Gathered Wisdom - Poem

National Catholic Reporter, March 23, 2001 by Jim Petkiewicz

(A prayer for Africa) The first part of a six-part poem

I.

Ancestors

   Our loved ones
   our life and hope
   the gathered wisdom
   accumulated
   in the soil
   the land
   the earth
   the animals
   the plants
   the sky
   The spirit of our people
   shared
   linking us
   calling us forth
   'tis the ancestors in the voices
   of us all
   in the children
   and their dark faces
   receptacles of light
   shining forth
   big, gleaming teeth
   in fantastic smiles
   joyous waves
   and buoyant shouts
   seen
   shared
   and experienced
   only if we
   are
   present
   striving
   connecting
   and hoping against all
   in diverse unity,
   with our God
   of small joys.

--Jim Petkiewicz Oaxaca, Mexico