There is a stubbornness
which chills the soul;
no blanket heavy enough
to warm a heart
when words freeze love
dropped by tears into puddles
of remorse and fear
now frozen and slippery
enough to drop lovers
to hard earth and hard truths
which shatter hearts
like frozen glass
hit by rocks of heated rage.
Stubborn hearts,
stubborn thoughts
in need of greater warmth to thaw.
Heated passion has its place.
Filed under POETRY
It is not just the poppy that addicts.
All flowers do to those
who make gardens grow.
Over rocky , stubbled fields
replacing weeds with scented folds
of roses petaled
in circled fashion we all know.
Flowers call our names
even when we know not theirs,
from rows and rows and rows
of nurseried plants shouting aloud
“Take me home. Take me home!”
So many languages flowers speak.
Gardeners yearn to learn them all,
each one part of a diverse melody
which sings a siren’s song.
The garden is a symphony
of chords and rhythms strong
enough to carry feet along
new paths from dawn to dusk
to worlds unknown beyond.
Strong enough to lift up all
who wander through the varied colors,
kissed by bees and butterflies
taking us along on a joyous ride
to the one place for which we long.
A place of unity and uncommon beauty
freed from wilderness, our wildness tamed;
and fear buried beneath the soil
where it belongs.
Like flowers, in gardens we reach for the sun
and welcome the rain to quench our thirst
for freedom, friendship and mirth.
Filed under POETRY
Umbrellas block the sun as well as rain.
Create the fantasy we fearfully hold
that we are really in control.
Mother Nature knows far better.
Physics yet unknown follows to the letter
the balance of chaos in the multiverse.
In every verse is hidden the winds of change.
It is better to explore than ignore and guard against
with flimsy excuses that bend in the wind,
or fly out of our hands, or off their stands
when harsher winds blow than those expected
while we thought ourselves protected.
We hide beneath umbrellas blocking the sense
we were born with to survive this world,
lost with each umbrella that unfurls.
Run in the sun to find shade among the trees.
Walk in the rain and feel the mud squeeze
between your toes until you once again know
the glory of communion with Mother Earth.
Let senses restore the sense given at birth.
Filed under POETRY
On the street where I walked
held tight by Daddy’s hand
fear brought us to a stop
as I noticed the words of a man
on the sandwich board he wore:
“The world is coming to an end.”
Daddy quickly gleaned
what had stopped me in my tracks.
The weight of concern at such scene
felt in the tension of my hand.
“Is this true?”
I asked the most honest man I knew.
Daddy never missed a beat
as he urged along my feet
glued to the sidewalk by the man’s chant.
Daddy said, “This is nothing new.
Every generation has said the same
since the world began.
It is up to us to make it untrue.
And, we always do.
“When you grow up,” he continued,
There will be a world for you.
People always find a way
to save what they love.
So, just keep on walking
and do what you can do.
And never give up.
The world is too fine
to let a hopeless man define
the future that belongs to you.
Just keep on walking.
Keep on walking.”
He did. And, I do.
Filed under POETRY
The lonely artist is not a fiction but a prediction
of the lonely lover
awaiting to discover
who we are.
I do not know you, do I ?
How could I when I do not yet know myself?
I see you. I hear you.
You are there.
In your eyes I see myself
as a reflection,
with it inherent loss of my full energy
and being, lost in your gaze.
This leaves me lost and dazed.
All you give me is a reflection of myself.
It is not enough.
It lacks your energy. Your being
you keep for yourself,
leaving me alone, grasping air.
Perhaps this is why we choose
to love only those who appear
most like our selves.
Disenchanted when all we are
able to embrace
is the reflected self.
Give me your true self.
Give me your art
not something set apart,
but different from me.
This is the value of diversity.
This love beyond self
only comes when we see
more than our own reflection,
are given new energy,
the energy of you.
Fear keeps us apart.
We fear knowing who we are.
We fear knowing who you are.
Fearing if we love you,
we will only see
our lessened selves.
Filed under POETRY
TIME TO DANCE
Beats sound
a groundless thump
against the heated air
of bodies dancing
worry laid bare.
To dance, to leap,
To sing, to weep.
Undulation and ululation
sound the escape
with brave elation.
Dance, dance
with butterflies and bees
as if life depends upon it.
Flutter and flit
On currents of air.
Rhythm and blues
are every day news.
Dance, dance.
Sound the best with feet
lifted above despair.
Dance, dance
with joy unabated.
Float like lilies
on pads created
To go with the flow.
Dance into the future.
Dance down the past.
Dance up the present.
Dance as if this chance
may be your last.
Need is alive and well
clumped, clutching the belly
where it often dwells.
Need rises heavily
and steadily
devours the will
posed on the tongue
fearing disclosure
until the body is wrung
out.
Out of time.
Out of strength.
Out of courage
to speak one’s mind.
Then, Need sinks below
The threshold;
travels down the spine
all the way to one’s toes
which curl against the road
before starting to run
away with thoughts.
Need circles around
and around
and around
Need cannot be out-run.
Need always finds a way
to be heard.
Filed under POETRY
Is this how the world ends?
of violent means,
and a virus that portends
With a scream
ever-changing threats
to those ill used or well.
How can we tell?
We cannot.
We must not.
Instead,
Our story must be
how we overcame
with a love untamed
by fear or dread
as we bury our dead.
Too much change.
Too fast.
Too many lost
to count the cost.
Filed under POETRY
October winds clear the skies
Of sleep about the eyes,
Snoozing in the last heat
Of summer daze.
Awakened by her cold touch
On heated skin,
Alarmed and shaken,
She stretches out
Our dreams of summer.
October takes no hostages.
She is honest and direct.
She makes no effort
To lull us back to sleep.
Despite the long nights
And short days,
Or because of them,
We must remain alert.
Winter nears.
Filed under POETRY
Fearful little men
I cannot capitalize the word “ men” in the title. I do not refer to honorable and secure men; but only to insecure little men who must bully others and prey on the weak to prove they are bigger than they are. What they fear is our seeing the truth of who they are, our recognizing their cowardice. At heart they are frauds, con men. It does not matter, in the end, what condition led them to conclude they must cover up fear. Brave men act honorably despite fear. That is called courage: admitting fear, facing it, overcoming it. Refusing to admit fear, conning others to believe they fear nothing, succumbing to fear is called cowardice.
What we see happening on every front around the world is a fraud by cowardly and fearful bullies, supported by dishonorable men who have found fraud a cover for hanging onto great wealth. Dishonorable men hide behind bullies. Honorable men call them out.
Much of the fear of bullies is fear of being seen. White men( and women) know to fear the knowledge held by people of color who have been denied access to wealth and power by dishonorable white people. People who face the threat of harm pay more attention to those threatening their well-being. abused children and women, for example, have a heightened sense and are poised for defense in a way those privileged to have led safe lives need not.
The world has been awakening to past threats which denied human rights to too many since the Declaration of Human Rights, the creation of the United Nations,; and, the example of human rights leaders such as Ghandi, Mandela, and Rev. Martin Luther King, jr.. the feminist and gay rights movements have also posed a threat to white male bullies and misogynists. The Holocaust awakened western democracies to the dangers of anti-semitism. These waves of awakening threaten the hold of the wealthy and empowered, who may not themselves be bullies. But, those among this group who are dishonorable support the bullies without acknowledging their responsibility to those threatened with harm.
The first group of bullies includes persons such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, “ strongmen” on every continent. They are weak and fearful men who cannot accept responsibility for their self-perceived weakness which they hide through braggadocio, fraud and deception. The second group includes persons who push bullies to the front as “ leaders” to hide their own weaknesses and fears, and maintain their hold on wealth and power.
What we are watching in Ukraine is an example of a bully without honor committing a fraud, rewriting history, pretending to be a strong man by preying on others he can subjugate for his and others’ benefit. He is allowed to do this because of that second group, the dishonorable holders of wealth and power: banks, financial institutions, Swift, nations run by strongmen, Right wing media talking heads, heads of state, legislators.
It takes honor and courage to be a democratic republic, the strength to believe in yourself and fellow citizens despite your fears and theirs. Cowards prefer autocracies, undemocratic institutions, and oppressive denial of human rights. It takes honor and courage to speak truth to power as a member of a political party or legislative body. It takes honor and courage to follow and enforce the rule of law. Too often, dishonorable cowards use police forces and judges to guard bullies from legal consequences, and to enforce subjugation of those they fear. We refer to these acts as “ abuse of power.” Those abused by the justice system see more clearly the truth behind the dishonorable seeking only power and wealth.
The same principles driving Putin to subjugate Ukraine are those which drive the Republican Party. This is not new. But, it has been in place for so many years that we who are privileged to avoid the bullies( no one can entirely)for most of our lives have been all too willing to ignore the abuse of others. Racism and sexism are not new. The honorable and courageous among us recognize and admit this despite our fear that we are complicit in the fraud of white supremacy.
I think the reason the invasion of Ukraine is so troubling is not only that Trump,Manafort, Flynn, the Devos family and other American oligarchs, the Republican Party, and FOX TV ( it is not a news station) supported, and continue to support Putin’s agenda in Ukraine. It is far worse. This is a world-wide agenda to undermine democratic institutions and human rights in every city in every country.
Those of us who value honor must oppose this fraud against humanity with courage and persistence. President Biden is right that this will not be easy, that it will take time. My heart aches for the pain, suffering and death being aggressively visited upon Ukraine which will occur in the meantime, the number of African-Americans and other persons of color who will be abused in the meantime, the number of young people who will feed the coffers of oligarchs by the sale of guns and drugs as they die from school shootings and overdoses.
Follow the money. Connect the dots. And for all of us, for every democracy stand together and speak out. Register and vote. Challenge every con and lie. Protect the electoral process. Do not stand silent before the bullies. Have courage! Hold honor dear.
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Tagged as bullies, courage, cowards, democracy, fear, human rights, racism, sexism, UKRAINE, USA, voting rights