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Roxane B. Salonen's avatar

Thanks for introducing me to this poet, Zina. You have such a depth to the way you view things and it is beautiful! I am still cherishing our conversations from just a few weeks back. An exquisite gift!

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Jeffrey Streeter's avatar

A beautiful tribute, Zina. Your writing reminded me of the famous speech from the play Thomas More (possiby written by Shakespeare) which is mentioned here: https://myshakespeare.com/hamlet/the-strangers-case-speech-sir-thomas-more

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Jeff Cook-Coyle's avatar

I was struck when Trump became president the first time how suddenly the hearts of his supporters turned cold. Suddenly, they mocked the Other. I see it happening again, unfortunately. What point is there to a revolution if we don't live in peace thereafter?

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Roxane B. Salonen's avatar

Sadly, human nature has no political bounds. Each time a new leader steps up in our country, the feelings that were harbored by the previous leader, if they were of a different persuasion, rise to the surface. In some ways, it is a human reaction. Only when grace comes into it can it be subdued rightly.

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Jennifer Degani's avatar

Thank you for sharing both about the life of a poet and a much needed message. Our society needs more xenia right now.

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Zina Gomez-Liss's avatar

Thank you so much for your kind words and for reading my post. Danielle is such a loss to the poetry community. I think xenia is the type of love we need to cultivate most in our current culture.

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Matthew Long's avatar

Zina, this is a beautiful tribute to Danielle and to the way of xenia. This rather simple call to action of loving the stranger is at the heart of so many religious doctrines and cultural ideologies. What a beautiful way to live a life. Thanks for this reminder.

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Zina Gomez-Liss's avatar

Thank you, Matthew! 🙏

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