How lucky are we who have electricity
and solid roofs over our heads
while facing the fiercest storms.
When the cradle rocks and trees fall down
we worry a bit and put on a frown.
Yet, we know we only need to wait,
turn the lanterns up, so bright,
we power on batteries to light the night.
Workmen climb poles
amid cold winds grown bold
to make things right.
No billowing tents for us
with open fire to heat the cold
We simply open a book to read by flashlight.
I wonder why I was born
in this time and in this space;
why I am blessed with American grace.
I wonder why others have not been so placed.
I do not wonder why they seek their way
through jungles, across rivers,
in deadening heat and torrential rain.
I do not wonder why they face such pain
to carry their children to a safer place.
I only wonder at their courage to dare
while we so spoiled are unable to face
what we fear to be true.
Those who come on bare feet,
those not so blessed, deserve the same grace
as me, and as you.
Electric power outages can be fixed
by brave service workers and much ado.
Moral power outages are much harder to fix
and need a bigger, even braver, crew.
annarino writes 
IT IS ALWAYS IN THE NUMBERS
Reports indicate attendance at NO KINGS events is somewhere between 5.2-8.2 billion persons. It is possibly much larger than any assumed count. For example. If one counts those registered with organizations who counted attendees, one simply gets a flat number of those who bothered to join through the organization. I registered and reported my attendance. By the time I attended three more persons joined me. They remain uncounted officially. I am sure this is true for families and friends of most attendees.
In the past, for individual rallies, law enforcement using drones mapped the crowd and made estimates using “so many persons per square inch” of their photos to create crowd attendance figures. While major big cities may have done so, mine did not. Local news did not. nor did Law enforcement in my locality. I am certain this happened in much of small town America. So when these numbers are posted, assume they are sorely undercounted.
Nevertheless, no matter the total count, the wide extent of events across the country in red and blue states and cities, in small hamlets, on rural roadway intersections, outside nursing homes and senior care facilities is significant. And, such small groups are likely not part of the count. Yet, the fact they showed such resilience and disgust for what is happening and took to the streets gives us cause to hope we can face down fascism and remove those traitors to our core American beliefs and to our Constitution from office; from School Board, Board of Health, City and County commissioners, mayors and city council, to Congress and the White House.
Local politics is sometime hard to unravel, especially for races where platitudes replace true positions and no party affiliation is required. We have tools those who came before us did not have, the internet and email addresses. Ask candidates for specific position statements. If they do not answer or provide gibberish, there is your answer. Be an informed voter. Help register new voters. Help motivate and take voters to the polls. We must now march to the polls as we marched through the streets. As Winston Churchill said, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Now, the hard work begins. Please remember the joy you felt on No Kings Day and let it propel you to even greater efforts. We now know for certain, what we believed. We are not alone.
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