Skyline shifts
beyond boundaries of Light.
Dawn breaks apart
Moon from Starlight.
Friend to all,
Sun takes deep breath
and slowly rises
just beyond the Bend
between neighbors’ yards
and my own.
I sit in wonder.
My Joy wanders,
alone.
Tag Archives: community
IT IS JUST TOO MUCH
How much is too much?
Resilience and self-reliance
are cherished and elevated
with religious fervor in defiance
of what we humans know to be true.
You must rely on me; and I, on you.
We now discover on a daily basis
how out of touch we all are
as we see the suffering faces.
Out of touch with self.
Out of touch with one another.
Afraid to ask for help for ourselves;
we avoid those in need of our help, too.
Admitting any weakness
would never do.
We prefer to believe we are the better
for never needing one another;
unlike the homeless, impoverished
we wish were not our sister nor brother.
How much is too much in this day and age?
Not enough.
Not enough.
Never enough.
Time to engage.
KILL THEM ALL?
Fraud plot in which some Somali immigrants participated? All Somalis are garbage so get rid of them all.
Criminal activity in which some African-Americans engage? All African-Americans are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Investigations and questions by journalists you find troublesome? All journalists are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Some women refuse your advances and sexism? All women are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Venezuelan boaters survive an illegal attack at sea? All Venezuelans are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Democrats pass legislation restricting corporate greed? All Democrats are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Military heroes remind military personnel to refuse unlawful orders? All military and veterans are garbage. Get rid of them all.
CEOs defraud, overcharge for goods and services, underpay workers? All CEOs are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Some White people commit crimes? All white people are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Some men abuse and rape women? All men are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Some bankers hide criminal gains, make money off the deposits? All bankers are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Hate has no logic except its power to destroy.
Hate has no reason except its delight in abuse.
Hate has no goodness in thought or in deed.
Hate is a damning influence and creed.
Hate is the one thing no one needs.
Some people hate? All people are garbage. Get rid of them all.
Hate until no one is left alive, no one at all.
LEAD WITH THE HEART
Lead with the heart
and the mind will follow
a path of peace and hope,
strong enough to carry
dreams and generosity
for all those you meet.
No matter how difficult
the journey it will not be taken
alone, silently, fearfully.
The heart knows best what matters.
The heart knows the best path.
The heart unites us joyfully.
The heart beats life determinedly.
The heart overcomes strife.
Lead with the heart and do your part
to create a world worth living.
Some paths are famous and large.
Some paths are unrecognized and small.
Every path matters to those
who walk it and make it their own.
Every path converges as we move
into the great unknown.
Filed under POETRY
THE AGE OF PRETEND
We find it charming, not alarming,
when children pretend.
The young boy child,
towel tied beneath his chin
and spread across small shoulders
waves an imaginary sword high
and suddenly feels bolder;
his power felt from head to toe,
ready to defeat any foe.
The young girl child,
Her American Girl doll in tow,
and dressed for the next chapter
she reads in her book which will show
how she can claim her place
in a world within her safe space.
It is a world of their own.
Children too often feel alone.
Childhood play is a godsend
when the acceptance of fear
is boldly met by playing pretend.
It does not stop at adulthood
when we need for ourselves to fend
and parents’ efforts subside
as children claim adult pride.
Adults, too, need a reprieve
from threats vaguely perceived.
The woman alone in her bed
seeking a strong chest
upon which to lay her head,
clutches her pillow instead
to lessen her dread.
She seeks a strong arm
to lessen her alarm.
The man alone on his couch,
in front of the TV, leaps from a crouch
and shouts with untamed glee
when the quarterback throws free
and the opponent is defeated,
the pass completed.
The victory becomes his own.
At every age we pretend
to overcome what we fear,
what we do not feel strong enough to overcome,
what we imagine might cause unknown harm,
what we cannot imagine we can handle alone.
We are never, really, fully grown.
We fear we shall always be denied
the connected love our hearts need most.
We pretend the pride which allows us to hide.
What if, we stopped pretending?
What if we reached out for community?
What if we sought requited love in unity?
We live in an age of pretend.
When and where will it end?
Filed under POETRY
DECONSTRUCTION
The streets were lined for blocks on end.
Signs reminded all who rejoiced to attend
Why they walked and talked and smiled and waved
At passing cars who braved delays
While drivers honked horns and shouted out
“Vote him out and make it a rout!”
Costumed critters danced to our delight
Knowing their freedom would give him a fright.
Deconstruct the lies we have been told.
Deconstruct the narrative being sold.
Deconstruct the bullie’s hold.
Deconstruct institutional mold.
Gather in peace the young and the old.
Stronger are you, more wise, more bold.
Deconstruct so we can rebuild
What he has destroyed with his minions’ lack of skill.
We know how to do this, and more.
We have done it many times before.
My thanks to my friends in Clintonville area of Columbus who helped me attend this moment of patriots’ challenge to the con men robbing the USA of its power, wealth, ideals and humanity. The lack of media coverage was appalling. The misrepresentation of attendance numbers cannot be challenged when media fails to provide images of the gatherings. A local station covered it AFTER it was over and crowds had dispersed. Another stated hundreds attended when it was actually thousands. We are here. We are resisting. We are going nowhere until the despotism and kidnapping of people and the Supreme Court, universities, news organizations, social media outlets, medical and public health Institutions… even our very language and the meaning of words and phrases has been brought to an end and freedom restored.
We shall not be silenced.
Filed under COMMENTARY, POETRY, POLITICS
ONE or NONE
There is no I.
There is no Thou.
There is only We.
If only we knew how.
Filed under POETRY
STORMY NIGHT
STORMY NIGHT
Scattered rain was predicted.
The evening news meteorologist
calmly warned of light rain.
Instead, a wild storm came
filling the night with thunder
and meaningless blunder
as lightening broke asunder
a peaceful, if not restful, sleep.
Too wild a storm to venture out in.
A storm to set us back and shut blinds
to keep from seeing or fearing ruin.
This storm rapidly blew in
while most of us slept.
At sunrise, when I rose, I looked outside,
finally, and see the truth.
It is not what I was told, nor surmised.
The yard is battered.
its inhabitants scattered in burrows;
the garden littered and furrowed
by limbs dragged and cuffed.
The flag hangs upside down
until it touches the ground
in sacrilege and shame.
The flag holder has been pulled loose,
its screws unscrewed, its anchor
pulled apart and left hanging in dark space
through a night of constant turmoil,
leaving my flag drenched and soiled.
In morning light I could finally see
the upending of democracy,
right on my front porch
where everyone could if they would
easily see. No neighbor reported
nor interceded to fix a flag so distorted.
But, false solar lights alone
across the yard ways shone,
too low-light to assess
a flag under duress.
In morning light, in my nightgown I alight
to pull my flag up and close.
I place it upright to stand tall,
allowing the tears soaking it to fall,
that it may slowly dry out with the sky;
held by a newly installed holder,
one stronger and bolder.
I promise you this: the flag, my flag,
will soon again fly safe and free.
As will all of our beloved country.
D-DAY TODAY
I learned of D-Day from newsreels
shown in between double-features
at the Saturday morning movies
which cost a quarter
at our local theatre.
I learned of D-Day listening
at the feet of my father
hidden under the kitchen table
where Daddy spoke with buddies
who went to war with him
after years of childhood friendship.
I learned of D-Day in school
where we studied WW II,
and ignored the study of Viet-Nam,
while fellow students were drafted
to go fight a different war.
Korea was seldom mentioned
anywhere but among the men
like my cousin who survived the fight.
I learned of D-Day from movies
like OVERLORD, and later,
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
But, those images had already been ingrained
on the bank of memories lodged in my brain.
Images of certain death
where the words “last ditch effort”
were not mere metaphor, but a lesson to
never make war, nor allow it to cross our shore.
Today is D-Day, not in reverent remembrance,
but as a last-ditch call for the war
that we face against crony capitalism,
corruption, Putin international mobsters
posing as politicians; heads of national security,
homeland security, and even presidents.
Greed brought war within our shores.
This is our D-Day hidden inside fake news,
and Project 2025, and a budget reconciliation
package too large to read or report upon,
Too quickly pushed through by enemies
of state we call Republicans,
but who are nazis manning bunkers
called The Great Wall like the one
our fascists try to build along our southern border.
To keep brown people out? Or keep us in?
Is America becoming a giant camp
concentrating those exercising free speech,
free movement and all dissent beneath the thumb
of authoritarian diatribe and power, making us numb
and willing to cooperate with endless hate?
I honor those who once fought to save the world
and keep it free from hate and bigotry,
and create a fair economy which served us all.
I see the last ditch in my mind with no need to recall.
It lives on every street, in every neighborhood,
in every school board meeting, and City Hall;
in governor’s mansions and courts of law.
It is still alive these many years
and brings anger along with tears
burning the back of my throat
as I mourn those who breached the fascist wall
and those whose bodies I imagine afloat
off Omaha and Utah Beaches, and now, in our cities.
And I remember, as if it is today. It is. Such a pity.
Filed under FAMILY STORIES, POETRY, POLITICS
annarino writes 
AT NOT AI
Artificial intelligence is askew.
It mispronounces names when I try to make a phone call.
I Then must make the same error to chat-up a friend,
or order a pizza or a ride.
It misspells words as I write. No text, no essay, no poem
is safe from un-related words and ideas.
Every few moments I must review or a single word
shifts all those which follow until I forget
where my thoughts were headed,
or as AI just told me my thoughts were “ceded.”
AI has ceded my thoughts to its own.
This is artificial thought- AT; not intelligent at all.
Ads pop-up to block the knowledge I would glean
from newspapers journalling the news.
Scrolling down only un-leashes new ads to view.
To reach family, friends or businesses by phone
I must mispronounce and match AI errors to get through.
AI is training me. I am not training it; or as it states
I am “trailing” it. I trail behind my own ideas and actions
to allow AI to proceed to guide me I know not where.
I soon become unaware of my own brain.
My own thoughts become lost and I, unaware.
I am betrayed in ways I cannot accept.
We underestimate the power of our minds
to override the fault lines of our brains.
AI is not artificial intelligence.
It is artificial thought.
It is a thinking process like a brain.
It is artificial thought or AT.
Like all thoughts within our brain,
our mind knows thoughts must be constrained.
Our minds modulate and regulate our thoughts.
Propriety is the hallmark of sound thought,
the peacemaker and moderator
of any civilized society.
We must correct the nomenclature of AI
and call it AT in order to keep it in its rightful place,
under our control, protecting our community.
Leave a comment
Filed under COMMENTARY, POETRY
Tagged as A.I., ai, artificial intelligence, brain chemistry, brain development, brain structure, chatgpt, communication, community, EMOTION, emotional intelligence, healthy minds, language, manners, mind control, mindfulness, propriety, society, soul, technology, thoughtfulness, WRITING