Kitchen Window – J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford

Standing here
the world looks bright.
Squirrels still scamper
and red-breasted robins hop
amid my freshly cut lawn.
A lone but lovely lilac bush
and soon to bloom forsythia
soothe my spirit.

All seems right with the world
through this window.
Countless have been the tranquil hours
we have shared.  She has been my respite,
affording me moments of peace and
serenity amid life’s tumultuous storms,
shielding me, albeit momentarily,
from some of life’s harshest realities.
Her gently framed view of the world
provides, even now, a pastoral view
that is sacred to my soul.

I come to this sacred space
knowing it has been given to me
for times such as this
when reality overwhelms
and would deny the notion
that beauty still exists—
this space where even washing a dish
can return calm and control to my life
banishing such blight as disease and pandemics,
signals that the ravages of devastation and loss
linger so very close by


© 4/19/2020, J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews

Bio:

J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Matthews Alford is a poet from Washington, DC.  She has resided in Prince George’s County all of her adult life and is the County’s inaugural Poet Laureate.  She is the author of 3 collections of poems, “Lord I’m Dancin’ As Fast As I Can,” “From Pain to Empowerment – The Fabric of My Being” and “This Garden Called Life.” She is the President of the Ebenezer A.M.E. Church Poetry Ministry, whose members are known as The Anointed P.E.N.S. (Poets Empowered to Nurture Souls) and also the Founder of the socially conscious poetry ensemble, Collective Voices.  Sistah Joy has produced and hosted the award-winning cable TV program, Sojourn with Words, since its inception in 2005.  Visit Sistah Joy online at Sistahjoy.com. 

Donation Appeal:

Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.

As you view the work on this site each day, we would like to encourage you to donate to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). Their mission “ is to feed our neighbors in need by providing dignified access to supplemental groceries. AFAC is seeing a record number of families due to the COVID-19 pandemic as families who never thought they would ever be in need are now showing up at our doors for much needed food.”  And, in keeping with our hunger-focused efforts, you may also want to visit the Poetry X Hunger website where poems by many poets are posted and are being used by anti-hunger organizations.”

Throughout June and July, we will be presenting on this web site work by poets and artists responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will find these works relevant, comforting and inspiring as we all cope with the economic and health-related fallout.

Please consider donating to AFAC. If you do, let us know which poet or artist inspired you so we can send you a personal thank you.