For life and another day

Easter Monday, why didn't I post a blog yesterday? For one, enough was said, preached, proclaimed, written and posted that I would have been superfluous. In fact, an Episcopal priest I knew years ago once stepped up into his pulpit on the morning of Easter Day, announced, "Christ is risen, what more can I say?" and stepped down to continue the eucharistic celebration. 

It was either brilliant or lazy, take your pick. I have wondered what he did for toppers the following Easter. 

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Pope Francis died this morning, Easter Monday, pulling the Roman Catholic Church into centuries-old traditions of funeral and conclave of cardinals gathering in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope. I view Pope Francis as having been a good man, humble and nonjudgmental; others may see him differently. 

As long as there are humans around, we will see hatred, division, biting, throwing sand, and political maneuvering in any group from kindergarten classroom to middle school playground to nation to church, and it will be so as long as Bnei Adam abides on the face of the Earth.

But likely we will never again see the likes of Pope John XXIII, best of the best. A story after his election was of his sisters kneeling at his feet so he could offer them his ring to kiss, and him saying, "Get up, get up, it's only me." 

From poem-a-day, below is today's poem. I liked it well enough to copy and paste, as well as the poet's story about it, somewhat confirming that some poems have minds of their own. 

Breakfast: two slices of Pepperidge Farm very thin whole wheat bread, toasted extra crispy, sandwiching a thick spread of chopped liver brought home from a seder with friends.

For life and another day in it,

RSF&PTL

T89&c 

Michelangelo: The Creation of Adam, detail of the ceiling fresco by Michelangelo, 1508–12; in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

The Hebrew plural of Ben Adama (בן אדם), meaning "son of man" or "human being," is Bnei Adam (בני אדם). This translates to "sons of man" or "people" 

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Category: A philosophical phrase


Clues:


1.  Lock:             Damn it … not everyone believes what you believe! 

    Morpheus:    My beliefs do not require them to. 
                                                                               —The Matrix Reloaded


2. It is achieved in solitude but never by separation.


3. No trinity—the ocean moves as one body, never confused with a 
    collection of raindrops.


4. Morning dew has a way more iconic metamorphosis than the butterfly, 

    sadly said no one.


5. It is Spring under a Bodhi Tree awakening to the Earth holding you—in
    wooden arms against grass-hilled breasts—the Earth is always holding you. 


6. The moment a raindrop touches the ocean, it becomes the whole ocean.


7. “Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night”—G. Brooks

    “... the devil my opp, can’t pay me to stop…”—K. West
                                                                            (—YouTube fan mashup)


8. Fail and hang, death can’t save you—rebirth starts this game over.


9. Raindrops in the ocean suffer imposter syndrome;


10. there are no raindrops in the ocean—it is honing this sole wisdom.


11. This is the single most important answer of your life to get right.

Copyright © 2025 by Anacaona Rocio Milagro. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on April 21, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.


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about this poem


“Desperate for divination, this poem possessed me a decade ago during a tarot card reading. The diviner announced the ‘Hanged Man’ before placing the card down, and I imagined the word puzzle. Once I saw the card and learned its meaning, the image of the word puzzle remained and took residence in a corner of my mind. It has tortured me ever since, demanding to be written and blocking its completion. (A stubborn poem.) For years I attempted to finish it and could not. Then upon receiving the invite to Poem-a-Day—to my surprise—the poem flowed, and I finished it within minutes. ‘Diva!’ I snarled. ‘You wanted your own stage, huh?’” 
—Anacaona Rocio Milagro