Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week’s poet is Tracy Noel.
Noel is from Chicago. She came back to the Midwest after many years away. She has an interest in native cultures and ecology. She's traveled extensively. Noel received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Northland College in the north woods of Wisconsin. Since that time, she’s tried her hand at many challenges and occupations including tree-planting, clean-up after the EXXON/Valdez oil spill, sustainable agriculture research, for-profit and subsistence farming, landscaping, catering, teaching, tour guiding, fisheries research, and public speaking. While living in Oregon, she directed a small non-profit organization and a Youth Garden Project, educating about and advocating for healthy food production, food equality, and preservation of natural resources. Meanwhile, she helped to develop a vibrant movement to support healthy, local food production for local consumption. After moving back to Illinois, she honed her passion and skills as farmer/trainer for a non-profit training program that helps people rebuild their lives through food production. In recent years, she continues farming and teaching.
A skilled boater, Tracy likes to experience new places “from the water”. She gets most excited about sharing good food, spending time with family, hot summers, cold winters, sunshine, and lightning bugs. And she is most proud when people call her a farmer. Here’s her poem “What Kind of Christian.”
What kind of Christian says such a thing?
Expressing joy for upending,
Lives by the million
Of mothers
and children,
fathers and brothers
“Illegals” you call them, but each has a name
Have you forgotten that God says… we’re all the same?
You would, at a different time, call them Children of God
You’d work to ensure that all feet were shod
Once, at a time not now
You would have stood beside them proud
Held a hand, guided them through the angry crowd
Nothing I’ve learned aligns with your thought
“Jesus is love”, that’s what I’ve always been taught
Love one another, welcome the ‘other’, take care of each and every sister and brother
Matthew John Hebrews Leviticus,
Romans James Deuteronomy Exodus,
And Peter are clear
God wants us to welcome the least, not hate, hurt or fear
So what kind of Christian holds the belief
That some deserve less, and get no relief
What kind of person tears open a home
To look for a paper and leave children alone
And who’s to blame if no papers are deeded
To workers whose work is so desperately needed
What will you say
When I put it this way?
What kind of Christian leaves what they know
Few possessions, sometimes babies in tow
Seeking refuge in foreign lands
Not asking for much, but pay for capable hands?
And what kind of Christian turns away in spite
Announcing delight
That our land will be free
From Illegal-ees?
