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Month: March 2003

Choices

Published on March 19, 2003

Neither my acts or words will stop this war;
when you believe diplomacy has failed
and only destructive force is a sure
way, the coffin has already been nailed.

Besides, if you define terrorism
as the use of force, fear and coercion
to get your voice past the endless schism
where no one will listen to your version

then who is the terrorist, anyway?
America is showing it will not
talk or listen, so what choice has the world?

Without an ear, there is nothing to say.
I still will think it is an evil plot
and keep my hand stretched out, fingers uncurled.

19 MAR 2003

THE SINGLE clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open asking hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other.
— Carl Sandburg, Choose, 1916

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Dilemma

Published on March 18, 2003

I just wanted to eat today,
so I wrote this song about happiness.
I just wanted to change the world,
so I wrote a letter to my congressman.

Don’t believe he was in;
I think I’ve got a file
in the office of the man
representing the state of denial.

I just wanted some criticism,
so I asked you about your happiness.
I just wanted to change your mind,
so I asked I question that I shouldn’t have, I suppose.

Don’t believe I said that;
wow, that was unexpected
in the middle of a thought
from a mind that had been neglected.

What do you want me to be?
What do you want to believe?
No matter what is the matter, you see;
you can be like everyone else,
or you can be happy.

I just wanted to smile today,
so I read a book about happiness.
I just wanted to understand
so I had to look myself up in the dictionary.

Don’t believe what I found:
I guess I’ve got a definition
in the middle of the page,
right between satisfied and sedition.

I just wanted to laugh today,
so I bought a book about happiness.
I just wanted to comprehend,
so I bought a subscription to a magazine.

Don’t believe what I read!
It says you take your chances
in the middle of the night,
when the stars shine upon your dances.

What do you want me to be?
What do you want to believe?
“No matter what” is the matter, you see;
you can be like everyone else,
or you can be happy.

1993

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Quote of the Day

Published on March 16, 2003

“There is a class that controls a country that is stupid and does not realize anything and never can. That is why we have this war.” — Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

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After a Spring Rain

Published on March 14, 2003

There at the edge of a wide green meadow,
set back just out of sight of a side road
under the cloak of an old oak’s shadow,
where the bramble vines creep out from the wood

and the fragrant wildflowers show their blooms
at the mouth of a hidden flowing spring,
their petals daubed with splashes of color
and with the delicate mist of the dew,

with the short, sweet chirping of the sparrows
echoing through the low hanging branches,
and the soft murmured droning of the bees
rising and falling with their passing flight

I shall sit on the back porch and listen
to the last falling drops of this spring rain
and watch, as the water starts to recede,
soaking into the planted beds and pots,

thinking of time as a season of change,
and each moment a small drop in the sea
that takes in all things in its churning wake
and leaves each of us just where we should be.

14 MAR 2003

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Lost Love

Published on March 10, 2003

Where in this crazy world do I begin?
It’s curious, how these things come to pass;
sometimes, the line you tread is oh so thin,
but you don’t see it, and you fall on your ass.

Because the heart heals, and it soon forgets;
it holds like an old bulldog, tenacious,
to possibilities the mind regrets,
and blind, looks for hope in a flirtatious

gesture, a look in a wandering eye.
And although the wise mind knows it a whim,
it lets the heart fool it time and again.

They say if you love it, free it. They lie,
if they say when he goes, you’ll forget him;
more likely, you’ll stay dry out in the rain.

10 MAR 2003

for LJ user ferahga

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The Writing Life

Published on March 9, 2003

For the bi-polar artist the two modes
are work and sleep versus work without sleep;
sometimes, a creative thought explodes
in a big bang, and other times, it creeps

up and catches you there quite by surprise.
Each mode has both a good side and a bad –
after a night with the muse your tired eyes
ache, and your thoughts careen and twist like mad;

while slower epiphanies will get lost
in the confusion of the everyday.
Of course, the plan with sleep keeps you stronger

and ultimately has a lower cost;
you have to manage how much you can pay
with care – so the candle will last longer.

09 MAR 2003

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Bosses

Published on March 9, 2003

for LJ user ravengirl

Most people rise in organizations
through political postures and moving
up slowly, not causing much sensation.
They never reach the top roost by proving

their superiors wrong, or by doing
too much of anything except smiling
and just pretending not to be screwing
things up. This load of bullshit keeps piling

under them until they are running things.
Do not get me wrong, some do know their stuff
and are truly a joy to work under;

but usually, their incompetence brings
more work to your desk. It can be so tough
biting your tongue and staring in wonder.

09 MAR 2003

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