1941

War affects the young and old alike.

• 

It was a dreary December evening
and I was eight, a kindhearted age.
Enthusiasm bubbled up inside
my joyful heart which beat wildly
hearing her thick, rich operatic voice.

Life was unhurried back then
one could dawdle during most days.
Unfortunately, people were the same
filled with strife and bitterness of heart.
I was eight, I did not understand.

Within a few days I matured quickly.
As applause filled the rotund room
icy sleet dropped from dim sky.
Yet whispers brought a dissimilar gloom;
supper was served in her dank room.

I don’t recall much of the ride home,
her voice rich with passion lingered.
She gave a message, a mournful plea
which had been sung for centuries.
Later, I heard metal crashing, ripping

down icy country road in December.
We whirled in darkness of frozen night,
turned a somersault in mid-air,
flipped off vacant road; while music
madly mingling with clanging metal.

I don’t remember much, I was eight
when bombs dropped at dawn days
later. Tears fell, languishing with fervor
over the loss of life and loved ones.
Just a child, I was confused with events.

Mine were simple childhood struggles,
others were grave racial tragedies,
and the world… agonizing over war!
In a matter of days, at eight, I matured
what seemed a lifetime yearning for music.

Nearly eighty years have come and gone,
souls of people are more digressed
as children are snatched from homes,
black and white use murderous threats
and wars dismantle society and nations.

I was a child in 1941 as the world changed!

“But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield. Psalms 5:10-12

“When black contralto Marian Anderson performed in Appleton in 1941 she was not allowed to eat dinner in the dining room of the Conway Hotel.”

Post-Crescent Media

“Early in 1941 it also became clear that production of passenger cars would need to be cut to save materials for defense purposes. As far as cars were concerned, WWII shut down the industry.”

Supercars.net

“Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941.”

History.com