On July 9, 2015, I issued a fourth Collaborative Poetry Throwdown to my Facebook community, asking for positive news headlines. I gathered, re-organized, edited more than 50 submissions, and strung them together. Here is the collaborative piece that resulted: 


Why I know the world isn’t ending
 

Because a Taco Bell was open when the baby was ready to be born
Because a hospital wouldn't save them, but a sideshow did
Because a man found his wedding ring, lost for 15 years, while planting bamboo
Because bamboo and laziness lead to longevity
Because she found a way to talk to elephants
Because a whale creates a rainbow
Because eleven ducks can stop traffic
Because someone taught the cat how to skateboard
Because every shark has a name and a story
Because a dog has met his match
and a nature lab has become a place for artists
Because even a dead raccoon is given a vigil.

Because she lit birthday candles as she was dying.
Because a firefighter played the same numbers year after year
Because he saved his life with a book and a song
Because a girl nobody believed in believed in herself
Because a ballerina finally got what she came for
Because they lived a life of quiet heroism
Because no one could stop their success.

 

Because a woman wants to sing for strangers in Central Park
and the stage is more important than the screen
and a ukulele can bring fulfillment
and a salad can come from the sidewalk
and a vegetable garden cannot be contained.

 

Because puddle jumping is an educational necessity
and coloring books aren’t only for kids
and the Salvation Army is open for another year
Because even the old libraries embrace their future
and we never stop reading.

 

Because a self-portrait save lives
and her son found her through a photograph
and the twins are reunited
and the high school sweethearts.

 

Because they earned a ticker tape parade
and we still shake hands with politicians.

 

Because he fed the hungry instead of his pockets
Because a man in India did not stop at his own borders
Because a poor man gave to country’s future
Because a cook and janitor did the right thing
Because a graduate wasn’t done dreaming
Because you don't stop at wishing
Because you need only dirt and a vision
and not every job has shoes as a requirement
and humans evolve into heroes.

 

Because there are signals on top of Mount Fuji
and the draught is pinpricked by rain
and a dance saved a village
and they found their way through the woods
and because there was a windfall of bicycles.

 

Because they were capable of falling in love past 80
Because the same card passed between them for 40 years
Because they met, again, through writing
Because Jimmy Carter knows something about Jesus
and a law changed, at last, in love’s favor
Because love has no labels
Because love always wins.

 

Because the repair begins
Because he was innocent, and they believed him
Because truth and reconciliation heal wounds
and a fire cannot destroy their hope
and they were lost but not hurt.

 

Because a flag came down when the votes came in.

 

Because someone remembered a single kindness.

 

Because there are stars that can only be seen in summer. 

 

Because we reach the last page, and we start again.

 

. . . . . . .

With BIG thanks to the following contributors for their headlines:

Allison Tyler, Cranford, NJ 
Amy Clifford, Denver, CO
Amy Tingle, Nutley, NJ 
Angela McEntee, Winston-Salem, NC 
Ashley Swenson Hackshaw, Bryson City, NC 
Brandie Sellers, McKinney, TX 
Caren Knox, Charlotte, NC 
Carina Karlsson, Bristol, VA 
Celeste Tibbets, Decatur, GA 
Christi Carter, Lopez Island, WA 
Danna Schmidt, Bellevue, WA 
Deb Reynolds, Peterborough, Ontario, CANADA
Denise VanBriggle, Middletown, PA 
Elaine Lapierre, Montreal, Quebec, CANADA
Holli Rickman Powell, Lexington, KY
Isabelle Marie Cyr, Brasilia, BRAZIL 
J Elizabeth Ballard, Brevard, NC 
Jeanne Faith d'Orleans, Columbia, SC
Jessica Schneider, Chicaco, IL 
Jessica Wheeler, Durango, CO 
Jim Hulfish, Bali, INDONESIA
Joni Lang, Cincinatti, OH 
Julie Thornton Terrill, Glendale, AZ 
Karen Delaney Dino, Glen Rock, NJ 
Kat Ogaz, Santa Rosa, CA 
Katherine Helms Cummings, Sandersville, GA 
Kathleen Ambrose Warner, Chicago, IL 
Kati Nagy, San Francisco, CA 
Keri Kettle, Camarillo, CA 
Kimberley McGill, Tustin, CA 
Kira Elliott, Detroit, MI 
Kristen Ambrosi, Nutley, NJ 
Linda T. Marsh, Yorktown, VA 
Liz Kalloch, San Rafael, CA 
Lou Welker McCulloch, Medina, OH 
Ludene Murphree 
Marci Moore, Seminole, FL                         
Mary Bogle Pontrella, Nutley, NJ 
Melody Ross, Star, ID
Michelle Frederick Vanstrom, Buffalo, NY 
Michelle Greco, Boonton, NJ                     
Michelle Levy, Raglan, NEW ZEALAND 
Natascha Bruckner, Santa Cruz, CA 
Pat Wiederspan Jones, Kearney, NE 
Rebecca Wolle, Eugene, OR 
Riva Kaminsky Danzig, Bronx, NY 
Robyn Cassidy Dowd, Palmetto, FL 
Sarah Doenmez, Dublin, NH 
Seppo Tapio Djurfeldt, Stockholm, SWEDEN 
Sharon Repp, Petaluma, CA 
Susan Lucas, Chevy Chase, MD 
Terilyn Hernandez, Denver, CO
Zann Carter, Terre Haute, IN