Lighthouse

First written February 28, 2015 by Nilo Thomas

Since I was in elementary school, community service has been a major part of my life. Whether it was feeding the homeless at church or raising backpacks and toiletries for homeless youth in high school and college, I have always had a passion for helping others. In high school, I started out as an advocate for the DREAM Act (for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) which took me all around Arizona to protest, facilitate workshops, plan and develop letter writing campaigns and promote education equality. I loved it and it was then that I realized the importance of having a strong support system to encourage as well as provide reflection and relaxation from the life of an advocate.

Luckily for me, I had my family and good friends to help me maintain a balance between the fight for justice and school work and a personal life. I’ve seen so many of my peers struggle with this balance. Sometimes as advocates and revolutionaries, we put so much of our time and energy into being proactive and completely aware of every cause that we forget about our own emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. We sometimes even damage important relationships because of our dedication and passion for our work. And many times we forget to acknowledge and thank the people in our lives that provide support, encouragement and love.

I recently came across this beautiful photograph as I was roaming through the Creative Commons of Flickr. I was looking for some inspiration to give to some youth I know from a homeless shelter in Arizona and I was hoping to find it from a picture and then this one came up. A lighthouse is a tower that holds a beacon light to guide ships at sea. This photo made me think about the people in my life that have acted as a lighthouse to guide me through hard and stressful times. In particularly, I was reminded of friends and family who put up with my driven, passionate and loud personality which causes me to project everything I learn and every cause I’m a part of onto all aspects of my life.

This picture, along with some reflection, inspired me to write a poem about the importance of acknowledging those people who bring love and encouragement into your life. I decided that I wanted to write a specific type of poem with specific rules and form because I thought that sometimes things in life don’t have rules or form but yet with the help of others you can still bring good things together. So I wanted to say thank you to all of my friends, mentors, teachers, and family members who guide and love me every day. And I invite everyone to acknowledge and give thanks to those amazing people in your life who are your Lighthouse.

A villanelle is a 19-line poem consisting of five tercets (three lined stanzas) and a final quatrain (four lined stanza). The first and third lines of the first tercet repeat alternately as a refrain closing the succeeding stanzas and are joined as the final couplet of the quatrain.

Lighthouse

As an advocate for justice, equality, and human rights, I can be passionate and really loud
Sometimes I get up on my soapbox and scream at the top of my lungs, ‘yes we can’
So I just want to say thank you; thank you for being my lighthouse

Fighting for peace and justice can be overwhelming a lot of the time
And yet you still guide and encourage me to do my best and reflect
Even after I get up on my soapbox and scream at the top of my lungs, ‘yes we can’

To all of my family members who put up with dinners and barbeques of me
Discussing the social problems that fuel the need for prisons and punishment
I want to say thank you; thank you for being my lighthouse

My good friends who listen to my passionate rants about racism and oppression
My mentors who tell me that I can do anything I set my mind to, no matter the obstacles
Even when I get up on my soapbox and scream at the top of my lungs, ‘yes we can’

You are the people who keep me fighting and striving for change
You are the loved ones who keep me balanced and sane
I’d like to say thank you; thank you for being my lighthouse

When I get so caught up in protests and volunteering at homeless shelters that I forget to breathe
You guide me home when the stress and heartache of oppression runs me ragged
So when I get up on my soapbox and scream at the top of my lungs, ‘yes we can”
I want to say thank you; thank you for being my lighthouse