Tag Archives: politics

January 20, 2022 · 11:19 am

NO REST in a NIGHTMARE

The dream that is America

died during the night.

The right to vote

and have that vote count

was gone with the dawn.

While I was sleeping

Lady Liberty lay weeping

at the second insurrection

which eroded the protection

of the democracy

we rely upon.

Democracy was killed in dark of night,

the moon’s reflected light

not strong enough 

to stop the rape

of her freedoms.

We awaken worn and weary

from brittle dreams

to a new reality

forged in heated nightmares.

Dreams fade over time.

Nightmares hang on.

How long before we forget

the dream that was America?

Rest In Peace, Lady Liberty.

I cannot.

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January 19, 2022 · 11:56 pm

Lift Every Voice and Sing,by Louise Annarino,3-2-2013

Lift Every Voice and Sing,by Louise Annarino,3-2-2013

Lift Every Voice and Sing,by Louise Annarino,3-2-2013


— Read on annarinowrites.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/lift-every-voice-and-singby-louise-annarino3-2-2013/

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January 16, 2022 · 3:16 pm

Weak Cores

Saving face

By creating truth

Is the only means of escape

From harsh reality

For those whose core

Is thinned and weak

By lack of moral exercise.

Bread and circuse

Did Rome in.

History ignored

Is repeated evermore.

Distraction through attraction

Diverts the gaze, the ear, the tongue.

This is who we live among.

Doing what is correct

Does not reflect the Right

Constantly claiming false

It’s moral might

Over those whose outrage

Threatens their control,

Their wealth, their privilege.

New faces in new places

Where they were not allowed before

Distort the world view

Of the autocratic few.

It takes strong core

Muscles to stand tall

Before the attack of falsehood

Destroys us all.

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January 15, 2022 · 6:13 pm

GRIEF LINES ABOUT THE BROW

GRIEF LINES ABOUT THE BROW

1-15-2022

I held grief at bay

in tightened fists

determined not to allow

its escape, until I lay

it down upon the page,

Where it sapped my strength.

Taking up the pen

is little help today

when the nib etches lines

of grief about my brow,

too close to allow the flow

of ink upon the page.

Democracy means more to those

More recently saved upon its shores.

The lands of autocrats and hypocrites,

we thought, had been left

behind, beyond our pained sight;

now resurrected by the Republican right.

A Right reinforced by clerics bent

on reasserting ties long rent

between church and state,

Now reinstated by the Court

and pro-life misogynist dictum

making women victims.

The Right backlash to Obama

is a fierce and hateful trauma

which dares to take away

our diversity and our vote,

our personhood and culture,

our history and democracy.

Grief is still heavy today

but less than yesterday.

Today ink flows steadily,

freely, hopefully daring leaders

to find the courage to save the vote,

and this beloved country.

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January 3, 2022 · 4:56 pm

Pretense

A life of pretense

may be the only defense

against our greatest fears.

Truth lies undercover

lest we discover

we may not survive.

Committees and newsrooms hold tight

to the knowledge

which would allow us to acknowledge

the big spenders and pretenders

of climate and democracy,

the hidden autocracy.

Pretense is a fist clutched tight

by the side

ready to fight

once fear takes flight.

Do not be fooled.

Hang tight.

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January 1, 2022 · 3:50 pm

Happy New Year

Out with the old.

In with the new.

Throw away society

Is nothing new.

Long lines of history

Started this brew.

Custom is not custom made

When everyone agrees.

No person better than another

If we could truly see.

Celebrations followed time

In its global rounds

Until the ball with all its hopes

Dropped roaringly to ground.

I wish you Happy New Year

Both with joy and dismay

That too many doors will shut again

On this new year’s first day.

Across the globe

We hear the whoosh and slam

of shutting doors and clicking locks

where too few give a damn.

On this day I resolve

To open wide my doors

And to welcome in with grace

Those seeking a safe shore.

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December 28, 2021 · 1:32 pm

January 6 Investigative Committee

JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE 12/28/2021

Secrets erode our fall from earth.

Heaven is too far to know

from whence we came

and how far we have fallen.

No one really knows

if truth be told.

That is a matter of faith

unsure

Unstable

unstoppable

like earth’s wobble

through endless space.

Despite the gravity of the situation,

or because of gravity,

still we fall

deeper into unknowing,

reliant on faith.

Perhaps senseless,

or at best clueless

until the secrets are told

and we able to behold

the truth

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December 28, 2021 · 1:22 pm

FIND THE WORDS 12/27/2021
Sometimes there is nothing more to be said.
Words lie too pale
to leave a trail
on the page
for others to follow.
Thoughts are too hollow
to offer comfort or recourse;
too shallow
to ease pain and remorse.
One step at a time.
One word at a time.
One breath at a time.
One sigh at a time.
Not enough words to rhyme
nor steps to mind.
We falter and fail
hands gripped to the rail
too frail to climb up,
too weary to climb down. Undecided too long.
Afraid to be wrong.
How can we build back better lacking blocks to build letters
to forms words to create stories,
to restore narratives of glory?

Reset the game
we are determined to play.
Reset the rules

and restore the ante fools

have laid bare,
offering nothing but a prayer.
A prayer without words.
Find the words!

Tell the story!

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December 23, 2021 · 3:57 pm

THE LITTLE AGITATOR

THE LITTLE AGITATOR

12-23-2021

Did you earn a nickname in your childhood? you know, like a mobster, sticky fingers or tattle-tale ? Some nicknames are freely given merely to shorten names; Elizabeth become Beth, Edward becomes Eddie. There are nicknames dragged from the mouths of aggravated  parents in place of a curse, as patience wanes. Such nicknames only work to guide a child’s behavior to the extant they understand all it definitions. Children are quite literal, unlike adults who have learned to use nuance to avoid consequences of unwise words and actions.

My nickname was “ The agitator”; at first “little agitator”, and as I grew older simply “agitator”. In my childish mind agitator had only one meaning: the central post in the washing machine which swished water around to remove dirt from clothes and allow it to be washed away. I found it quite a compliment to know my effort to wash away the dirt hiding others’ motivations, true belief behind their statements, and misleading or misguided behavior was recognized. It was a puzzle why Mom seemed so upset when praising me so often and so relentlessly.  This “little agitator” looked for dirt everywhere to wash it away with words. I washed it out of the house, the playground, the schoolroom until everyone could cleanly and clearly see the uncomfortable truth.

The older I got the more I realized it had been meant not a an encouragement but as an effort to block my truth seeking. Stirring up the dirt to wash it away is not always a sound practice around mothers overwhelmed by small children who care not for the daily bath.  Politicians and leaders fear a bath as well.

Too many of us prefer to hide behind the dirt. Too many of us allow others to hide as well. We fear our own hypocrisy, I think.  Entire industries exist to heap more dirt on the truth of who we are. Sometimes dirt is thrown merely to entertain and distract us from what lies beneath the surface.  Those seeking to hold on to their wealth develop artificial turf, and artificial dirt, to create an artificial world where they can hide their greed and their misdeeds.

Nicknames last forever.  I claim mine gladly. I am “ the agitator”. Throw your clothes in the hamper and start the wash. It is time we came clean.

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December 20, 2021 · 4:48 pm

Two-by-Four Therapy

Scene: Dorm room of Resident Advisor where RA is handling suicidal student refusing professional psychological counseling referral.

For the 10th. Day in a row the scene has been repeated, several times a day, for 10 days. I was that RA.

Finally, the RA says, “If what you want is to kill yourself, go do it.”

The student’s reply, “I will! And you will feel so guilty.”

I reply, “No, I shall not feel guilt. I will be very sad that someone with so much to offer took her own life, instead of accepting help to do the right thing…continue living.”

The student angrily returned to her own room. In a suite of 16 young women. I notified the suite that she was in need of constant observation; and to call me immediately if her behavior became more desperate. After months of living with her, everyone in the suite was aware of her condition and threats of suicide.

Within 15 minutes the student returned and with venomous looks agreed to professional counseling. Immediately, I had a counselor from the university on the phone with her, making an appointment for the next morning. This was a success,

Two-by-four therapy is sometimes necessary, but not for the faint of heart. It is one reason I became an attorney, instead of a social worker or counselor. I wanted the biggest two-by-four I could wield.

We always need to listen. We do not always need to speak words. We sometimes need to wave a two-by-four to build the future we want. The strongest negotiating tool is not always the language of rational speech; but, the language of power and control. We sometimes need to speak the two-by-four.

Congress, are you listening? president Biden, are you listening? Local Democratic Party, are you listening? Put on you gloves and start lifting those two-by-fours into place if we can hope to Build Back Better.

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