from the series Raise Your Voice….
By PETER MOLENAAR
It can be said with certainty that the neighborhoods served by this paper constitute a community of shared memories, one of which is indelibly etched within. Presumably, then, the young poets among us will grant an old man some license:
Most of us bold enough to leave our mother’s womb will inhale the scent of lilacs when in bloom. Yet every blossom withers before evoking again and again: the breath of life.
While pondering the breath of life, we might acknowledge our Ward 10 councilperson. Aisha has returned with reports from her recent tour of Cuba, an island nation long tormented by a blockade which now threatens to pull the electrical plug from incubated babies.
Naturally, some voices have emerged on the local scene which appear to mimic the vocal shrugs: “stuff happens” and “that is the cost.” Others believe Aisha deserves commendation for her compassionate example.
All things considered, however, historians will acknowledge our collective resolve to uphold the breath of life. Indeed, we shut down Smith Foundry, and we blocked a proposal to house a diesel truck fleet at the nearby Roof Depot site, and if memory serves, there was an industrial-scale garbage incinerator which disappeared as well.
So, for the record: we have evoked the breath of life again and again!
