Tag Archives: lies

OVERFED AND UNDER-NOURISHED

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Americans are overfed

on soft food,

pre-digested,

pre-prepared,

pre-packaged

and all but dead.

“Give me something to chew,”

they say.

Even a lie will do.

Americans have learned to

eat lies for breakfast;

for lunch and dinner, too.

They brag about feasts

empty of nutrition that builds life,

but full of calories bringing strife.

Offering such empty scenes

of family life left sorrowing,

of neighborhood crime fallowing

entire blocks within every hamlet.

Sitcoms no longer hold their attention.

“Give me something to chew on!

they demand incessantly.

A I might be their only salvation.

They have lost the patience

for solemn contemplation.

They no longer know how 

to take slower bites,

to savor a meal surrounded by family;

nor keep a schedule.

They buy modern on-the-go insanity,

even while waiting forever it seems

to order a vente-decafe-no cream.

Their jealousy at losing 

what others have not

now knows no boundaries

as they gobble up

the power that such losers corrupt.

They no longer need to chew at all.

They buy all the crap, having nothing at all.

Time to go green. Time to come clean.

Of course, we shall as soon as our screams

fade away with the plea,

“Give me something to chew on”

that is real, that is true.

Is that too much to ask of you?

Over-processed replies 

may be all we can get

from those pre-packaged politicians whose lies

overcome the silence of over-processed cowards

too scared to openly repent.

Chew slowly as lies melt in your mouth.

Lies feed nothing; cannot keep you alive.

Lies are killing a land of freedom once prized.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

STRETCH

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How good is good?

How far does it stretch?

As far as a lie?

Good asks questions,

while evil denies.

Who looks stronger?

The one who seems not to know

and questions everything as it goes?

Or the one who never answers,

never pauses to reflect,

never shows another respect?

How skewed is our thinking?

How screwed are our lives?

Good reaches upward

while evil takes a dive.

How do we climb 

from such evil depths?

How good is good?

How far does it stretch?

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Filed under Uncategorized

OCEANS

I could become an ocean

If I unleashed the rivers of tears

Building behind eyes seeing,

Building behind ears hearing,

Building behind a mind

Buried in grief over what I find

Hidden within family and friends,

I thought were of a kind;

Who saw hate and felt repulsion,

Who heard lies and became disgusted,

Who watched inhumanity and scowled,

Who with outrage spoke aloud.

Instead, they smirk and smile,

And change the subject acting proud

To shut down discussion and discomfort at discussing hard truths.

Either they are in avoidance of discord;

Or worse, they approve of lies and hate,

And are simply happy to see hate flourish.

They are not the least discouraged.

I could become an ocean.

Instead, I check my emotion.

I seek to find some common ground.

Impossible when they shut all true conversation with me down.

Is this what pushes us apart,

a river of tears breaking canyon

walls of disagreement apart?

I could become an ocean

Washing them away as I allow

My tears to flow.

Until the valley of tears

Washes hate clear

And silts and nourishes the soil

That love may once again grow.

I could become an ocean.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

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.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

MY FELLOW AMERICANS

MY FELLOW AMERICANS

I hold my tongue.

It takes strength I do not have.

Whimpers escape

On shattered breaths,

In silent screams.

The fight worries my soul,

Battle weary and choking,

On words held tight inside.

Once the scream begins

I doubt I could stop.

I wait for your speech.

I yearn for your promise

To stop the authoritarian

Who has taken over our house,

Emptied its vaults,

Stolen its wealth,

Sold its power

To the highest bidders.

So, I write. That I can do

While I wait for you.

To me, this nothing new.

Do you believe me now?

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

DECONSTRUCTION

Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025

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.

Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025
Columbus, Ohio 10-18-2025

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.

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Filed under COMMENTARY, POETRY, POLITICS

IN THEIR STEPS

We walk with heroes

On paths of love for freedom.

Let us walk in peace.

Henry David Thoreau Poems > My poetic side

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

SILENCE

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The walk around the neighborhood is strangely silent.

Cicadas have ceased their songs of warning.

Birds flock south on gentle winds 

leaving the yard yearning for music.

Butterflies still sing with quiet wings 

few can hear.

Gnats and flies loosely lie low 

as caterpillars hold on tight

to leaves of flowers seeding through colder nights.

The angle of the sun has moved us

as we turn around a sun now calmed.

Its bright displays over too-hot days are over-done.

The silence grows as the cold days come on.

Longer shadows of neglect disclose

the weeds who hid in too-bright light.

We now face ever-longer nights.

Is this the calm before winter’s storms?

Are we watching the loss of every norm?

Or have we become so compliant

we fail to even notice the silence?

The neighborhood is strangely silent

as I keep vigil, and hold fast against violence.

Silence, silence. So much uneasy silence

one wants to scream and shout so loud

windows open wide in surprise 

to see what all the fuss is about.

Footsteps march around the block.

Even they are too silent to unlock

the energy sapped by summer’s too-hot heat.

We are just too tired to compete

with the silence, silence. So much silence.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

THE AMERICAN SIN

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The sins of the nation 

are visited upon its citizens.

We shouted long and hard

until bullets dropped

on Jacksonville and Kent State.

And that war stopped amid shouts

“Make war no more !”.

War must be stopped at every border

to end the slaughter

of its sons and daughters.

“Make war no more”

the children shouted

barefoot and flowered

and fought the greed

in second-hand shops 

and public gardens

and programs to up-lift those trampled

by endless war which still continued

because it is never enough

to halt the greed of those in power

hidden under rocks with prejudice

and hate who think themselves great

and lie to themselves, and us, hour by hour

smiling through games they create

to keep us all entertained

chasing dreams of American idols

with sports and drink 

gambling on undermined dreams

that can only come true 

for a celebrated few

who are told to take 

whatever they need

at our expense,  

and watch our liberties lost

while sitting on their fence.

We have become country-less

within our own  borders

as war is made, now against us.

And, the world goes on

as our nation dies 

snuffed out under a blanket

of base-less lies.

Greed destroys and religion belies

so long as it gains larger roofs,

and takes over and strafes

those sitting in its pews

praying with true intent

“make war no more”. 

A nation once thought heaven-sent

has lost its religion to endless greed

and our only lament 

is the cost of goods?

“It’s the economy, stupid” 

no longer applies, if it ever did

except to pretend their actions

are for our own good.

It has not and never has been.

Great Pirates and Robber Barons 

never recognize borders

when committing their sins.

Native Americans and those we enslaved

are  always attacked for

showing us the truth.

Gaining wealth is not the sin.

Greed is our greatest sin.

We must stop it on the borders

without and within.

Greed shored up with power

is the story of the hour.

Even those afraid to wake

are now learning

what the woke always

knew to be true.

The greedy care only

about themselves, 

not me, and not you.

We end where we begin,

mired by our own sin.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS

MARTA ASKS “NEVER AGAIN ?”

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Marta married an American soldier

in the front lines of her liberation

from Nazis who invaded her city

where her father’s butcher shop

did business selling cuts of meat

from the cattle raised on their farm

outside the city, somewhat removed

from the war which rounded up neighbors,

Jews, whose shops also served Dutch

neighbors who labored by their sides.

As German soldiers arrived under Nazi flags

These Dutch, Jew and non-Jew, stayed silent

coming out from their shops to watch them march by.

Soon, rumors were heard that non-Jewish shopkeepers

were considering turning Jews in by-and-by

to save and serve their own interests.

Marta’s father knew better. He knew the lie

they told themselves that such hate

could pass them all by, by cooperating.

In the morning the Jewish shops were shuttered.

The Jews had been warned and fled

to no one knew where. On a wing and a prayer

they followed twelve year old Marta

to the family farm where they hid in the barn,

protected and fed, and where they could safely hide.

The Nazis came and took their cattle, their chickens,

but did not find the Jews who were kept hidden,

kept alive. Marta’s family stayed silent, too.

Not to save themselves, nor appease their enemy;

but to save their Jewish neighbors and their own pride.

Years fell away with wizened flesh that kept them alive.

When the food was gone into Nazi bellies

she ate grass soup, and chewed leather hide

from her shoes, made into stews. It kept them alive.

By the time American soldiers took over her town

Marta was an emaciated bag of skin and bone.

She married the soldier who fed her his rations

and gave her rebirth of heart. She had kept her soul.

She had saved the Jews and her love of humanity.

But her sanity sat heavily on thin shoulders 

no longer able to stem tears nor fears.

She heard those marching feet and shouts  of “Heil !”

In forever dreams she relived the living hell

she and her Jewish neighbors survived.

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Filed under POETRY, POLITICS