Nina

Sing Nina! Sing!

Tell the world of your sadness and your despair

You have known it well

Lazy calm oozes as her voice washes over me

Sitting on the front porch

I imagine that I am in the deep south

Sing Nina!

Tell me of the sorrow and the despair that you know!

The Sun and the Blues collaborate

They are strangely made for each other

Heat and heartache

Smelted together in smooth sympatico waves.

I wrote this, just as it sounds. I was sitting on my front verandah on a hot summer evening listening to Nina Simone. That evening my heart broke, I was moved by her pain and I sat and cried as I listened to her. Art in any form, is so important to help us think and process . Nina Simone sang the blues and Jazz so well because she lived it. Her sorrow and her rage rang in my ears that evening. I can never fully understand what she experienced. I felt a pang of helplessness as I began to realise it. Allowing ourselves to be moved by other peoples experiences, should in my opinion create utter change. Little shifts in perception are invaluable. Empathy utmost.