less beings,<br \/>\nwhose real substance<br \/>\nhas long been abandoned in the struggle.<br \/>\nFor when the load grew heavy, it was quickly laid down in exchange for all-pervading apathy&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">now they are the walking dead<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There is no pulse left&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">except for the children.<br \/>\nGentle, wistful spirits\u2013<br \/>\nknowledgeable of the secrets of creation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Pitiful trespassers<br \/>\nin a foreign world-<br \/>\nthe children bear the scars of their parents battles.<br \/>\nThere is no hope at all&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">except for the children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BB-6-GG The Debtor I would offer you something \u2013 but everything I have is either borrowed or stolen. Stolen from the bulk of Humanity which can claim nothing as its own. The faintest smile; the slightest moment of respite\u2026 belongs to others. The despair of the millions; the agony of those death claims slowly\u2026 is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":86748,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-86753","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86753"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130110,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86753\/revisions\/130110"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}