Tag Archives: 2024 election

DANCE IN THE RAIN

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels.com

If not too early, perhaps too late

rain falls through parched skies,

in drizzles and drips only;

clouds’ moist linings absorbed

by dried out cells

of the hydrogen and oxygen

we need to survive.

The train’s whistle blows

in drowned out gasps.

Wet skies hold back

the usual click and clack

of dry wheels over steel track.

Iron wheels now slip and slide,

a smoother if more uneven ride.

Wet nights lead to wet mornings

drowning our the train whistle’s warning

of all that is to arrive

during this election drive.

Tom-toms beat quieter drums

to speed up hearts 

and slow down minds

as the train approaches

the nations’s destination.

AI interrupts nature’s offer

to set things straight

without a factual bother,

as facts fall beneath

the slippery wheels,

and we are easily thrown off-track

unsure now what is fiction or fact.

We will all soon be mad as hatters.

Too soon, we wonder if anything matters.

After drought, roots unfold  soundlessly

and it is hard to hear the truth’s refrain.

Our senses our dulled by falling rain.

Our restless sleep disrupts our days.

We are lulled by quieter chants,

but nothing has changed.

Courage now, lads and lasses.

The polls await the arriving train.

We must vote, in sunshine or rain.

Open sad and tired eyes.

Listen with too-numbed ears.

The sounds may be different,

but not the refrain.

Time to vote the danger away.

Time to learn to dance in the rain.

Vote!

Photo by Stanislav Kondratiev on Pexels.com

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GODDESSES AMONG US

I see now why the first deities were female.

Only a woman speaks to the soul of  birth

and breathes new life into 

every soul on this beloved earth.

Goddesses with distended wombs

weighted with hopefulness

are found in every ancient tomb.

Our future had seemed lost.

The entire world seemed doomed.

Death in every household loomed.

A globe on fire steeped in hateful rhetoric

gunned down every effort to escape 

a despondent, hopeless fate.

Covid stole the innocence

of even those usually sitting on the fence.

No one was content to wait and see

what November wrought for democracy.

Moneyed oligarchs of greed stole hope 

as well control over justice with abuse of power.

Federalist  Society Judges delayed justice

hour after hour after hour after hour.

Even the Supreme Court undermined

the Constitution which is yours and mine;

not theirs, not wealthy donors, not those in power.

Then she, she, she, she, she, she, she

took the torch and raised it high.

Emma Lazarus’ female guards our harbor.

Kamala guards us in our darkest hour.

Her smile and laughter brings us

up from our knees, our prayers answered.

A goddess has arisen and made a fuss

of all the lies and hate-filled derision.

Her solemn promise made to us

that she will fight at our side.

She will tan the evil-doers hide

as mothers have always done,

chastising our sins one-by-one.

And so we rise with delighted surprise

to shout as one that we are not done,

and we are not going back where death resides.

We are going forward where life begins.

To a place where elections are open to all.

To a place where life is treasured not spent

on greed and control and all that is indecent.

We are headed to the polls to give our consent

to a mother goddess from heaven’s descent;

called by Joe’s prayers, who always seems to know

what we need and whom to follow.

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POLITICAL PARTIES

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Notes do not always ascend

in a crescendo of delight

They also bend low 

beyond the heart’s swift beat

until we feel breath stop

fearing heart’s defeat.

Notes ebb and flow

in patterns we do not anticipate.

Yet the music goes on

in beauteous escapade

across unlit rooms,

across shady glens, 

across sunlit fields

and parking lots awash

in un-natural lights aglow

above harsh surfaces of worry

where we park to listen.

Music soothes as often as it pushes

heart rates into overdrive.

We rise on dancing feet

or subside to slumberous ease.

One orchestra makes sense

of the notes unfolding

up and down,

racing and slowing

until the music transcends

the past and brings us up fast

to the climax at the end.

Two orchestras cannot play together

unless they play the same notes

at the same pace to the same place

in time and space.

Each must follow the same rules

and read the same music sheet.

Without such agreement

there is a cacophony of sound.

No matter how well one orchestra 

plays by the rules, its uplifting

music becomes mere sound,

its rhythm unable to be discerned

by the racket from the second

orchestra who has turned

from reading the music sheet

and playing by the rules.

We cannot stand the dissonance

and turn the music off.

We mistakenly believe

both orchestras at fault.

It is time to call a halt

to the orchestra of whining instruments

which refuse to abide by music’s rules

and continue to play us false.

I yearn for the sweet sounds of truth.

November cannot come too soon.

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GARDENERS LOVE NOT HATE

Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com

Gardeners know they are not always going to succeed.

They depend on undependable forces to meet the garden’s need.

Too much or too little rain interferes with their success.

Too high or too low a wind can create great distress.

Too soft or too hard an animal’s tread

can destroy an entire garden bed.

Gardeners are not well kept.

Covered in mud or drenched by errant hoses,

they kneel on dirt and scrub off mulch from shredded gloves.

They look like weeds themselves

as they hoe and  and bag the uncomfortable drudge.

They know the garden they view serves as judge.

There are no debates in gardens. 

Debates serve no purpose for the gardener.

Only those who watch and stand aside and wait

feel free to judge the gardener’s flair.

They judge the gardener while breathing in fragrant air

the plants have cleaned.

They judge the gardener while relaxing on paths

the gardener’s feet have cleared.

They judge the gardener while eating crops

the gardener grew in fertile raised beds.

They stay clean while the gardener struggles to remain

on tired feet mired in mud so deep he moves more slow

at a pace they complain is way too slow.

And yet, the gardener in his wisdom carries on

to feed the spirits and bodies of those who watch his work

and share in the bounty of his grace.

Could they even try to keep apace

with the many tasks a gardener must face?

Joe, you have made our garden grow

into a thing of beauty because of all you know.

I know you cannot always compete with liars who berate

your efforts while they stand and smirk with hate.

You may not always look good these trying days.

But, you are beautiful to me in every way.

Stay in the garden of truth where weariness darkens night

and may not be pretty, but grows a garden of delight.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Pexels.com Four years later. Time for a repeat.





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KEEP ON ROLLING

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Life is a circle

which rolls back along itself

in never-ending movement,

its motion so slow

we cannot see where it goes.

But going forward it is.

It reaches goals a mile a minute,

gaining speed on downward slopes.

Only then do we notice

the movement at all.

We roll with the punches

over new terrain,

fearing any moment we may fall.

But the circle keeps on rolling,

circling from beginning to end

then back again, moving forward 

all the while, where wheels 

are allowed to move freely.

There are those whose lack

of courage and curiosity

try to put on the brakes

and stop life’s relentless spin

into the future we cannot see,

looking backward as the wheel

spins forward over and over again.

Their fear grows with each 

forward motion

drowning in an ocean

of doubt and uncertainty.

They confuse beginnings with ends.

It is difficult to see

when so small we all be.

we look right and we look left;

too small to see

a wheel as large as infinity.

But never doubt, my friends.

We keep on rolling, rolling, rolling

moving forward over and over again.

Our progressive movement

is not a fall, 

from  grace; 

we are always in

the best place;

This time is simply

a new start after all.

We shall come through

as we always do

to new places

with new faces

new beginnings

that never end

but circle on,

and on again.

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USE YOUR WORDS

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How often we tell children

“Use your words.”

But, we forget too easily

that words have power

only if they are heard, 

and not dismissed breezily.

Men decided long ago

not to listen to women.

So many lies are told

to quiet women’s voices.

Eve has never been forgiven

for opening men’s eyes 

to painful truths.

Women’s voices are not more shrill.

Women’s screams are not made

to give men their thrills.

Women’s truths are too often

pushed aside to save male pride.

Doors are slammed shut

against voices women can trust.

“Use your words?”

How soon we forget.

Pain is the great motivator

of forgetfulness.

It deadens speech.

It silences words.

Bullies remind us of our pain

to shut our mouths

and drown truth out.

“Use your words!”

Do not forget their power

in the kitchen, in the bedroom,

in the schoolroom, in the boardroom.

“Use your words,” minute by minute,

hour after hour, until the day comes

you  can vote your own power

to “use your words.”

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ELECTIONS 2024

Carnival rides at sunset by Marcus Burnette is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

The election year carnival has set up on the town square.

Hawkers shout from every tent, “come try our wares.”

Games of chance do not come free.

Choices are forced by our monetary needs.
Every player needs tickets to play.

Too few funds shortens the stay.

The House of Mirrors is on full display.

But the images inside are shattered in the fray

of fast-moving events and fast-talking cons.

Bombarded by fractured light we simply go on.

We get lost amid broken images

with pattern-less scrimmages

as we move through mirrored rooms.

Our hearts pound out a sense of doom.

Anxiety reigns.This feels like no game

that anyone can win, nor simply gain fame.

This House of Mirrors creates fear

and makes each step too dear

to waste on those seeking our vote.

We respond to the loudest note,

no soft word can compete

as we close our eyes and complete

the winding route to the outside.

Suddenly, we just want to hide.

It is all too much to pay attention.

We are as fractured as the mirrors we faced,

mirrors which displaced reality’s space.

Down is up and up is down.

We search for a safe space with none to be found.

We are surrounded by the false laughter of clowns.

All we once knew to be true is turned around.

We yearn for past days when we stood on solid ground.

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DYING WHILE LIVING

Like it was yesterday and ever day since

is the memory which makes me wince

that childhood can be erased

and all lost innocence traced

to a single moment.

Sister lined up my first grade class

along the back wall, she put us in place,

gently pushing and prodding.

Then, she drew our attention, with no coddling,

to the lesson she was about to impart;

one which will reside there until my soul should depart.

The lesson from our first grade catechism

explained the grace of God as our chrism.

Every child wonders why she is born,

how her life came to be is a question well-worn.

The answer sister told us is simple and clear.

God simply wanted us here.

She added with smiling and quiet sigh.

From the moment of your birth you begin to die.

That is your purpose; to live then die, to journey to God.

I blinked my eyes in solemn surprise, then prod

with the question I just had to ask, “I am dying alive?”

The answer was clear, “Doing good is how you survive.”

Age is not a curse, but a lesson in living

after a public and private life of giving

all that one is or ever could be,

seeking every person’s right to liberty.

With age comes wisdom softly hidden

in that catechism message often forbidden

to instruct the lives of our children,

entertained and overly protected

by a crass generation of parents selected

to bring forth lives to serve others in goodness,

not merely create a personal fortress 

filled with money and goods to stem their loss

of lives full of purpose, all honor tossed.

Dying to self starts at our birth.

Living for others gives our lives worth.

Remember this rule from God’s covenant.

Living for others makes age irrelevant.

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