by Jessu John
[box]A woman who has had a difficult and challenging past, chooses to relieve herself of bitterness by opting to forget and forgive, and move on. Jessu John writes a poem inspired from the single ‘Better Days’ by the Goo Goo Dolls. The poem combines fantasy and a few Biblical references including that of the story of ‘Balaam and his Donkey’, to paint the picture of a woman who doesn’t fall too hard for or entirely disbelieve traditional faith.[/box]She spots them, rare creatures,
On her virgin run in the hills,
White donkeys –
Aren’t they as good as unicorns,
Even without horns?
She runs past the uncommon beasts,
One of them, pure white, says,
‘Woman, you’ll see better days’.
She stops, panting, then recalling
Stories of donkeys talking,
They are known to speak the truth.
If they warn of imminent death,
Would they not forecast good news?
From above the branches high
As she pushes her way up the slopes,
‘Today the world begins again’,
The songbirds resonate,
While a herd of unicorns tell her stories
Of a virgin expecting a baby,
Of mangers and the cold fields of Bethlehem,
Of a new world order,
Of grace and truth and salvation,
Of one Man who divided history,
So nothing would be the same again.
She interrupts to say,
‘One woman can divide history,
Even if only her own –
And nothing will ever be the same again’.
She’s running, listening to unicorns chatter,
Thinking of celebrations,
A world that needs old songs and new things,
And how He is born in every new infant here,
Like new hope born with every dawn
So we can hope for better days, life extended.
She’s thinking about it all,
And it isn’t even Christmas.
Children born every brand new day
Who save the world with kindness,
Keep peace and faith and trust alive,
And so we all have those better days,
Bringing us these signs of unicorns,
Of white donkeys carrying messages
Of wholeness, newness, restoration,
Hope.
Faint limitless hope for better days.
White donkeys on their way up a hill
Now tell her there’ll be better days,
These unicorns, they tell her
The earth will see new mornings,
Hear songs sweet enough each dawn,
Play music for the soul at dusk,
Tender some mercies for the night,
And that she will be alright.
Everything’s forgotten now,
Everyone’s forgiven now,
So just like that, the world begins again.
Jessu John is a branding & communications professional from Bangalore, India. She also writes for mainstream Indian daily ‘The Hindu’ and is an amateur long distance runner. A lover of activities suited to the introvert, her inspiration for writing a piece often comes from conversations over coffee with friends or random people-watching and day-dreaming. She tweets as @JessuRJohn and blogs at ForceofDreams.
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