Multimedia
Writing and photography are channels I ue to create worship and spiritual practice. I am very interested in mutimedia and moving towards multimedia presentations to help us bridge towards the more visually oriented generations.
In addition to my liturgical drama and poetry, other writings include a number of pieces on the UUA's Worship Web and featured in other places such as the College of Social Justice.
Samples of words and poetry are here. I also experiment with simple songs for worship.
Arizona as Metaphor
Tonight I learned how to weep
On a plane taking off from Phoenix.
A city my privileged body leaves behind, and yet,
My mind and heart bear what I learned--
Teachings and wrenching: Stories of people treated below regard.
Villified, persecuted, terrorized.
People interred within walls, afraid to come out.
Women giving birth in tents, in shackles.
Oh, I have cried my share of human tears,
And sobbed for sorrows hard and piercing.
Yet weeping is a wind, a steady drizzle of tears,
Cheeks raw in a constant stream of grief.
Parents taken from their children: a nine year-old left alone who writes our—my--president:
“Please. You have a nine year-old too.”
Children taken from their parents, dumped into a country they know not at all,
Alone, friendless, forsaken. My mother’s heart is panicked.
When I cry long, I gasp for breath.
Weeping, I sit for an hour and then another—
First startled and then chagrined and finally, resigned.
Girls taken from the makeshift orphanages across the borders,
Forced back across as servant, slave, or prostitute.
The ocean salt of persistent tears reminds me of my place
In the fabric of the world’s life—even if the fabric is rent and torn.
People with bones broken so they will sign a document,
Forced confessions, horrors happen and a nation turns away.
On this plane, I learn to weep.
I will not forget how soon.
Copyright Leslie Takahashi Morris 2010
UNISON READING
All that we have ever loved and all that we have ever been
Stands with us on the brink of all that we aspire to create:
A deeper peace, a larger love, a more embracing hope,
A greater generosity of spirit, A deeper joy in this life we share.
Walk the maze within your heart: guide your steps into its questioning curves.
Perhaps this is a labyrinth: a puzzle with the purpose of leading you deeper into your own truths.
Listen in the twists and turns.
Listen in the space of openness within all searching.
Listen: a wisdom within you calls to a wisdom beyond you and in their dialogue lies peace.
