Dear All,

Wondered what you would think of using this thread to post post-election poetry, essays, or whatever. Comments?

Allie

Fight


I will fight with my words
I will fight for as long as my voice can be heard
I will fight with every fiber of my being
I will remove the blinders from your eyes that keep you from seeing...The truth
I will fight.

Prettyflower,

This is great. I think I'm going to restart this thread under General Discussion so it gets more traffic. What do you think?

Something Wonderful

I remember me
the way I used to be
Up against the wall mofo, nooo I don't think so

Walking down 5th Avenue
bottles flying through the air
who cares, for the cause, the way I used to be

Snowbound walk for miles
after car goes off the road
Look! the Aurora Borealis, Is this Heaven or what

Was for Lust or love
just what was the goal
think I'll ever know..'s ok, just lil ol me

Something wonderful
happened just today
I remembered me the way I used to be and still am

©2004 Mourning Dove Caller


my mood after the election....back to the 60's

back to the 60's indeed

nice work once again shawneedaughter

extended perceptions (rough draft)

welcome to the time of zero
where zero reigns supreme

bent round a rim on two suspension joints
if it wasn't for him i'd have made my points

i've made bodies with heads and gave them away
it seems like we are losing so many today

escher said his work was a game a vary serious game
vonnegut says there is no why

limping into extensive realizations like you are what matters
and that permission is not required

the birth of a nation revolves around you
and chaos theory does not always work in your favor

bound like blacksmiths to the fire
the ground revolts and shakes the spire

finally small enough to see
through the cave and to the wall

i saw god's shadow
i saw god's shadow

flip then fall away

swords gleamed red then the bushes said
down with "edit" the "edit" is now

missing half again what the other half missed first
dumbing down the dumbest and rotgutting their thirst

let em eat Uranium, Prozac and Gauze
it's hard for me to love

its hard for him to love

thoughts at 2 am

somewhere in your
pseudo paradise
lying in repose
among the
aisles upon aisles
of well hidden files
are the smug little
smiles of the
imperialist whiz kids
waiting for the
day when they
call up the debt
that you signed
with your lies
and secured
with your miserable
soul

Beautiful work, everyone!

Thanks Ally, and I agree on the others' writing. I swear I don't even remember writing mine. Sleepwriting? That's my story and I am sticking with it.

Not to put a damper on this, but if you post anything you intend to submit in this thread, then I would suggest you delete the post before subbing it. If something has been posted on an open forum, many publishers will reject it as having been previously published. They do searches for those pieces which they are considering accepting. Putting a copyright notice on it won't help.

Most writer's groups are closed forums for that reason.

I am just concerned because, while I'm not an expert on poetry, I think most of these are publishable. Shawneedaughter, yours could be a song. If it's not an insult, I can hear it sung by someone like Jewel.

thanks, I know that isn't an insult. I do write on a closed community, the more controversial stuff is there. I posted 'behind my eyes' here....guess it is too over the top.

thanks again

aaaaaaaaaaaahnald

got me a Hummer
an a political wife
wahna be pres-e-dent
for the rest of mah life

another Austrian tried it
why not me?
this is Amerika
home of the free

so I'm not Native born
doesn't matter[horn] to me
this is Amerika
friends in Kongress help me

start in Kaliforniya
work mah way East
yeah, it's been done before
it's mah turn now

Indian casinos,
'no' Aaaaahnald say
make those redskins
go away

Ahll make Kaliforniya
a better place
no more problems
no more race

welcome to aaaaaahnaldville

aaaah'll be Bock

Mourning Dove Caller(2004)

In one of the galleries I post at this was presented with that 'famous' pic of aaahnald....I didn't think it was appropriate here but picture it as you read lol

Too funny Shawnee Daughter!

This is a story I wrote before the election and I posted it on the Kerry/Edwards blog and message board.


Agnes & Jesse
Written By C. Christopher King

On Tuesday mourning November 2nd Agnes Bell awaken in her bed and went into the kitchen to start the coffee maker. She then walked to the bedroom down the hall and checked on her husband of 52 years, Douglas. Douglas kicked the covers off the bed and she put them back over him. Agnes left her husband their to sleep. She sat down in the living room as the smell of coffee started to fill the house. Instead of turning on the television she looked up at the wall and stared at the picture of her dear Douglas in his army uniform from his World War II days. She started to cry as this once proud man was now suffering from Alzheimers and she knew in her heart that soon she would be alone in that big yellow house on 570 Granger Street. Seeing her husband and the father of her children on his death bed and knowing there is nothing she can do about it is to much for her to bare. Douglas was the man that called her while she was at the beauty salon on that fall day in 1963 to tell her Kennedy had been shot. Douglas is the man she stood next to as they both watched Neil Armstrong take the first few steps on the moon. Douglas was a moderate Republican and proudly voted for Ronald Reagan twice but he did also vote for Kennedy and Clinton. Agnes never really paid much attention to politics until their oldest son Doug Jr. died in Vietnam in 1971. After that she started to pay more attention to the goings on in Washington. And in 1972 she was "Mad For McGovern" even though Douglas supported Richard Nixon despite that fact that he didn't like him. This man Agnes has loved with all her heart for most of the 20th century is slowly dying right in front of her eyes. Then in 2001 she heard a news story on stem cell research. She started to do a lot of research on stem cell research. She didn't understand why President Bush would not use federal funding to help advance the research. Before Douglas was all the way "gone" he supported stem cell research and said he would not vote for Bush again. But now Douglas is in no position to vote.

Meanwhile in a small dorm room on the campus of Michigan State University 20 year old Jesse Thomas got up out of bed after spending the day before walking all around Lansing knocking on doors asking people to vote for John Kerry. Jesse starts eating a piece of cold pizza as he's getting dressed. Jesse has always been a hard worker and is now working two part-time jobs just to pay for college. Between college and his two jobs, Jesse is working himself to death or at least it fells like that to him. But because of Affirmative Action he was able to get into the college of his choice. Jesse was never really interested in politics until he got in college. Jesse knows the next President will choose probably two justices to the Supreme Court within the next 4 years and Jesse knows that could effect whether Affirmative Action will help future generations of African-Americans, like his little sister Jenna. Also Jesse's cousin Derek is serving in Iraq and Jesse thinks about him every night before he goes to sleep. Jesse just doesn't trust George Bush when it comes to things like Affirmative Action and the war in Iraq and he feels Bush has done nothing to stop rising tuition costs. That's why he's voting for the first time this year, that's why he's voting for Kerry/Edwards. Jesse proudly put on his Kerry/Edwards button and grabbed his keys then walks out the door.

Back at the Bell household Agnes is now dressed and her daughter Grace is their to stay with her father while Agnes goes out to vote. Agnes would like to have a full time nurse to come in and take care of Douglas but she just can't pay for it on their fixed income and even though Douglas is a veteran he isn't getting much from the V.A. to help them. The door bell rings and Agnes answers the door and there is Jesse and she welcomes him into the house. Jesse tells Agnes he saw that her Kerry/Edwards yard sign on her front lawn had been trashed. Agnes just tells him "Well that just shows they are desperate and they know they are going to lose today." Jesse helps Agnes walk to his car so they can go vote. Agnes and Jesse have known each other for the past 8 years when one summer day Jesse knocked on her door and asked if he could cut her grass for ten dollars. Jesse soon became good friends with the Bell family and ever since then Jesse has been cutting their grass each summer as Douglas became to old to do it. Agnes loved baking Jesse his favorite blueberry pies and giving him home cooked meals since his mother now lives in Maryland. Over the last few years this little old lady and this strong young man had become very good friends despite being different races and coming from different generations. As Agnes and Jesse casts their votes for John Kerry and John Edwards they feel that they aren't just doing it for them but for their country, the country that they love.

This website

http://www.oilempire.us/stolenelection2004.html

has juxtaposed the Crosby Stills Nash and Young song "Ohio" with some nifty new lyrics relative to the Vote Fraud in Ohio

Mark Robinowitz's

""Vote Fraud in Ohio

Lost ballots and Diebold's counting
We're finally on our own
This winter I hear Bush laughing
Vote Fraud in Ohio

Gotta get real ballots
Paperless taking us down
Should have been done long ago
Keep blacks from voting and
TV won't make a sound
Kerry won, but he said no.

Vote Fraud in Ohio
Vote Fraud in Ohio
Vote Fraud in Florida""

written in response to the stealing of the 2004 election through rigged voting machines, voter intimidation and stolen ballots

Great story!

i find myself
afraid to progress
afraid of introspect
wary of what lies ahead
jaded from the remnants
saddened by loss
enraged by apathy
alone at the crossroads
praying for mercy
whispering hope
while freedom continues
to bleed

Recommend 2 sites, excellent articles
http://dawnofnewamerica.blogspot.com/
http://wordslightfires.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Gilded crimson reminesce
sliding sideways through the corner
remembering you now so i don't have to revisit you again
clearing the cobwebs
i've been clearing the cobwebs for years

TESTIFY!

Air Force

REP REEEEEEEEEEE ZENTAH



Ham dog ----------- hound dog
rolling vibraphone sent through spinning speakers

hey you cyberclone
hey you sailor
hey you bailiff

It's a Central New Jersey Nightmare
Central Ventricle Tentricle Excentricle

stuck in a rut with Brother Bill
been stuck here since wine stood still
easy talked the tongue bone halked the gun stone
freed the spirit from the bird sent the wallop through the herd
send a man spinning

out on a limb with Brother Bill
sent by a schizm to regulate numbers
spent on the weight of frail faulty colors pleading down to ground dissolving

tender spots where pop stars flop
again again the players sit and hit

all american pastime befits
shitsngiggles surplants dips and rolls
on the 18 hole golf course in every affluent soul-less concoction of a town
eyes look down
the feet of a clown
mind of a magician restricted to contortion at others assumptions made sooth saying weighs ten pounds on the Iranian market

guy wires lead you here
barely alive fires amidst smoldering tires on Lake Camplain.

ah yes, Lake Camplain....polluted water and all

excellent work, Brendan

awesome again Brendan

UpStage? part of my formidable years, as well as The Stone Pony

I just love visiting here. So many inspiring words. Thank you all!

The Stone Pony? Ehh!

sweet water ion
they poisoned the lake on purpose
for pike
killed everything in the whole damned lake
burning creosote soaked eyes bury in the pillow
deep into thoughts of sleep and failed suicides

double-breasted chumps on a 24 hour watch
sipping burnt sienna syrup syringes strattle chrome and linoleum floors from way back green spackle crust and chromosomes bounce back in to the machine

no one beats me but Lisa
she beats me at my own game and seats me by name

an efficient worker is a happy worker
ummm
citizen mothers voice comes through invisible speakers

colorado died today
single engine plane brought down the whole state

I fell off your wagon and now I am hitching a ride

ah the holidays
the lighting of the
trees among
the steel and glass
a sacrifice
to the gods of commerce
a morsel offered
on the shrine
of capitalism
the turkey carcass
hours old
before the night's ablaze
with the glow of green energy
and the smell
of plastic and cash

Dear WONDERUL Writers,

You know, I started this thread because I had been moved to poetry myself as a way of working through the trauma of this election. But then, I got nervous about posting it for 2 reasons: (1) Will there be retaliation by MCCarthy-like fanatics searching these sites, and (2) Are there venues that would consider publishing election-type poetry.

Any ideas, anyone?

Thanks,
Ally

(1) Will there be retaliation by MCCarthy-like fanatics searching these sites

Never live in fear, they win then. This is STILL America!!!!!

SPEAK UP

2AM - just had to get this off my chest... thanks for providing this forum ...

The corporate media watchdogs are overfed and passed out on the floor; we citizens doze on the dying room couch, the drone of empty air emanating from a single glowing eye… The thieves, the thugs, the enemies of Democracy are in the House, precious gifts of freedom ransacked, lifetimes of nurtured futures raped, hope and dreams destroyed and condemned.
We have become a nation of automatons bloated and drugged into numb stupor, deflected from the truth and manipulated away from our nobler selves. The stench of death drips from the gaping wound of Liberty's crumpled nation. We are all witness to a horrific crime, yet there is silence and denial and submission here.
We are the sons and daughters of Liberty! We the People are the guardians of Democracy! It is our sacred duty to protect and defend her!
Stand Up, Stand Together - Every Vote Counts! Count Every Vote!

Wundermaus,

This gives me chills. Thanks for posting.
Ally

Been gone a while, will dive in again Monday, but I wanted to put in my two cents on this one now. After all, if I'm gonna call myself a writer, I have to write, and I've always felt an artist without something to say is like a test pattern (and about as entertaining.) Ya'll are a little more free form than me (which is fine;) I'm still a bit of a purist. The following was posted on the old K/E site:

At the Bridge

A bridge was barred to turn back any spy.
A German mother begged its sentry thus,
“The Russians soon come, we must flee or die,”
“We are no threat; please, grant passage to us.”

“They saw Stalingrad, and how you burned it.”
He replied, “The Red wrath has its merit.”
“I saw Belsen, too; you guys have earned it;”
“Incur no debt unless you can bear it.”

“Our leader did that, you must understand,”
She with woe wept, from her desperation,
“The actions were his, also the command,”
“Blame not one mans deeds on all the nation.”

The soldier, still stern, payed no heed to her:
Saying simply, “Who elects your leader?”

The inspiration for the preceding is an actual event recounted in an article by the same title from “TIME”, May 7, 1945, pp.35–36:
Toward the American lines streamed caravans of weary, frightened Germans. They were fleeing in terror from the Russians. At Grossbothen, a hamlet by the Mulde River, the refugees milled around the barricaded bridge.
In the crowd one woman stood out, a tall blond woman in a grey-green woolen suit with a green alpine hat, woolen stockings, and heavy walking shoes. Despite the pack on her back, she walked erect. To the American guard at the bridge she gave a note addressed to his commander. It was signed Princess Elisabeth Solms-Lich, with the notation “Relative of English Royal Family” (her cousin, she said, was the Grand Duke of Hesse, a grandson of Queen Victoria). With her was her husband, Otto Vossler, who described himself as Professor of American History at Leipzig University, and former Harvard student.
TIME Correspondent Bill Walton, who was present, tells what followed:
Both held themselves aloof from the throng, waiting impatiently for a reply. When the answer came back negative, the Princess stormed in a torrent of German and stilted English, then wept while her harassed, haggard husband tried to comfort her. Other refugees looked on incuriously, each wrapped in his own cares. When her weeping slackened, she turned to the G.I. guarding the bridge with an ingratiating smile: “But you don’t understand, they are going to kill me.”
“Who’s going to kill you?” asked the soldier.
“The Russians.”
“How do you know?”
“They killed my brother and my cousin,” she said tremulously, “I know I am on their list. They would kill me nest. They are so cruel.”
She was clutching now at his dirty uniform, looking up under his battered helmet.
“Lady, don’t you know they are our allies? If you are their enemy, you are ours too. Besides, you Germans started this war.”
“But I am a woman. Women don’t make war.”
“Yeah? Plenty of women are members of the SS and Volkssturm. And look at what you Germans did to people in every country where your Army went.”
Oh, but we didn’t have anything to do with that. Those were the politicians and the generals. Not us.”
“Seems like I’ve heard that one before,” said the soldier. “Now that you’re beaten, nobody was a Nazi. It was some other guys.”
The Princess’ face was white and tense, her thin hands clutched together. As she talked she tried to smile, but there was desperate urgency in her face. Her husband, even more distraught, muttered hoarsely: “But we had no part in it, no part in it.”
“It was your Government, wasn’t it?” said the soldier. “You supported your own Government, didn’t you?” The Princess and her husband fell silent. Finally she turned to the guard for one last try.
“Is there to be no compassion?”
The guard, without changing his expression, said: “You cannot cross the river.”

Now my real, seasonal, motivation; as a Christian, I'm almost as disgusted as I'm sure our Savior is by the soullessness that's wormed its insidious way into the Church yet again, and masquerades as piety. The Church has been strongest and most pure in the face of the greatest overt opposition. It seems as soon as the Church becomes orthodox it becomes corrupt, over and over. Those unmoved by law should at least consider this consequence of marrying Church and state. Yes, our faith should guide our individual political decisions as it does every other aspect of the lives of those who profess it. No, it shouldn't be crammed down anyones throat; it doesn't work, it isn't right, and it prejudices the cause one would advance. One can't coerce Love; only God has the power or the right, and I'm not above Him. These were the thoughts running through my head on a recent trip to Houston. We stopped at McDonalds (I know, I know) and as I looked at their decorations, my recognition of the empty boxes with painted on wrapping confirmed my suspicion that they were corporately directed, betraying their true basis and intent. In backhanded tribute, I composed the following revision of a holiday classic. The title reminds us Christmas' purpose is not profit margins.

Wie True Ist Sein Süß Blut Schon

O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
How well you suit our country.
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
Display completely empty.

Once symbol of eternal life,
And now for sale, but at what price?
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
How well you suit our country.

O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
How faith has been perverted.
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
And selfishness inserted.

Our Savior taught us Love and Grace,
Forsaken now for greed and hate.
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
How faith has been perverted.

O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
The Lord retains His glory.
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
Whose mercy all can set free.

Like sin in your persistency,
Yet neither one shall always be.
O plastic tree, O plastic tree,
The Lord retains His glory.

Morambar, the fact that you live in Texas gives me great hope.

This was some pretty deep thinking and an incredible historical "foil" to what is happening with Americans today when they travel. The way we are all percieved has been forever changed by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush & Rove.

A Pondering:

I think we each go through a 60's. Not just the age, but the radical turning point in our lives. Whether this has to do with politics, religion, or whatever, we each go through a point at which the establishment is rejected and we find our own way. Sometimes we come back to the beginning, other times a new way is forged.

Perhaps it is time to apply this to the current situation. Nobody likes the war; let's get our soldiers home. Nobody likes our taxes; lets make our congresspeople work for us. Nobody is satisfied with education; let's press for improvement. Nobody likes the president....well, that's going a bit too far, I think.

The times that try men's souls did not only exist back in the 1700's. These times exist today, tomorrow, and always. Let's do something about it. Mere words can be empty and actions without passions to fuel them futile. If we want change, let us fight for it, but never with a sword.

Change comes from within, never without. And the most effective change is wrought with the simple, honest, clear actions from those with the purest motives.

Brown Eyes

An Open Letter and Pray to George Bush and his Puppet Masters,

It's Not Too Late to Turn Away from Evil

While you celebrate the holidays with your families and friends I just want you to know we will be thinking of you… In all your opulent faux glory, flagrant excess, and insatiable greed as millions of Americans struggle with hunger, homelessness, unemployment, under employment, needless illness, and hopeless poverty rivaling any third world two-bit country. The blood of thousands of poor and desperate young men and women runs wide and deep to the doorsteps of the Whitehouse - the Peoples House, to our Home. -The house you stole from us, from We the People. Only time will tell for how long we will bear the burden of your incompetence and deceit…
May God's Eternal Love, Boundless Forgiveness, and Infinite Grace reveal to you all that you must do as the most powerful person on the planet. When you finally stand before Him and the ledger is read, how will your balance register? Will you be Welcomed into the Company of Heaven's Blessed for all the good you did or be Damned into Hell for all the Evil you allowed? God sees all and knows your heart… What say you George, does your empty rhetoric square with your deeds?
The Creator knows...
And so do we all.

A feeble attempt at "verse"...


On Reds and Blues


The red of war
And blood galore
All spewed with lies
Add to the gore
The well-lined pockets
Of those in power.

The blue of cool
The tempered thought
The strength in logic
Closely sought
We sit here black
And brown and white
But mostly blue
Our contest skewed.

But we're not through
We blues should know
We are not through
Just lying low
Until the chance for change
Appears
And retribution will be ours.

ros, never critique your own work

just let it flow

post it without comment, let others react, that is the power of creativity.

Excellent work...thank you for taking the time and effort.

The American Spirit
I've been watching and learning about humanity. I've always wondered why I was put on this earth and I think it is time I come out. If you seek me I am here. Who I am? I am a spirit that has embedded this earth during it's time of need.

I am the passion, the anger, and the pain. I am the soul. I am a person who has the ability to change the course and future of this planet. I'm not powerful. I'm not even special, but if you seek me I am here.

I have been hiding and watching both sides. Republican and Democrat means nothing to me. I watched the process of you fighting for a nation. I watched each side closely because I had a reason to watch. I've been a shadow, but now I will be the light. If you seek me I am here.

The movement has just began
America at it's worst.
The heart of a land now shattered in pain.
Imperialisms and Immoral-ism now the greed of tomorrow.
The world now weeps as a Chimp screws us all.

We will rise up and will not concede.
We will rise up and destroy the fascism.
We will rise up and the hate will end.
We will rise up and find a new strength.

A new America has started.
A new disaster has grown.
A new breed of America.
A new need to fight.

Do not give into the hate.
Do not give into the pain.
Do not give into the rage.
Do not give into the anger.

We must stand strong and fight.
We must take back our nation.
We must become a movement.
We must revolt because the revolution has just began!

We will fight and win!
We will fight and take back the house!
We will fight and take back the pride!
We will fight and take back the freedom!

Will you stand strong or be afraid?
Will you find strength or fear?
Will you feel happy or angry?
Will you fight or give-in?

I remember
I remember a time when life was held with respect.
I remember a time when peace was the nature of all.
I remember a time when people loved thy neighbor.
I remember a time when truth was held true.

We are a nation of sin.
We are a nation of hate.
We are a nation of greed.
We are a nation of failure.

The sons now die.
The daughters now cry.
The mothers now weep.
The fathers now kill.

Are children are dieing.
Are people are suffering.
Are laws are lost.
Are media are greedy.

The time to remember is now.
The time to forget is never.
The time to revolt is now.
The time to give-in is never.

Ros from NJ....your work is great, looking forward to seeing more from you

JasonATexan....excellent. The potential for change is in OUR hands


my contribution, a bit like yours Jason, just a different perspective
***********************



"strengthening the Circle"


my sisters and brothers
we are at a time when we must protect
the ways of our Ancestors and Elders

when there are some
who live now in poverty and despair
in a land that is barb wire fenced in

disease is rampant
commodities are not healthy freedom
just a road to diabetes and illness

opportunities few
economic empowerment not for all
our sons and daughters suffer in need

the great white father
has always been our foe, our oppressor
until we are all destroyed, they push

we stand strong
work in unison to bring all along
to respect the place we come from

to those incarcerated
by a law that has no respect for red
in towns where bodies are covered up

'get over it'
hollow words from those who murdered
who stole plains land, all for greed

destroyed the herd,
the life blood of our people,
all for nothing

we are strong
and we will prevail
it is our right

the written treaties,
all broken by the government,
still we remember

The Trust Fund,
monies due to the tribes,
squandered by Congress and the BIA?

there is a Truth
that will win, in the end
we will see the time

No more lies,
no more sorrow heaped on our people
just Peace

The right to worship
as is our way, Great Spirit
our Creator and Guide

Sisters and Brothers,
it is now time and we are the ones
to strengthen the Circle

Mourning Dove Caller ©2004

Thanks, Brendan and Shawneedaughter. I enjoyed your work also. This is an exciting segment of the forum, something I've only just discovered. Brendan, you're right about self-critique. I just tend to be a bit modest or even sarcastic about my stuff. Self-defense, I guess. :D But if we understand the spirit in which these entries are submitted, then the defensive posture is certainly unnecessary.

Loved the one that was patterned after "Ohio." CSNY often ran through my brain during the pre-election weeks.

I'll be checking back. Cheers, everyone!

I am in the night of my day.

I have seen the beginning and the ending of more good and bad than many… I have felt the pleasure and the pain in my heart as good and bad passed through my eyes.

I was born during World War II; I saw the Korean War and was in the Viet Nam War. And, now our country is in the War On Terror. I have seen so much war that it seems like I have lived with one ongoing all of my days. I have seen the death of too many… Will I ever see war end?

I have seen that all has not been bad, because I have seen our world, our country, with many great leaders who have kept the world from more war, and caused us to prosper. I have seen my wedding to the wife of my life, the wedding of my daughter, and that of my son. I have seen my daughter and granddaughter taken back from the grasp of death and given back to life. I have seen my life given back, when death was visited upon me.

I have seen that the good in my days has always made the bad easier to bear.

I am in the night of my day.

I have seen…

Joe Kenneth Eshleman (parhelia)

I like your submission, Joe E. K. I'm close to your age and so understand the nights and days of life like you. There is a quote by John Muir that I have posted in my office at work and not home (so I don't have the exact words). But the gist of it is something like this: It is always raining somewhere (on Earth); eternal sunset, eternal sunrise. I am not doing it justice, but that feeling of cyclical rhythms of life is the same - like your passage.

My 83-year-old mother often says how WWII was supposed to end all war and questions why we are still at it. Good question. Let's try to keep our eyes on the sunrise. Although as Joan Baez once said, it's getting harder and harder to lift up that sun everyday.

Dear All,

Just wanted to add this to this thread (it's been lonely as it's own). Thanks,


I wrote this on November 10, still grieving, and originally titled it "Election 2004: In Memoriam." But, since I'm still closely following the Ohio recounts, and not quite ready to bury it all yet, here they are as my "election reflections:"

Ally


Election Reflections
How did they do it, I say
Get fifty-nine million to stare at disaster
And then turn away?
A “culture war,” say they:
“God, guns, and gays” trumped “social malaise.”

But was it a culture war, indeed?
Or a culture of manipulation, of greed.
A culture where Church, God, and community
Were used by the Right with wanton impunity.
Where “values” were touted selectively
Democratic morals viewed skeptically
Ridicule, rampant chicanery
Repetitive cable inanity
Cries of religious bigotry
The right to life, not liberty

Praise the Lord and shut the gate
God blesses only our candidate

Keep ‘em scared and praying
While rich white boys keep preying
On emotions and wildlife habitats
Warning of terror and immoral Democrats.
And let’s not forget Iraqi’s red glare,
American bombs still bursting in air!
Go it alone? What do we care!
For wasn’t it God who sent us out there?

And just in case they were confused on that day,
Did they know that their next-door neighbors were gay?
That taxes were shorting CEO’s pay?
That God had surely shown them the way
And John Kerry eats babies for breakfast.

Karl Rove, so sharp, so sleuthful
Took Marx’s lie and found it useful
Just praise the Lord and shut the gate
“Religion is the Opiate.”

AK Ó 10 November 2004

Thanks Ros... I appreciate your comments. I think your mom's question is quite valid; but, you of course know just about the same thing was said about WWI. I guess we all have to keep asking that question!

Again, thanks... joe e

Ally, nicely done! You managed to include so much in your poem.

I see the lips of the President move
but it is as if my mind
has blessed me with a mute switch
for I hear nothing come out

there will be no better answers
nothing new to inspire
the same rhetoric, the same jingoistic
call to arms, call to fight, call to die
to protect a narrowed view
of what a minority calls our better interests

the calls to mortgage our future
with a burden of bills that soon will come due
and selling off our forests and soiling the airs
and exploiting the alaskan frontier
and telling the world that with our deeds
that our planet does not matter

shaking hands with sharon to kill
his own road map and saying to israel
that you may have the west bank and
you will build your wall with only a mere token
of protest from your moving lips

life in america should be more
than an exercise in darwinian theory
(that you reject in schools)
which invokes survival of the fittest
and leaves the rest behind

the guns continue to blaze
in places where we are not wanted
and we do not go to the places
where a greater good could be done

The flag does wave again
when not being borne upon the casket
of another fallen warrior and the lone trumpeteer
plays a final refrain
as the secretary of war cannot
sign his own sad letters

I see his lips move
but do not hear the words
for i have heard these words before
as we fight all of our battles
whether in war or the daily battles
of the struggles of daily american life
designed dubiously to be paid for on
the questionable durability of the
plastic credit card
and if you do not have the right card
you are not part of the right plan...

Excellent, poetpj! Your somber rhythms that you have built in emphasize the ideas. And unfortunately for us all, the truth is plain. Thanks for sharing.

Cross Sound Ferry

So here I sit, 8 months to the day from the last time I boarded the Cross Sound Ferry. What a wild 8 months it was, if by wild you mean working 18 hour days for a Presidential Campaign which is yet to be decided.

In a few days the ball will drop in Times Square. In my usual fashion I avoid that area like the plague. There is nothing worse than 100,000 people who don’t know how to navigate through the greatest city in the world. I made the mistake of driving on the Puerto Rican Day Parade once. While it was fun to see all the flags and happy people, it did take me 3 hours longer than ususal to get home.

This christmas was spent avoiding republican family members in favor of programming several new web sites for CommonGroundCommonSense.org

Many of you will not understand this decision and will call me callous or heartless. On the contrary I see it as one more effort to connect with people who get it. The people who understand how screwed up our nation is and are determined to fix it.

As I look to my left I see the Grand Old Pfizer plant. They decided to take the huge sign down, must be too tempting a target I guess. Next to that is the Coast Guard Base and Naval Base where they launch Nuclear Sub after Nuclear Sub.

Here comes the lighthouse, now automated, which locals swear is haunted by the lightkeeper’s wife. The cold waters look warmer than possible as they bounce casually off the light's square concrete base, if it were sitting in a village you’d swear it was a schoolhouse.

As i age disgracefully and advance in length of tooth, I would swear that a day now moves faster than 15 minutes in childhood. It would seem that all of my youthful angst and energy has evaporated. The angst is now determination and the energy? Well I wish I had stored some away for days like today.

Back then instead of sitting in a warm booth writing an article I would have been putting the moves on some hot model from NYC. On this particular trip there are several model types but alas they give me no quarter and merely give a quick glance from time to time. What has happened to my mojo? Has it left me forever? Does politics instantly make you celibate? Or just unattractive?

A blonde haired beauty sits sideways on a bench reading a magazine as if it were handwritten by Gauttier himself. Farewell to my youth, fairwell to pretending to be interested in mindless babble. Hello truth, honesty and action.

If you were me and you looked in the mirror today you wouldn't see the same man. You would see the man that finally grew up. Perhaps I have not wasted too much of my life chasing the idle trappings of over-extended adolescence.

The ship begins to rock in an unsettling manner, the cold winds whip from three directions at once. We are approaching the spot where a man lost his life by falling asleep at the wheel of his semi-trailer, disengaged the parking break and went rolling off the deck into his watery grave.

It seems that everywhere I turn in New York, someone has died on that very spot, in that very chair, in that same store, on that beach, in these woods, on that highway. So not only does death have no mercy, it has no manners as well.

Am I a New England Yuppy lost in the excesses of society or am I a misifit in every level of society, not comfortable to stay where placed? Are we a nation at war or merely a nation inconvenienced by some deaths?

Coming into site now is PLUMB ISLAND, the Government’s Animal Disease Research Facility that saw its fair share of workers strikes over the past few years.

One wonders how secure it really is as we coast not 500 yards from it’s shore and spot not a single posted guard.

The ship crawls to a stop, I walk past a young woman playing guitar and a couple sitting together. There is a spark in their eyes. There is life. I notice a few minutes later that they both have Kerry-Edwards Stickers on their vehicles.

So add a smile and a wave and you have the future.

In the spirit of my spunky Irish ancestry, I would like to donate a little limerick as follows:

There once was a liar named Bush
Who worked with a mind made of mush
So the Dems got together
And the bad times they weathered--
Till they kicked the jerk out on his tush!

Brendan, thanks for the trip down memory land....the one thing I miss living in KC is NYC....my favorite restaurant, Panchito's on McDougal and Bleeker. Hope it's still there. The subways and the Amtrak to DC, Battery Park and Broadway. All changed on 9/11 for me and I went back home to MO.

Kepp on keepin on....the level of evil at the top in this country is at highest alert thanks for fighting.

To readyinTX: Good stuff! But from whence the "tush" in Irish limerick? HAH. Good one. I like it!

Brendan, enjoyed your essay. Reminds me of yesterday's trip to the bay in my southern NJ town. Beautiful glass-like stillness of low tide, grey-pink-turquoise sky. Gulls staying quiet to feed and preen. The calmness of non-tsunami waters. Anyway, on the metal bumper guards steeling the parking spots I saw three small Kerry/Edwards stickers, two weather worn, but one very much intact. Brought me to a happy memory. My own car boasts my bumper sticker, proudly worn despite it all. I leave it as a sign of unity with all sane people who share a love of thought and humanity, Kerry's best qualities.