Prayer for Our Nation 2020

Heavenly Father… merciful Lord… God of all…

We pray in all things Your glory may be magnified.

You see how many hate so unreasoningly. 

You have heard the false witness preached daily,

Chaos and injustice spoken in Your name Lord. 

We thank You for giving us eyes to see and hear the truth,

and for giving us the heart to keep working for Your purpose.

Humbly, we come now in prayer and supplication, 

to You our God of grace and solace. 

Preserve and make clear our path 

to serve Your purpose in this world. 

And, we ask, our Father in Heaven, 

that You help us let go of anger and fear,

Help us let go of resentment and pray…

to pray for the healing of the hearts and minds

For all those who are adversarial against compassion.

We lift them up to Your perfect love and healing grace, Lord.

Preserve this nation and draw us together.

Heal the sickness of hate gnawing at its heart.

May Your Will perfect the heart of this nation, 

and restore restore the strength of our unity.

Amen

© 01 November 2020, by D. Denise Dianaty

My Everything Burritos

Image Source

There is no need for sides. The burritos are a complete meal in themselves. I make an entire meal, wrapped in a tortilla, which I call "My Everything Burritos" because everything is in them. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups boiling water
1 tbs butter

1 cup Uncle Ben's Brown Rice

2 cans Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilis
1 lb of 90% lean ground beef
Vegetarian refried beans
3 tbs EVOO
1/2 cup Taco Bell taco sauce
3 tbs chili powder
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs dried cilantro
1 tsp sweet paprika 
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 lg cloves garlic, shredded or finely minced
1 medium to large sweet onions, minced
1 lg bell pepper, minced
1 half bag frozen corn
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup pepperjack or firejack cheese, shredded
salt
black pepper

Tortillas

Sour cream
Salsa


  SPANISH RICE  
In a pot, add one can of Rotel, the brown rice, butter, salt, and boiling water, plus cilantro, oregano, coriander, cumin, paprika, and 1/4 cup taco sauce. Cover and boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, continue cooking 45 minutes – stir once about halfway through. 

  THE FILLING  
In large, non-stick pot, with the EVOO, add the onions. When the onions are translucent, add the peppers and garlic. When the peppers are soft, break up the meat and add salt and pepper, plus the rest of the dry spices. Cook until the meat is not pink any longer. Add corn and the other can of Rotel tomatoes, plus the other 1/4 cup of taco sauce. Increase the heat until most of the moisture cooks off, stirring often. Reduce the heat and add the refried beans and stir until incorporated and bubbling slightly. Add the rice and cheese, then stir until cheese is melted and the mixture is thoroughly blended.

Spoon the filling onto tortillas and fold the tortilla around the filling, forming a sealed packet. On a hot griddle, toast the burrito packet on each side until it's golden brown. Serve with sour cream and the salsa of your choice, and/or guacamole. 

Serves 8 to 10.

  LEFT OVERS  
Wrap each stuffed and folded burrito packet (before grilling on the griddle) in parchment (not wax paper), place in a Ziploc bag or sealed container. To thaw, it's best to place them in the fridge the night before you'll serve them. You can leave them on the counter for a couple of hours – I prefer the fridge thawing in accordance with food safety guidelines. Zap the thawed burritos in the microwave for about a minute to a minute and a half (depending on the thickness of your folded packet), then finish them off on your griddle pan.

DO NOT THAW THEM IN THE MICROWAVE. 

Hint: It's terrific with spinach or sun-dried tomato tortillas. 

Midnight at the Oasis – Infographic Artwork

Dread Death Come

A #TwistedNurseryRhyme mimicking “Are You Sleeping”

Secrets keeping

Dread is creeping

Hope is gone

Death has come

Hear our dirges singing

Mourning bells are ringing

Ding dong dead, dread Death come

 

Darkness streaming,

no more dreaming

Hope is gone

Death has come

Death knell is a-ringing

Mourning bells are ringing

Ding dong dead, dread Death come

© 09 September 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Sketch artwork by D. Denise Dianaty

A Mother's Tears

This poem was composed for the “Flash Tales” prompt, for the week of 26-31 August 2019, moderated by Toni Keif, in WE PAW Bloggers group on Facebook. The prompt: 500 words or less and the #writingprompt is “Standing on the shore of the Salish Sea.”
Her eyes brimming with tears
from a heart broken for years
The final pain sealing her fears
Of his tragic end alone

Bent by age, crushed by woes
Recalling his sweet button nose
of twid’ling his sweet little toes
potentiality prone

Silvered hair, wrinkled face
In his life, she had no space
Hope now lost of finding a place
Never again coming home

A shining son dimmed, lost
Only son shed by cru-el cost
Into the wide sea of death crossed
He found no meaning owned

Ash tipped from golden urn
In the Salish Sea now churn
With salty tears her cheeks burn
A mother’s tears sown

Bent by age, crushed by woes
Mother’s love lost to fame’s woes
Bent by age, crushed by woes
Mother turns, heads home alone

© 30 August 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Eamonn Doyle’s “Shapeshifter” from his series titled “K”

Façade

Self-convincing deceptions
We make and accept in Life

Each one pricks as a tiny cut
An almost imperceptible wound

We wound our deepest self
To choose what lie we will

Tending gardens of our hearts
As the nightingale weeps a lonely song

The flowers are melancholy
That content, we lose the dream

Bleeding drawn by pricking thorns
With putrescence we cultivate roses

© 14 August 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Laugh Clown… Laugh – A Spoken Word poem

In memoriam for Robin Williams…


Delivered the joke, smiled through torment…
On humor’s wings your malady was bent.
You shared with all your gift of the jape,
For our maudlin hearts a moment’s escape.
A manic laugh ‘pon your face fights,
We raised you up to astonishing heights.

Laughing… laughing… laughing… laugh
From the depth of melancholy in your eyes,
Take flight now before us… ever higher you’ll rise.
Made us laugh ’til we did cry apiece…
Precarious… you teetered ‘pon the precipice.
Played out your suffering ‘pon the stage,
Lights… camera… the pedestal… your cage.

Cry out loud… make jest of your pain
For you ever inspired, gave hope from your fragility,
Shined so brightly for all your frolicking jocularity,
Behind the door… in the dark… burned out alone.
Did we ever see if a smile from your eyes shone.
You always were easing our lonely malady.
You made the joke from your own tragedy.

The lonely clown… living to entertain
Reveling in your hilarity taken for granted,
Your warmth… your joy… we were enchanted.
Left none to ease your heart so dolorous,
To deliver joy beyond depression’s curse.
To strive with unending adverse poignancy,
Gave joy… spread smiles… and tears of hilarity.

Dying… dying…dying to make us laugh
Laughing… laughing… laughing countenance
Hiding behind laughter, your sustenance.
Your soul laid bare… laid bare for the joke,
Poured out… poured out… ’til your heart broke.
Loving the clown to death, we cried,
Cruelest cut the day the laughter died.

Laugh clown… laugh

Laughing… laughing… laughing… laugh

Cry out loud… make jest of your pain

The lonely clown… living to entertain

Dying… dying…dying to make us laugh

© 19 August 2014, by D. Denise Dianaty

Fear Her… Fear Liberty

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

“Fear Liberty” – Multimedia artwork, 12 July 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Fear her… Fear Liberty
Once upon a time of hope…
Liberty shone her light,
welcoming unto the world
Proclaiming covenant…
The America she shown upon
Now dims… now hides her light,
unkind… harsh… unwelcoming…
Denying covenant…
No quarter for those tempest-tost
No hope they may breath free
No more the Mother of Exiles
Covenant is broken…
Your huddled masses turned away…
Her lamp, not lifted… shuttered.
The Golden Door is dross.
Fear her… Fear Liberty.

©12 July 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty
This words of this poem, like so much of my poetry, were inspired by the creation of the artwork. The poem flowed from the process.

The Unraveling…

Terrible truths and horrific lies are unraveling the American ideal.
unraveling… unraveling… unraveling, frayed
A once proud nation bowed ‘neath hate
poor brown refugee babes’ cagèd fate
…stolen from pleading mothers’ arms
for believing America’s charms
all meaning now lost in that flag…
Liberty’s steel skin reduced to slag

unraveling… unraveling… unraveling peace
Old Glory’s red, white, and blue spoiled
unraveling… before our eyes soiled
Poisoning our land and our air
Sowing seeds of impending despair
Reaping humanity’s demise
demonizing the words of the wise

unraveling… unraveling… unraveling love
All meaning stretched to fit
an unconstitutional remit.
Suppressing the majority…
“We the People” — no priority
…stolen voices of the nation
rendered perfidy’s coronation

unraveling… unraveling… unraveling, hope© 09 July 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Original artwork created with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, 08 July 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Humanity… Earth’s Disease

Kids on the street
Babies in cages
At the table no seat
Garbage in our seas
Climate change
And dying trees
Pollution on the breeze
Heating the oceans
Humanity… earth’s disease

© 06 July 2019, by D. Denise Dianaty

Photoshop Art by D. Denise Dianaty, 07 July 2019