VARIETY, MOTHER NATURE'S PRACTIXAL JOKE

MARK TWAIN.

In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside 24 hours.

VARIETY, MOTHER NATURE'S PRACTICAL JOKE

Frosted windows, snow flurries, a little bit of sleet

Rain has come and gone leaving mud beneath our feet

Thunderstorms and shooting stars, wind in such a fury

Clearing sky, sunny morning, blizzard coming we must hurry

Buds are popping on the branches, grass is turning green

Blink or nap for just a minute and the skies are looking mean

Warming up just enough to wear our favorite shorts

Hurry home to change 'cause Mother Nature is out of sorts

Fed up with the changes we consider moving south

But the newly settled snowbirds find a hurricane rocks the house

Tornados in the midwest, a blizzard in the east

Earthquakes move the west coast and our weather's just a beast

We are either sweating bullets or in a rainstorm being soaked

Good old Mother Nature serves another practical joke

Getting Past the Dependency

A wise man never loses anything if he has himself.

Michael de Montague

GETTING PAST THE DEPENDENCY

A series of loss

Friends are quite busy

Family is so far away

Winter's in defrost

Spring comes in windy

Can't seem to get people to stay

It is not about fault

Or any dislike

Time just keeps moving along

We all are caught

In a loneliness spike

It's neither right nor wrong

When we find we're alone

No one to embrace

Lacking of any intimacy

We'll just stand on our own

The world we can face

In bold independacy

Growing Old

NONE ARE SO OLD AS THOSE WHO HAVE OUTLIVED ENTHUSIASM.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

GROWING OLD

When I have become so old and tired

That the furnace inside cannot be fired

When surrender sentences me to my bed

If drive is gone just count me dead

As long us there is a breath of air

That fills my lungs so I can dare

As long as I can fight the pain

My enthusiasm shall not wane

Rock it!

ENTHUSIASM IS THE ENERGY AND SOURCE THAT BUILDS LITERAL MOMENTUM OF THE HUMAN MIND AND SOUL.

BRYANT H. MCGILL American Author, Born 1969

ROCK IT!

It's good to hear a sad song

One sung low and long

It brings the tears to cleanse your soul

Reminders of people you used to know

When the rock and roll blasts out

Forget the pain, remove the doubt

The enthusiasm that's in ya

Brings about to a new momentum

Rock it up rock it down

Rocket your feelings to a brand new high

Rock it under rock it over

Send the doldrums running for cover.

I'M THE ONE FOR YOU

CHARACTER IS THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR EVERYDAY CHOICES.

Margaret Jensen Author

A different take on the quote, for those who are characters.

I'M THE ONE FOR YOU!

I'm the one who counts the stars

Makes the wishes, chases the rainbows

I am the one who will drive a pink car

Dance in the rain on my tippy toes

I am the one who wades in the stream

Cherishes ice cream cones and Hershey Kisses

Would I be the one who stands out in your dreams

And the one most people misses?

I am true to my character with a smile on my face

If I cry it comes from my heart

If you will accept me any time any place

I promise we never shall part

Bridges Burned

CHARACTER IS THE SUM TOTAL OF OUR EVERYDAY CHOICES.

Margaret Jensen Author

BRIDGES BURNED

Who to be or who to have been

Was it me, way back when?

My choices defined me

Always remind me

It is, after all, the character I portrayed

Who I am, what I am now

It is I not that caricature of my past

My recent choices remind me

Of the deeds that defined me

Accept, if you will who I am today

Pictures are proof just as impressions in the minds

Of the people who met me when my life declined

Over the years I improved as I learned

How often must I explain the bridges I burned?

What will it take for new images to prevail?

Can't they accept that old ship has sailed?

WHERE ARE THE BOLD?

He is the best man who, when making his plans, fears and reflects on everything that can happen to him, but in the moment of action is bold.

HERODOTUS GREEK HISTORIAN 484 BC-409 BC

WHERE ARE THE BOLD?

He tip toes in well informed

His plans are now complete

He understands and he's been warned

He's off to war with a broken fleet

The enemy drew their citizens astray

With lies and propaganda

A failing economy had come into play

Calls for entitlements becomes their mantra

Choosing handouts over liberty

Few fail to stand and question bold

But the patriot was wise to see

Our freedom was being bought and sold

Is there another revolution to be reclaimed

Like battles past that saved the day?

Or will our country be renamed

The Divided States of America?

A Lost Cause?

The love of the family, the love of one person, can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society, a massive, powerful society.

MAYA ANGELOU POET

A LOST CAUSE?

Skinned knees, bruised egos

Again and again we go

Drifting into a state of sadness or pain

Another broken heart, a soul with stains

There is always the family that draws you near

A special someone to wipe that tear

A broken heart can mend and heal

With the compassion one can make you feel

A country once a beautiful place

Growing together in liberty's embrace

Falls hard once too often, then

Where are the people to help us mend?

Divided in factions of society

Mistrust, and worse, the bigotry

We thought we had come together at last

Disruptive politicians put that in the past

In their quest to grow the government big

With rhetoric, into our scars they dig

Are there those out there to heal our wounds

So life as we knew it can be resumed?

Are we far too gone as citizens weep?

Is it time to put this country to sleep?

We stumbled, fell, it hurts so deep

Is the devastation now complete?

Surrender our arms?

"One man with a gun can control 100 without one."

Vladimir Lenin

"Should there come a time when they move to disarm us, we must remember that one man with a gun has the ability to control 100 people without one. Let them not mandate us to surrender our arms at all cost."

Marian Beatty

WITH THE THREAT OF TYRANNY

"The Constitution shall never be construed.....to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."

Samuel Adams 1722-1803

WITH THE THREAT OF TYRANNY

The lady with the torch stands there to see

To the perpetuation of liberty

Be it such an honor for we to be

The children of the land of the free

Blood had flowed to free the slave

There was honor in the lives they gave

An emboldened country, not a bit naive

In liberty we are the home of the brave

Amid the patriots furrowed brows

Oppression comes to touch us now

Will all the citizen take this vow

To regain our liberty again somehow?

Before we allow them to take our guns

Before our freedom becomes undone

Before we become the lowly ones

Our history we must teach our young

Free country?

Samuel Adams was an American Revolutionary.

"How strangely will the tools of a tyrant pervert the plain meaning of words."

Mandate is the one word that has become a staple of the Obama administration. In my entire life I rarely heard or read that word until Obama became president. Now we are spinning in a world of mandates in every aspect of our lives.

How much more in our lives can this president mandate or order us to do something a majority of We the People are adverse to?

True, there are to be rules in life to minimize chaos and perpetuate order, but when the rules begin to oppress, when the rules begin to go against the moral beliefs of most of the people, when the rules become a tool to control every aspect of a citizen's life...we are no longer a free country.

Are the future generations of children going to honestly be able to say "It's a free country!" When challenged by a peer on the playground that he desist in whatever childish endeavor which he is inclined? No, because the concept of a free country will no longer be driven into his mind. He will be the product of just another oppressed and mandated life in just another socialist regime.

Lost and Found

For Donnie:

"I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friend’s floors, was happy, was miserable."

Ben Okri

LOST AND FOUND

He was a sensitive kid

Goodness followed all he did

He embraced those others rejected

Human evil, he wasn't infected

Come later, the mind altering pain

Drugs and alcohol made him never the same

All his creativity lost

He just made excuses for why he was aloft

His ship sailed the sea

Set adrift from reality

Drugs and alcohol sealed the fact

This lost soul would never come back

Now he is right next to our Lord

This fair haired boy we all adored

He tells me it's peaceful out there

No addictions to be found anywhere

Insensitivity

"Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger."

Ben Okri

Insensitivity...

When you can tell the tales of ghostly things

The absurdity is voiced into a more sensible place

If you can write about murder and mayhem

You can laugh when the victim trips and falls on his face

When fear of reality grips your soul

And you are finding yourself afraid of the dark

Putting it on paper or telling the story

Makes true dangers a walk in the park

But is the lack of sensitivity too much?

Have we come to believe that the hero always wins?

The strangers are still out there lurking in the dark

And we can't comprehend when it starts or it ends

WHO I FIND INSIDE

BEN OKRI

"When I write a poem, I go into a state of self forgetfulness, and something higher takes over; I like to call it my best self."

WHO I FIND INSIDE

In grasping for words for my painting in poetry

Looking for grand imagery to color my page

I found someone lurking deep down inside of me

Capable of love, some hate, even rage

She looks like me but so much more inquisitive

She is more sensitive and even quite odd

She feels stronger than I thought I could be

This self I met feels closer to God

I think I can see God right before my eyes

And He is always surrounded by beauty and awe

Can it be that where my mind puts Him

Helps me make some sense of it all?

Donnie 3/25/54-7/29/2004

You would have been sixty today

I imagine that long strawberry blonde had turned to grey

Of course the baldness was very obvious

But it was not to be that hideous

What kind of old guy would you be?

Would you be mellow or crotchety?

The fact you are gone, it's just not fair

But you are better off over there

Tell dad and Ruby I said hi

At sixty two I'm getting by

I miss you all, as you might see

I've not yet met eternity

I'll play "Imagine" for you today

It was your song back in the day

We all miss you baby bro

But it was your time to go

The Magic of Politics

BEN OKRI the Poet & Novelist was born in Nigeria on March 15, 1959 and he has quite a story. He wrote his first best selling novel at age 21. It is called FLOWERS & SHADOWS.

"The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our attention away from what they are doing."

THE MAGIC OF POLITICS

He wears a suit and satin lined cape

He waves a magic wand

People are distracted by his flamboyant demeanor

And his assistant, the gorgeous blonde

With their eyes diverted to his pointed focus

Behind the scenes deception reigns

With a slight of hand, a puff of smoke

Come the magic one can't explain

The politician in his expensive suit

And his devoted entourage

Talks circles in convincing speeches

A perfect camouflage

With rhetoric crafted to control the media

And of course, constituents' minds

They strive to impress their benefactors

And keep We the People blind

With a stroke of the pen a law is signed

One crafted behind closed doors

He's not unlike the magician

His deception is how he scores

Twirling around the political stage

His lies are his deflection

He keeps a captive audience engaged

And they ignore his imperfection

The amazing world of politics

Was never meant to work this way

They are supposed to be just people

Chosen to keep our will in play

Prayer

PRAYER

Prayer puts me in a peaceful place

When Chaos is the only city I can afford

It's good to know I have the attention

Of someone as important as The Lord

Prayer gets me past all the obstacles

Life itself seems to provide

Prayer gives me a warm and cozy escape

When I need a place to hide

Prayer boosts my self esteem

After my Heavenly discussions chase my doubts away

God listens very carefully

When I struggle with what I need to say

Prayer for me on most of our chats

Is to thank Him for being the only one

I always know where He is at

And that He is the Friend that I can count on

Inspire

You go man! Hope you inspire.

"One can share his despair with everyone or choose to dump it with everything else that has been way too overused, then use his valuable time to inspire."

Marian Beatty

You go man! Inspire!

Share the positive of your desires

Despair is the rotten apple in the tub

The grease that stains, the wrongs that rub

Before at night when you retire

Be sure to set some souls on fire

Don't leave it all at let it be

Make applauding life your responsibility

You go man! Inspire!

You go man! Hope you inspire!

"One can share his despair with everyone or choose to dump it with everything else that has been way too overused, then use his valuable time to inspire."

Marian Beatty

As I Share My Words

The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.

Ben Okri Nigerian Poet

AS I SHARE MY WORDS

These words I use to express myself

I organize them in rhyme to be said

I cannot sit back and suppress myself

Too much to say dances in my head

The words bring to life my fantasy

The real world in my own kaleidoscope

They paint what I feel, what I see

The details of my deep down desires, my hope

I can create the moon and stars for you

With the words that come to mind

I'll provide temporarily relief for those things you do

Of the most monotonous kind

Use my rhymes to write a song

Sing it with feeling to that special one

Who makes you know life can't go wrong

Words can be the oceans, the mountains, the sun

And though sometimes I rhyme my suffering heart

And project my sadness for all to see

It's because it is difficult to disregard

I have left it all in black and white for me

As I share my words from deep inside me

I pour my soul onto the blank pages

It will take a while before I find me

Within the creativity that rages

We Live in Tiny Town

“Russia invades, United States Tweets Back.”

THAT, in all its absurdity, is the definition of the Obama adminisration's foreign policy.

We have become a laughing stock. We are the superhero who has met our kryptonite. We are the gunslinger wearing ballet shoes and packing water pistols. We are the lion tamer in clown shoes with a necklace of steak worn around our neck to entice the big hungry cat to go for our jugular.

In an effort to be the popular kid in the world school of politics we have lost our edge. Once a country to respect, to raise the hackles of fear in our enemies, to introduce goosebumps of awe among our allies...we have become the lamb in wolves clothing masquerading as a trusted world leader.

Our threats are empty words that are backed with no action. We are the tough kid on the block afraid to get our hair mussed. We are the girl who avoids athletics for fear of breaking her charming nails. We are the parents whose kids run roughshod over us and are labeled as push-overs by all the other parents.

Until we are free of Obama, we will continue to be a target to many foes.

Let's pray that we can salvage our power and dignity. But for now we are living in Tiny Town.

SAVING THE DAY

When a tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader. (PLATO)

SAVING THE DAY?

Citizen unrest

Who is to help?

Are they blessed

When a tyrant runs to the rescue?

Looking back

Who stirred up the war?

It is a fact

T'was the tyrant who saved the day

When there is sovereignty to take

Lives to upheaval

Assets at stake

Who else to intercede but the evil?

FAITH

Man is wise and constantly in quest of more wisdom; but the ultimate wisdom, which deals with beginnings, remains locked in a seed. There it lies, the simplest fact of the universe and at the same time the one which calls forth faith rather than reason.

~~

Hal Borland American Journalist 1900-1978

I am at a loss how to put the meaning of this quite in poetic form, but I think I am pretty sure I know what he is saying.

Man, in all his wisdom, has never been able to unlock the mystery of life by  creation.

Scientists and agnostics have their theories of evolution. Scientist try to prove humanity is not a creation of God, agnostics doubt it is but are not dead set against it. Atheists are repulsed at the mere thought of it.

So it remains a mystery that believers can only embrace through their faith in the existence of God and that we were created in his image.

The seed is the mystery,  believers must have faith in the truth of it.

So....

FAITH

The secret if life and its creation

Is either a fact or just imagination

I hold faith that I know how I'm to be

I believe in God, that's just me

Agnostics hold firm to doubt

But are open to figuring it out

Atheists just refuse to accept a higher power exists

The seed starts from nothing grand, that is what they insist.

I pity those who say they have no soul

They are missing a sense that might make them whole

Walking through life with nothing to see

Is like living their life with no one to be

The Welcome Change

Actually, I have seen spring skip its turn a lot these last few years.

No winter lasts forever, no spring skips it’s turn.

THE WELCOME CHANGE

Bound together at a family Thanksgiving

People are gleeful, life is worth living

Christmas cheer is at an all time high

Silently the snow sneaked in overnight

Winter is welcomed with outdoor activities

People united in family festivities

Then after the holidays old man winter creeps on

And on and on and on

The brisk air so refreshing a mere month before

Chills our bones from even behind our closed doors

Depression sets in as the icy old man lingers

Frostbite numbs our toes and our fingers

Can it be relief is in sight once again?

Winter retreats and spring stumbles in

Snow birds come north and build nests for their brood

Just like we hopefully knew that they would

Spirits rise as the robin, he sings

It's typical of what the fresh season brings

Winter tips his hat as he bids us so long

Waving goodbye he is gone, gone, gone, gone

Sad

SAD

Once a hopeful child of freedom

Once a patriotic, flag waving soul

I once thought anything good that becomes of me

Would happen due to liberty

Once lied to and called a bigot

Once subjected to wholesale propaganda

I unwillingly was was shown a darker path

Where all the lowly citizens finished last

Once reminded that I had no degree

And stripped of opportunity

Then regulated in all that life entailed

I became a schooner without ample sails

It was at the hands of a corrupt society

Brought to power via apathy, irreconcilably

We thought our rights were written in stone

While our backs were turned it all was gone

And the brave no longer had a home

And the rockets red glare could ignite no hope

It's a long shot we can get it back

And the dawn's early light now fades to black

Annihilating Lies and The Slithering Worms

two quotes from the German Philosopher IMMANUEL KANT.

By a lie, a man....annihilates the dignity of a man.

ANNIHILATING LIES

Have we reason to sink so low

That deceitful words are readily uttered

With smiling faces our politicians bestow

Hope to rise from the country's gutter?

People grasp for any straw

And are denigrated by bogus promises

Now trapped and stifled by new law

We the People have become submissive

All this rained from lying lips

From selfish men who institute change

To tighten the power they now grip

They divide us into races now estranged

Are we to be annihilated by vicious lies

Designed to placate the uniformed

Who look for more, so compromise

For a burdened country now deformed

&

If a man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden upon.

THE SLITHERING WORMS

They are lowly now for lies they spoke

Beneath the lowest form of life

Their deceitful practices have become a joke

Once we realized they don't play nice

In a time when people struggled

They came speaking of hope and change

In truth the widespread pain has doubled

How our liberty was lost can be explained

The worms turned the earth beneath our feet

In anticipation we would stumble and fall

Can it be there were too many patriots to beat?

Now the patriot's boots shall crush them all

The slithering political worms, they crawl

Into our lives to infiltrate

But prideful Americans did not withdraw

And rose above it all to vindicate

My Faith Quote

"We are constantly realizing we don’t know as much as we think we know or how things will ever turn out." Sharon Krogman

"One constant we have for serenity is the faith we have in something greater than humanity to rescue our souls when mortality has run out.

My faith is in God. He is the only thing that makes sense to me, and I'll hold on fast to that."

Marian Beatty

Holding On

The American Philosopher, John Dewey (1859-1952) said the following:

Man lives in a world of surmise, of mystery, of uncertainties.

HOLDING ON

Here we reside

In this world of conjecture

In hope most surmise

We have God as our protector

But He has left us with uncertainty

When He gave us all free will

Faith appears to be our guarantee

When it is time to pay the bill

For those who waver on the edge

Of doubt or pure belief

The faith in God we choose to pledge

In this world brings us relief

Peace comes with what we embrace

To satisfy a hopeful spirit

As we choose to come face to face

With eternity and not fear it

That's Russia!

WINSTON CHURCHILL about Russia.

Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

THAT'S RUSSIA!

A perplexing place, Russia

Always quite a puzzle, it seems

Just when you think they are going your way

They are off to more extremes

In their portrait of enigma

As they leave us shaking our heads

Because again they are a stigma

When they've ordered detractors dead

It is really quite the mystery

As cooperation may seem to grow

They revert to brutal history

Back to the Russia we all know

Now with Putin as the leader

The riddle is more perplexing

Our association gets much bleaker

With the muscles he keeps flexing

Thought Alone Won't Do It

You will never plough a field by turning it over in your mind

THOUGHT ALONE WON'T DO IT

Your mind can do wonders, true

The master, planning what you need to do

But you will need your hands and your feet

To finish those plans, make them complete

Mind and body must work as one

So important together to get it all done

In effort the both must stick to it

Thought alone  just won't do it

WE ARE BLESSED

A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen.

JOHN O’DONOHUE 1956-2008 (IRISH POET)

WE ARE BLESSED

God made us all in His image

He turned us free, a baby bird to fly away

Yet he is there to see to our souls

And hold suggestive devils at bay

In a circle He wraps His blessings around us

The spotlight of His love enlightens our souls

He sends his angels for protection and healing

Along with strength to pursue mortal goals

Believe it or not we are wrapped with His blessings

And humanity is just one of our tests

Once released to fly away free

We can accept His blessing, then ourselves do the rest

So Go the Seasons

SO GO THE SEASONS

It is funny how life relates to the seasons

Spring being birth, summer being growth

The fall is reflection for so many reasons

The mild days and colors, serene they are both

Of course winter is cold, nature fades away

Birds head south as do the folks

A bitter wind reminds us the end is near

As do the barren branches of the mighty oaks

But the purest of snow in all its beauty

The glistening of crystal-like frost

Is a reminder that time with the angels must come

And that the seasons are resumed, never lost

Possessions Quote

Possessions won't cure your lack of peace. The grand home, soothing pool, and country club membership may let you rest briefly, but the bills they bring send you scurrying to pay the piper.

Faith Quote

Without faith, cuts are deeper, wounds are near fatal as we let time infiltrate them with the infection hopelessness brings.

With faith, cuts soon become scratches and fade quickly with hopeful anticipation as a great healer.

The Day I Found Peace

Never be in a hurry, do everything quietly, and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.

Saint Francis de Sales Swiss Clergyman 1567-1622 (he goes way back)

THE DAY I FOUND PEACE

My day began in a hurried fashion

Run, run, run!  Life spins out of control

I feel a trap door beneath my feet

I feel the life sucked from my soul

When was the last time I stopped to look at rainbows?

How did I get so rushed and driven?

In pursuit of what made me so shallow

That I would miss the purpose of truly living?

I hung my hat on the lowest branches

Of a tree lush with shade and filled with song

Sat back to feel what nature touches

Let the free birds fly and take me along

Fly away fly away fly away home

Peaceful memories can replace futility

I closed my eyes and let the gentle wind blow

There I found true serenity

In Charge

Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find how easy it is to get along.

Paramahansa Yogananda Indian Leaser 1893-1952

IN CHARGE

Situations raise their ugly heads

Ghosts from the past invade our dreams

We get agitated by what was said

Our souls are cut to smithereens

We won't ignore hurtful situations

And let the ghosts haunt our night's

Words cut like knives for many reasons

Already wounded we refuse to fight

Look on to more peaceful situations

Look to the angels to replace our ghosts

Replace with hope our old frustrations

Be in charge of the feelings we choose to host

We the People

The quote is from DWIGHT EISENHOWER

"There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom. intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

WE THE PEOPLE

We the People are nothing

Without deep-hearted faith

That our country can be revived

To what our forefathers had embraced

We the people are lost

If liberty continues to decline

Like stew without potatoes

Italian bread without the wine

We the people are ignorant

If indoctrination continues to grow

It is not true education

When they limit what we should know

We the People are idle

If our energy is zapped

Because the lack of opportunity

Has our successful future capped

We the People are responsible

For how it goes from here

If our flag is carried by today

Would we have the right to cheer?

We the People must stand for freedom

And reject those who feed us lies

That a greatly growing government

Deserve our apple pies

We the People who care

Understand our inalienable rights

And will impress upon our children

Why we choose to stand and fight

Be There Devils That Dwell

JAMES MADISON.

We would not need a constitution to for protection if government were comprised of angels.

BE THERE DEVILS THAT DWELL

That piece of paper now yellow and worn

For which a true free country was born

Written because our forefathers could foresee

There would be devils to take our liberty

There would always not be angels

To sort the strings that a government entangles

There would be devilish intruders with blackened souls

To put a ring in the patriot's nose

That's where comes the Constitution

Here to protect this institution

Because angels there won't forever be

And the devils resent our liberty

Be there devils within government that dwell

Straight from the depths of fascist hell

Who dare to undo the ties that bind

That will leave pursuit of happiness out of mind

A Slap in the Face

Rand Paul also quoted a Pink Floyd song lyric from the song WISH YOU WERE HERE.

And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange A walk on part in the war? For a lead role in a cage?

A SLAP IN THE FACE

Were we willing to trade the beauty

Of the one country pure in pride

For a life protected from terror

Should we have surrendered, lied down, and died?

Who will our next hero be?

Or will the ghosts of terror consume us

Is the price to be our liberty?

Is the government just an opportunist?

I can see a future barren and bleak

As this third world country is now our own

No longer pursuing the happiness we'd seek

From this poverty that has grown

Who to thank for all this protection

From the threats faced in a war torn world

Now that we live subjected to invasive inspection

Too scared to show our flag unfurled?

As we walk head down among the ashes

In a country for true freedom we always yearned

Poor but equal in all our classes

Life we knew had crashed and burned

It is We the People who let them win

And allowed our liberty to be snatched

In apathy we let the socialists in

And supplied the stone that struck their match

Ate We Sleeping Well?

Quote from RAND PAUL speech.

We will not trade liberty for security. Are you willing to let government treat us all as presumptive criminals in the quest to fight terrorism?

ARE WE SLEEPING WELL?

Aren't we safe within our cells?

Are we happy in our security?

Is it best now that our freedom fell

To a government's superiority?

We walk the streets in fear of our own

Our poor desperate for a crumb of bread

Where is our defense, we have no guns?

We leave our homes with dread

We are poorer now in equality

The quest for more is moot

We surrendered our cherished liberty

To be the scrum beneath their boot

We are all presumed as criminals

As from terror they claim to protect us

But freedom for us is minimal

And there is no one who will respect us

Listen to our phone calls

Read everything we write

Regulate us one and all

So we might sleep at night

We bargained for a life of security

And live safely in our cell

Tucked away in mere obscurity

But are we sleeping well?

And We Just Let Them

JIM GARRISON, 1921-1992:

I’m afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.

AND WE JUST LET THEM!

Record our calls and read our e-mail

It's for our own good

It's to protect us from the terrorist

At least they say it should

Control us with the IRS

Might as well, they are already there

Put them in charge of everything

From taxes to health care

In the name of national security

Our rights keep dwindling away

They are now demanding our guns

All that's left to do is pray

What is really sad about it all

Is all they do we let them

So many rights will be gone tomorrow

And only OUR generation won't forget them

Eight Long Years

Ambassador John Bolton:

We meet at a time of true national security crisis, but our biggest national security crisis is Barak Obama.

EIGHT LONG YEARS

We'll have had eight years of an agenda

When all is said and done

That will have put us on a destructive path

So Un-American

We find our country in tripled debt

And a president who shows no ounce of truth

We are now inundated with regulations

That have stifled our country's growth

The welfare and the foodstamps

Still grossly multiplies

Scandals like Benghazi

Are covered up with lies

The attempt at social justice

Leaves us sinking to all time lows

Instead of finding success

We find more financial woes

The one crowning glory offered

Is the Affordable Health Care Act

It is the nail in the coffin of prosperity

That's a true and simple fact

The IRS has become

A punitive authority

The NSA is spying

On folks like you and me

The congress is non-essential

Amid their bickering division

It does not bother the president

Who is making of all the decisions

The biggest outlaws in office

Are in the Department of Justice

Our slithering Attorney General

Is the President's accomplice

Let's talk about vacations

The first family rates them high

We watch our dollars burning

Each time they wave goodbye

In the case of national or global tragedies

Where will Obama be found

Yes, he's on the golf course

Playing another round

The White House is now the party house

Where rap stars come to play

The liberal Hollywood actors

Dine on a presidential buffet

The leaders of the world

Think our president's a joke

Jay Carney keeps on telling us

Fox News is just a hoax

Can we survive the damage

This far liberal crew has done?

Will we find us a Conservative

Who can win if he will run?

Stand!

He is the best man who, when making his plans, fears and reflects on everything that can happen to him, but in the moment of action is bold.

Herodotus

Greek Historian 484 BC-409 BC

STAND!

Fear not, be diligent

Be ever aware

Hear not the promises

With no substance there

Reflect in the outcome

Is it far from the truth?

Is there success you were promised

All through your youth?

Creeping isolation

In mediocrity

Speaking up may save

Our failing dignity

Stand up with conviction

In what you believe

Show them the door

And insist that they leave

Surrender?

"I do not believe in gun registration because of America’s massive debt could transform the country in to a third world country in which martial law may be imposed. People should be very concerned." Dr. Ben Carson

"Pride empowers the people. Welfare brings them down. The bigger our government gets the lower they will want us to be. If it comes down to surrendering our guns we will surely be surrendering our liberty along with them."
Marian Beatty

TAKE IT ALL!

Hand to me my housing

Make it nearly free

Demand from me compliance

Take my liberty

Feed me with your food stamps

My dependence in you fulfilled

Put us all in similar circumstances

All our hope and faith be killed

Make us march in step to the desires

Of a government now elite

Refuse us our guns and militia

And we'll wallow in defeat

A TIME TO ACT

The quote I have today is a quote that comes from CPAC 2014, Dr. Ben Carson.

We cannot be free if we are not bold.

A TIME TO ACT

Timid and cowering

Hope not empowering

Accepting what will be, will be

Welfare they are showering

Time we are borrowing

Until no liberty at all will we see

Our outlook if heeded

Brings bold voices needed

Can one by one we stand up for ourselves?

Our downfall will be speedy

Creating hoards of new needy

If our pride continues to melt

As our souls are being sold

Should we not question bold

The direction our country has taken?

Shall we not shout out loud

And again stand up proud

Before we are finally forsaken?

I find it a fact

It is time we all act

Before our country is torn permanently apart

Together we'll be able

To again be quite stable

If we renew the spirit in our hearts

THE DOLDRUMS

HUNTER THOMPSON, American Journalist.

Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond.

THE DOLDRUMS

People like to gather with all their good friends

Talking about politics and how the world will end

They will bitch about taxes, weather, and spouses

Complain about their wages, lost value in houses

Relatives join in various festivities

Forgetting about the reason for these activities

They talk about secrets being carefully hidden

Affairs and addiction and most anything forbidden

Even in the churches after worship is done

In the basement they gather to greet everyone

Coffee and pastry so heartily shared

Over gossip and tales about adulterous affairs

Bad weather is discussed until quite overdone

Hasn't anyone noticed the great shining sun

Has made her appearance to brighten their hours

And chase away doldrums that winter empowers?

Why won't they discuss the positive things

That  was escaping their thoughts in the absence of spring?

Inundated with negativity we become despondent and bitter

And get stuck in the feelings brought on by the winter

It is hard to dig out of the doldrums, you see

We forget to discuss faith for prosperity

It becomes easy to tear down our neighbors and friends

And forget about the many good times there have been

Worry Steals Time

Thoughts and prayers for DJ.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.

Corrie Ten Boom

1892-1983

WORRY STEALS TIME

Senseless contemplation

About something we can't change

Worry is stealing time

That could be rearranged

Hope and faith are put on hold

When worry has our minds

Today is lost in fear

Gears falter as they grind

Too many todays are lost

And tomorrow's compromised

Serenity is the cost

A frozen minute dies

Frozen in a state of worry

When just living should tick away

Que sera should be the theory

For what's best for better days

My Bob

He was a sailor in the Navy

And an gunner in a plane

He was a fireman to the rescue

He held a lantern for the train

He drove a truck upon the highways

He planted seed on his father's farm

He braved the weather without question

To feed the horses in our barn

But with all the work he tendered

In all the years this man has had

His greatest days are what he accomplished

And at his best he is a dad

My Association With the Sea

MY ASSOCIATION WITH THE SEA

Crashing waves eating at the jagged rocks

Gentle seas lapping the sand away

But she always returns what she takes

The sea is responsible that way

Crashing waves in so much intensity

Renew the power in me that wanes

Gently moving tides creeping in

Tame the senses, keeps me sane

The sea in all her glory

Painted reflections of setting suns

Will always be the life in me

Until my mortal days are done

The Power

In times of quietness, our hearts should be like a tree, lifting their branches to heaven to draw down strength which they will need to face the storms that will surely come in life.

Salescans of Don Bosco

THE POWER

Breathe the serenity of peaceful days

The quiet of the darkest night

Embrace the power of a raging sea

Consume all the whirling winds in sight

Be the mountain on the horizon

Live the love of humanity

Blaze the trails less traveled before you

Be empowered to face your destiny

My Bliss

I discovered the secret of the sea in meditation upon a dewdrop.

Khalil Gibran

MY BLISS

I had discovered the secret to my bliss

In meditation alone in the countryside

I was motivated past hit and miss

Into a destiny I was driven to ride

As I sat upon a lowly hill

Letting my mind run free

So many dreams I might fulfill

If I could have a little faith in me

Allowing my mind to wander

In such a fashion grand

I'll never reach that summit yonder

With all that potential grasped tightly in my hand

I should open up my hand and toss

My hopes and dreams into the wind

And before I have the chance to lose them

Pursue them vigorously with  time to spend

It is all merely a fantasy

If you remain dreaming of breathing the mountain air

Perched upon the lowly hill

Hoarding the time you had to spare

Forward

If you cry ‘forward’, you must without fail make plain what direction to go. (Anton Chekhov)

FORWARD

It's the place to go we know so well

Opposite of the place called hell

But which direction to move, we ask

And who to follow is a perplexing task

It's known for certain in our hearts, you know

It is felt from deep within our souls

Taking the first step when it feels that good

Leads into the direction I'm sure it should

That Kind of Year

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.

Anton Chekhov, a Russian Dramatist 1860-1904

THAT KIND OF YEAR

It's been that kind of year

Icicles reaching for the ground

Seldom dripping from the sun

The sun has been a selfish one

The star for earth and our galaxy

Has been known this year for her scarcity

Hiding behind the snow filled clouds

Whirling wind spins snow round and round

Impassable drifts upon icy roads

Salt set down in heavy loads

Schools are cancelled again today

But it's too cold for the children to go out and play

Another day of bursting skies

Heating bills at all time highs

The sun is still hiding somewhere out there

Sub zero temperatures fill the air

Counting the days until we see spring

When he arrives we'll crown him king

If he parts the clouds and presents the sun

King Spring will be the anointed one

When

Time brings all things to pass. (Aeschylus)

WHEN

It won't stand still, no

Stay, it still moves, move, it still goes

Tick tick tick tock

Counting life on every clock

When it comes time to stop

The hands of time on any clock

I'll be ready, set, to go

Please just let my tick tock time go slow

Use or Be Used

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it. (Golda Meir)

USE OR BE USED

The hands of time go round and round

Ticking off the minutes that will use me up

But I will not let it happen that way

I have earned the right to control my day

No I will not let the clock use me

I'll manage my time how it should be

I let the hands spin round and round

Ticking off the minutes that I use up

Appease

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile...hoping it will eat him last.

Winston Churchill

APPEASE

We fall for so much rhetoric

And find ourselves questioning where we are

Is is a surprise that we are crashing

Having hitched our hopes to a tainted star?

Does hope send us grasping for anything

That looks bright, shiny, and new?

Unfortunately we find ourselves missing the fact

Deadly knives are shiny, too

In the festive big top

The actors put on quite a show

But behind the scenes they are perverts and thieves

Wrecking havoc wherever they go

Clowns in painted faces

Sell happiness with their comedic style

We are led to believe in their perpetual glee

When sadness hides behind that painted smile

It is true that when we appease our faith

Without a bit of caution in mind

In the end we might be getting up off the floor

When some well hidden agenda kicks our behind

Acceptable Rhetoric

The quote is from ARISTOTLE the Ancient Greek Philosopher.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

ACCEPTABLE RHETORIC

Release the information

As thoughts into the wind

I'll take the imputation

But not accept all the gist of them

I will mull the thoughts around my mind

Maybe reach out for some facts

I'll throw out all the bogus kind

The lies meant to distract

I figure I am well versed enough

To sort the truth from lies

My radar is quite up to snuff

To detect pure alibies

For those out there too gullible

To challenge thoughts put in your head

You will find yourself incorruptible

In every word that's said

It's Just Me

IT'S JUST ME

When I was old enough to make a choice

Exert my authority, raise my voice

Not all I said or all I did

Was what the doctor ordered

If I was given half a chance

A quarter would be work and a quarter romance

I was never one to stand,

Just kept moving forward

If I had had the will to change

My priorities might be rearranged

But what I say and do

Remains the same

If you had the notion to be ashamed of me

I'd have said what will be will be will be

I'm just one of those wild horses

That won't be tamed

My Life, the Open Book

MY LIFE, THE OPEN BOOK

Pages turned

Bridges burned

Memories neatly listed in order of occurrence

My book, almost done

It's my only one

I'm waning in my exuberance

It's a collection of comedy

With a love story or two

It stars many characters

Among me and you

A hint of some mystery

Mixed in with my history

But strikingly thin

In both virtue and sin

The title, I chose it

As I'm about to close it

"This is Me and Who I Have Been"

It's the facts I compiled

As I cried and I smiled

A hell of a lifetime within

The Truth About Russia

The greatest threat the US faces is a nuclear Iran but who is it that always stands up for the word’s worst actors? It’s always Russia, typically with China along side. Russia is not a friendly character on the world stage.

Mitt Romney

THE TRUTH ABOUT RUSSIA

There is always that bully on the playground

Flanked by his ghoulish friends

With authority he is pleasant to be around

He is good at the goodness he pretends

In the scheme of a worldly order

Vlad Putin sure fits that bill

He is always aiming for enemy borders

Sending his armies charging over the hills

He will stand with our Prez in camaraderie

While dreaming of kicking his ass

While he smiles and says "You can trust me!"

He will defy the Americans just that fast

So when you chat with Vlad, Mr. President

Please do consider the source

Putin's need to conquer takes precedence

As he rides shirtless away on his horse

My Contract With Heaven

MY CONTRACT WITH HEAVEN,

If I were to be so blessed today

To be allowed entrance at Heaven's gate

I'd opt in for some earthbound time, per se

To check in with my peeps in a ghostly way

It is not that I would find Heaven a drag

But I know my quest at humor would precede me

I'm not so narcicistic that I'm trying to brag

But there are just times some mortals might need me

I have always thought I'd make a splendid ghost

Not a scary one, I'd never hear it!

I will gladly serve my time at the Angel's post

And work part time as a ghostly spirit

Live it Up

Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.

Walt Whitman

LIVE IT UP

When tragedy recalls you

And darkness tends to befall you

When this life begins to fail you

Because poor choices have derailed you

Chew it all up and spit it out

Cast away all seeds of doubt

Because in God we put our trust

Things will always warrant looking up

It is just this one life we must endure

And the promised land may seem obscure

Before we arrive at Heaven's door

In this life live, then live some more

Hope

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Ghandi

HOPE

It is so human to become discouraged

When one by one things keep going wrong

It is a virtue to be encouraged

By the sight of a robin with a hopeful song

For every drop of rain that falls

A ray of sunshine helps nature grow

For every demon, an angel calls

To cast him back to hell below

One dead fish that's washed ashore

Cannot taint the vast sandy beach

For one good deed there is always more

With one righteous heart
a million more beat

Looking up we will grasp the hope

Looking back it's where we've been

We look within to help invoke

The strength to go against the wind

Lady Liberty

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Emma Lazarus 1849-1887

LADY LIBERTY

They came with hope from everywhere

Braved dangerous journeys  to find themselves here

Most kissed the ground of the land of the free

Seeking new hope for prosperity

They were so tired of the tyrannical minds

In the land they left not grudgingly behind

They were tired but able bodied, ready for the grind

A hopeful beacon Lady Liberty held high brightly shined

But who opened the gates to the progressive interlopers?

Who spiked the koolaide of citizen voters?

Who gave them power to oversee the foreclosure

In this country that has become at best mediocre?

What is it falling down the cheek of Lady Liberty?

Behold, is this a tear of sadness I see?

Her beacon no longer glows for the land of the free

Is the cause all the apathy harbored in people like me?