Before the great precipice of morning
stir sad souls that huddle
shivering and forgotten,
large nocturnal birds, and I.
From your heavenly heights
what wonderful things do you see?
Oh beautiful moon, please help this lonely lover,
send this simple message of love to her,
and, then softly
seal it with a kiss.
ITS BEEN A DECADE
Its been a decade since my nephew departed
for the promised land, in a revved up car,
with his guitar and a pocket full of dreams.
He was 18 and he was going to be a Rock and Roll star.
I gave him my blessing and some parting advice,
to acquire a skill that would enable him
to earn a liveable wage in the industry,
which he summarily ignored - for when has
the advice of old age ever been welcome by youth.
It has been a decade since my nephew departed;
and, still he has my blessing for everyone
has a dream which makes them foolish and helpless
with their self-deceit; that constant and incessant gnawing;
that even the ugliest person will become beautiful;
the poorest will become another Bill Gates;
and the most foolish and stupid will become wise.
If he hadn't gone he would have always regretted it,
he would have walked around with something dead inside.
CHRISTINA
Magnificent and melancholy - that is what this cathedral is.
A joyous pleasure, a subtle seduction, an ominous threat.
Voices muffled with the collective weight of centuries
echo from its stained glass windows.
Eyes mutely beseeching,
brim to overflowing with honest desires;
livid coals that burn from the cool, dark depths
of the temple's terrible, silent majesty.
Inside the stillness countless candles sputter and smoke,
and marvelous life-sized wood carvings blindly stare down,
and a resplendent larger than life Michelangelo sculpture
still holds court before swirling tides of people.
My expanding soul swells to bursting,
like the blood red buds of Spring;
I want to flee from the dirty time effaced flagstones,
away from the rich trappings set in perfect proportion,
away from the dead martyr placed in a cage:
before other's sordid imaginings shackle my soul.
I need to walk down forest paths,
to float through pools of shade,
my spirit soaring free - suddenly, around me
the columns turn into tree trunks,
a cloud of butterflies descends from the nave,
and all the marble turns into a blue-green sea- but then, time passes.
Outside, at a nearby cafe,
I sit with a glass of wine,
before me the cathedral's Gothic towers
thrust boldly into the blue sky.
WRAPPED
Wrapped with morning mists
the great blue mountain stands
faintly outlined
against the pale blue sky.
The Winter Sun shines on the thickets,
as the small wrens
that acrobatically flit
from branch to branch
melt into the day.
High above the distant range
on broad white wings
a jet rides the wind;
high above the snow capped peak
where the river flows
a silver ribbon,
the steep slopes deep in firs;
high above the sprawling city
and its cobweb of roads.
Mighty jetliner,
early in the dew drenched day,
where are you going,
steadily coursing along
the freeways in the air?
GOD'S GIFTS
Treat with reverential respect
those things which compel delight.
If it were not so, why would God
have given us such gracious gifts?
TRY
Try as I may to live
a good, virtuous life;
their every response
is a sharp, hungry knife.
See their bloody red hands
stained with gore and mud.
How can they think it good,
to wash it in my blood?
THE GARDEN
"The garden was empty.
The flowers-"
It was empty?
How can it be empty if flowers were there?"
There is no one in the garden."
"But the garden was embroidered with flowers.
Do flowers not exist?"
"There is nobody in the garden.
The birds-"
"No body?
Do the birds not exist?"
There is no one in the garden."
But, in the garden, the flowers were
rhymed by the singing of birds."
"Dreams-"
"It was empty?
And are dreams nothing,
those beautiful visions
whose skeins caress one's mind
like the soft touch of silken garments?
Dreams do not exist?"
RUMOR MILL
Rumor Mill says the radical
right is at it still. They have contrived to have
the price of oil increased by, according to the propaganda journals
here, over
100% and plan to raise the price again. The reason for it is
two fold. First,
not being able to attack Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid
directly,
because politically they are to popular, the radical right figures
to generate
inflationary pressure which will destroy the projected budget surpluses.
They
then will regretfully state that we can't afford the programs even
though Social
Security provides the primary source of income for over 75% of our
senior
citizens and Medicare provides an alternative to the insurance industry's
private health care system, which gives half of the senior citizens,
and poor,
and chronically ill worse health every three years, while increasing
costs to
those who can afford it at a double digit rate per year. Thus
it is easy to see
the great value and corresponding great popularity of these excellent
programs.
According to Rumor Mill
raising the price of oil, besides doubling their
profits, will also derail the economy, which they hope to blame on
the
Democratic party and transfer into political gains for the radical
right. The
effects are already being felt in increased interest rates and anticipated
further rate increases, in a slow down in European Market economic
activity, in
the impairing of the improvement of Southeast Asian markets, and in
an
exacerbation of the United States trade deficit.
P.S. When has oil ever before
increased at one time by 100%, which obviously is
designed to generate cost push inflation. During President Carter
(the last
Democratic President) the radical right increased oil two times but
not by 100%
and the result was still stagflation. Never, when the Republicans
were in the
White House, have we witnessed anything even remotely like it. So Rumor
Mill contends.
II.
DISPLACEMENT: The act of taking the place of, replacing; compelling
to leave,
supplant; to move out of the usual or proper place i.e. homes or institutions.
Rumor Mill says the radical
right has targeted two public institutions for
displacement. One is OSPRIG and the other is the URBAN LEAGUE.
Both are being done for
political purposes. The Democratic constituency is strongly pro-
environment
and if they could direct funds into an ineffective environmental organization
then they could drain potential funds from the Democrats while channeling
dissent into an ineffectual organization (just like they did with NARL)
or, they
could use it to camouflage their economic agenda i.e. dam breaching
to increase
the utility rates in the North West without alienating their rural
political
base. The URBAN LEAGUE, is an organization of black Americans
for the betterment of
black America. The Black vote has historically been Democratic.
However, the
radical right figures that if they could position operatives in positions
of
authority within the URBAN LEAGUE then they could displace it and hopefully
then
fragment that portion of the Democratic constituency. Rumor Mill
says the
radical right's methods are the same in both instances. They
try to take over
local chapters, by working into positions of authority near the top.
Then, once
firmly established, try to eliminate mid-management positions, which
could
provide valuable support and constructive input, under the guise of
streamlining, and efficiency, and cost savings there bye leaving the
leadership
isolated and dependent on the radical right field operatives for ideas,
information and as laisons with the grass roots. To aide in this
it has on
occasion been necessary to get the existing leadership into trouble.
Oh well.
So Rumor Mill whispers.
III.
Finally, Rumor Mill contends
that a new grass roots movement is being started
by the radical right in local organizations all across the country.
It claims
to be local, but interestingly points out it is part of a national
movement.
The new party will mobilize their folks if the politician will "stick
with them
every step of the way - including when in office". No dissension
is allowed.
Here grass roots is being organized for the benefit of the radical
right and all
who are not in (goose) step are locked out of meaningful participation
in our
Democracy. Its objective is to further the private agenda of
the radical right,
while heading off any grass roots organizing of divergent political
opinions.
Democracy, which is supposed to encourage equal participation by all
citizens,
becomes Democracy by exclusion. So Rumor Mill says.