Ideals in Reality
by Ted L Glines
Do you wish that everyone was an idealist like you? Well, you got half of your wish; most people are idealists, but most of them are not like you.
For the most part, idealistic people are a pain. The problem with idealism is that no two people have the same ideals. Your neighbor on one side is a born-again Christian, while your other-side neighbor is an agnostic, and next door to her is a Wiccan. You work in a small office with two other clerks; one is a Democrat and one is an Independent. Your boss is a Republican. On Wednesday evenings your bowling team wins league tournaments, in spite of being made up of one atheist, a Muslim, a Jew, and an American Indian who spends his off-time riding a horse with no name. And all of these people are right ...
Here in early 2008, we are hearing idealistic political thrusts. It's about change. Is it? Mostly, it's about anti-Bush, but also it is about anti-corporation and it is generally anti-government. To hear them tell it, our government is a bunch of losers, and each of these candidates wants to become king/queen of those losers. All in the name of idealism.
Ideals are wonderful things and idealists are wonderful people (if your ideals agree with theirs). Hitler was an idealist. So was Genghis Khan. Mother Teresa was an idealist. Think about that. Obviously, idealists may not support each other. You may be surprised to learn that some modern idealists do not support the simplistic ideals expressed in the Ten Commandments. This is true.
Our American founding fathers were idealists. They objected to being unmercifully taxed by the King of England, and they objected to the English King's Established Church (now named “Anglican”) being jammed down their throats. These founding fathers loved the heavily-taxed tea but the fish in Boston bay got a chance to drink a bunch of it, and England lost its hold in 1789. The King of England was an idealist but he lost that war. You are an idealist and you have lost a few small wars, too.
A few years ago, I knew a homeless man named Jimmy. For a few months, Jimmy camped out on the sofa in my apartment. Jimmy was an idealist. Just another Vietnam veteran, Jimmy had come home to be spat upon and derided for his “wartime atrocities.” Jimmy had enjoyed the hospitality of the “Hanoi Hilton” and he was not overly fond of Joan Baez or Jane Fonda. Like many other Vietnam vets, Jimmy dropped out (you would be amazed at the number of vets in our homeless community). Jimmy was one of many who decided not to work because wages were taxed to support this (his) nation which had spurned him. Jimmy never lost his love for the American flag, but he loathed its sorry citizens. They did not support him. Life on the homeless streets of America was much easier than the deadly life in those Vietnamese jungles. Across those months, I was privileged to absorb Jimmy's war-stories and his rich sense of humor. Jimmy was an idealist. So were Joan Baez and Jane Fonda. The people who spat upon him when he returned from Vietnam ... were idealists, too.
Osama bin Laden is an idealist. So was Jack the Ripper.
We idealists tend to criminalize and demonize those whose ideals run contrary to our own. History reminds us of the Crusades, the Inquisition, the (witchcraft) “burning times” in Europe, and kamakazi pilots (new versions now exploding in Iraq). The planes which took down the Twin Towers were larger but a similar idealistic intent is seen.
Our world is moving on and ideals are always becoming. Four years ago (eight years or twenty years ago) our Americans would not have considered electing a president who was black or female. Hillary is not the first woman who has run for our highest office, but she may be the first female elected. Or Obama may well get it. Frankly, Condoleeza Rice may have missed her finest opportunity to make history for the two largest abused minorities (black and female) in America. As it is, we may never know the nature of Condi's idealism because her official position confines her to an on-camera persona-presentation as the mouthpiece for our Oval Office. She must be doing a good job because Condi is respected by national leaders around the world. Wouldn't it be nice to have an American President who was respected internationally! Like Jimmy, Condi is only disrespected here at home. We always kill the messenger.
Notable idealists: Hitler, the Pope, Genghis Khan, Thomas Jefferson, Mother Teresa , Chuck Norris, Jimmy the Homeless, Cornel West, Joan Baez, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Jane Fonda, J.F.K., Osama bin Laden, Malcolm X, Jack the Ripper, Jim Jones, me and you. Put us all together in one room and ... we will not play well.
The single most dangerous idealist on this planet today ... is a supremely spiritual man. He believes in Allah and he believes that all of his people must be ruled by Allah. He believes in theocracy. He believes that freedom and equality are tools of Evil; that Democracy is the name of Evil. He believes that Democracy would turn his mother and his wife and his daughter into ... prostitutes. He will fight to the death to protect them, for that is the way of his idealism.
I hear the voices of idealists ... in jazz and rhythm-and-blues and hymns and in country music, and I hear the cries of those who would be understood - lifted up - and ... helped. And I absorb our dear Kimmy's art and I feel the endless tears of unsung idealists. Out of the chaos-madness of conflicting idealisms, Kimmy traps truth. How understandable ... because Kimmy is an ultra-idealist!
I used to be a freedom-fighter. Now I am a blues lyric.
But watch the crowds in these 2008 primaries and listen to the cheers. Waving their change-signs, they want to believe. Young people (ideals on steroids) want to believe. Look closer. Here and there, an old person stands with steady eye and grim expression. And look at the hard persons sticking like glue to each candidate. Bodyguards. Mercenaries. One false move and they will kill you. Why? Because high ideals attract assassins.
Do you really wish that everyone was an idealist like you?
Binding Vows
by Ted L Glines
Historically, witnessed vows have been considered necessary, by many cultures, when a man and a woman are joined together in marital union. The specific vow-contents reflect the values central to each culture. Apache, Muslim, Hindu, and Catholic marriage vows are wildly different from each other; as varied as their varying cultural values. Is there an “ideal” (one size fits all) set of marriage vows? From the countless variations, I have selected a few to showcase here.
"Will you, _______, have _____ to be your wife/husband? Will you love her/him, comfort and keep her/him, and forsaking all others, remain true to him/her as long as you both shall live?" ("I will")
(Repeat) "I, ________, take thee ______, to be my wife/husband, and before God and these witnesses I promise to be a faithful and true wife/husband."
(Rings) "With this ring I thee wed, and all my worldly goods I thee endow. In sickness and in health, in poverty or in wealth, 'til death do us part." (~Baptist)
“(Groom) Do you ____________, take _______ to be your wife? ("I do"). Do you promise to love, cherish and protect her, whether in good fortune or in adversity, and to seek with her a life hallowed by the faith of Israel? ("I do")
(Bride) Do you ____________, take _______ to be your husband? ("I do"). Do you promise to love, cherish and protect him, whether in good fortune or in adversity, and to seek with him a life hallowed by the faith of Israel? ("I do")
(Groom) __________ , as you place this ring upon the finger of __________, speak to her these vows:
" With this ring/ be thou consecrated unto me/ as my wife/ according to the law of God/ and the faith of Israel."
(Bride) __________ , as you place this ring upon the finger of __________, speak to him these vows:
" With this ring/ be thou consecrated unto me/ as my husband/ according to the law of God/ and the faith of Israel." (~Jewish)
" _______, will you take _____ here present, for your lawful wife/husband according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church?"("I will")
(Repeat)"I, ________, take you ______, for my wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."
(Rings)"With this ring I thee wed, and pledge thee my troth.." (~Catholic)
“GROOM'S VOW: "I, ___________, take thee __________ to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, for fairer or fouler, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us depart, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereunto I plight thee my troth.
Then shall they loose their hands; and the Woman, with her right hand taking the Man by his right hand, shall likewise say after the Minister,
BRIDE'S VOW: I ___________ take thee___________ to my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to be bonny and buxom at bed and at board, to love and to cherish, till death us depart, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereunto I plight thee my troth.
Then shall they again loose their hands; and the Man shall give unto the Woman a Ring, laying the same upon the Book with the accustomed duty to the Priest and Clerk. And the Priest shall bless the Ring(s) in the following manner:
Bless these Rings, O merciful Lord, that those who wear them, that give and receive them, may be ever faithful to one another, remain in your peace, and live and grow old together in your love, under their own vine and fig tree, and seeing their children's children. Amen.
And the Priest, taking the Ring, shall deliver it to the Man, to put it on the fourth finger of the Woman's left hand. And the Man holding the ring there, and taught by the Priest, shall say,
GROOM: With this Ring I thee wed, (here placing it upon her thumb) and with my body I thee honor, (here placing it upon her index finger) and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; (here placing it upon her ring finger) In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” (~Medieval Christian)
"Let us take the first steps to provide for our household
a nourishing and pure diet, avoiding those foods injurious
to healthy living. Let us take the second step to develop physical,
menta and spiritual powers. Let us take the third step,
to increase our wealth by righteous means and proper use.
Let us take the fourth step to acquire knowledge,
happiness and harmony by mutual love and trust.
Let us take the fifth step, so that we be blessed with strong,
virtuous and heroic children. Let us take the sixth step,
for self-restraint and longevity. Finally, let us take the
seventh step and be true companions and remain lifelong
partners by this wedlock."
"We have taken the Seven Steps. You have become mine forever.
Yes, we have become partners. I have become yours. Hereafter,
I cannot live without you.
Do not live without me. Let us share the joys.
We are word and meaning, united.
You are thought and I am sound. May the night be honey-sweet for us;
may the morning be honey-sweet for us;
may the earth be honey-sweet for us and the heavens
be honey-sweet for us. May the plants be honey-sweet for us;
may the sun be all honey for us;
may the cows yield us honey-sweet milk.
As the heavens are stable, as the earth is stable,
as the mountains are stable, as the whole universe is stable,
so may our union be permanently settled." (~Hindu)
“Bride: "I, _________, offer you in myself in marriage in
accordance with the instructions of the Holy Quar'an
and the Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon Him.
I pledge, in honesty and with sincerity, to be for you an
obedient and faithful wife."
Groom: "I pledge, in honesty and sincerity, to be for you
a faithful and helpful husband." (~Muslim)
"You cannot possess me for I belong to myself
But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give
You cannot command me, for I am a free person
But I shall serve you in those ways you require
and the honeycomb will taste sweeter coming from my hand
"I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night and
the eyes into which I smile in the morning
I pledge to you the first bite of my meat and the first drink from my cup
I pledge to you my living and my dying, each equally in your care
I shall be a shield for your back and you for mine
I shall not slander you, nor you me
I shall honor you above all others, and when we quarrel we shall do so in
private and tell no strangers our grievances
"This is my wedding vow to you
This is the marriage of equals." (~Celtic)
“----------, I choose you above all others, to share my live with me in marriage. I promise to love and cherish you always, forever increasing over the passage of time. I promise to stand by you in all things and provide for your warmth, tenderness, understanding and protection. I promise to nurture a home environment filled with love, light and laughter. I promise to speak to you lovingly, with an open heart and to always honour the divine within you, your heart, your body and your spirit. I promise to fully appreciate your presence in my life and to accept you fully as you are. I promise to support and encourage you in the fulfilment of your hopes, your dreams, your life purpose, your highest good. This is my pledge and my commitment to you and our life together as husband (wife) and wife (husband) for all the days we shall live.” (~Vietnamese)
"Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long
upon the earth."
"Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves
often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness,
gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship,
as they threaten all relationships at one time or another,
remember to focus on what is right
between you, not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms
when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives --
remembering that even if you lose sight
of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality
of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight." (~Apache)
“I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity, and always in my care.” (~Christine Feehan, New York Times Bestselling Novelist - her Carpathian lifemate vows)
I think I am most fond of the values expressed in the Apache blessing, the Vietnamese vows, and in the clear pen of Christine Feehan. If these loving, compassionate, values are upheld, material considerations will be realistically addressed, and dominance will be found unnecessary. However, the vows are a tiny window into the heart of the culture from whence they arose and, certainly, one size does not fill all.
Someone told me that eagles mate for life. I suppose they have a ritual to begin their life's journey. I wish I could speak Eagle.
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Forever Clouds
by Ted L Glines
Only a minute ago
I could see forever
and now muffling fog
fills my mind.
Only a brief minute
--- what ---
history and destiny were one
universe unfolding perfectly
now I cannot see the cliff
before my feet.
For one brief instant
the movie of life
froze on one clear frame
still-life of clear truth
epiphany
--- happened ---
the movie played on
brownian motion
forgetfulness
and I cannot
get that moment back.
Only in a child's mind
is truth pristine
really good or really bad
no grayness blending
--- to ---
fog what is clear
pure and so
un-sophisticated
unaffected by
doctrines or policies
which lend masques to
wrongness
which hide the crystal clarity
of simple
--- truth ---
Mandate
by Ted L Glines
I heard someone bad-mouthing Bill Gates because he was not giving his wealth away to charities. That got me to thinking about Bill Gates and we Americans. And I wondered why it is that someone would think that Bill Gates should be the one American to rescue the starving masses (Somalia, the Sudan, Los Angeles ...). In one single day, we Americans waste more food than it would take to feed all of the hungry third-world people for a month.
Third-world economies pose an international problem. People, lots of them, are starving. We see the pictures of starving kids with flies crawling on their eyes. We see this and we want to do something to save them. We donate money in small and large denominations to organizations. These organizations send our donations to Somalia and the Sudan. The leaders of Somalia and the Sudan are glad to receive the money. None of the donated money gets to the starving people. All of the donated money goes to enrich and entertain the leaders of Somalia and the Sudan. With a tiny part of the donated money, the leaders make new movies to show their starving people (heart-rending drama) along with links which encourage you to send more money.
These are donor-economies. Their leaders depend upon their own starving masses to promote the donated wealth which flows into their coffers from you and me. Their leaders are very pleased with us.
We, you and me, should be able to do something about this problem. We should be able to slap those greedy leaders out of the way (let them die with flies in their eyes). We should be able to feed those starving people. We are the ones whose super-sized appetites are responsibe for most of the waste on this planet. Our waste would feed those people. It is past time that you and I must become responsible for our own waste, and become responsible for feeding the hungry.
Our Internet connectivity could make this happen. Because of the Internet, we have the ability, right now, to make things happen internationally. We have the ability to reach right into the Sudan, or Somalia (activists, there, are waiting) to stir rebellion and revolution. The Internet has made you far more powerful than you have yet realized.
I think it is good that Bill Gates has his wealth. He has certainly earned it. He and his kids deserve the benefits. Why? It was Bill Gates who made it possible for you and me to reach into places like the Sudan and Somalia. In the beginning, Bill Gates (the kid) was a hacker. He was not good at school. In college, he stayed up all night in the computer room, and he fell asleep in his daily classes. And Bill was a good liar. He saw that the future was built around personal computers (his vision). He contacted Altair Computers and he told them that he had a version of BASIC (computer language) which would work on the Altair. Well, Altair was interested. Bill Gates, at that moment, did not have what he claimed. But, within a short period of time, Bill Gates (and his hacker friends) produced the version of BASIC which (1) worked on the Altair, and which (2) made personal computers possible. From these tenuous beginnings, we now can reach from your living-room into an office or home computer in Germany or England or France or Russia or Los Angeles or ... Somalia. We can thank the audacious hacker, Bill Gates, for that. And, if he gained wealth because of his efforts, more power to him!
I think that Bill Gates has paid his dues. He created Microsoft, and Microsoft has made it possible for little people like me to have an effect internationally. You, too!
Now, you and I can do what WE CAN DO to help those less fortunate starving people. Bill Gates has given us the tools. What can we do?
Go onto the Google browser and try [somalia blog] and then browse what you find there (thanks to Bill Gates). You may find more than you can easily handle. And you may find ways that you can be of service.
It is time we got beyond the blame-game. It is time we proved our worth.
Mandate.
Blowing Papers
by Ted L Glines
Winds of time buffet
crags and canyons of memory
old wildernesses crossed
in long forgotten quests
while crucial things were
left undone unsaid
memories like paper trash
shuffling in my wind
old memories written bold
in their time
now faded weathered
sometimes blank
some papers have beloved photos
but the names are gone
places and dates somehow mixed
in past cave mazes
where only fickle dreams
wander now
seeking friends who have
gone away
slowly plodding forward
facing toward this wind
growing warmer with promise
perhaps to rest
I can almost smell the flowers
just beyond the next bend
in Summerland
where the papers
will not blow
in my mental wind
forevermore
Constriction
by Ted L Glines
Do you remember when the world used to be big? Full of far-away places with exotic names, the world stretched our imaginations back then. All of my own friends, sixty years ago, were in the little town of Half Moon Bay (2,500 people). It would have been strange to know somebody as far distant as San Francisco (40 miles away). Our world, as we knew it, was in the families and gossip of our own community, with the radio and newspapers bringing in that outer strange world to our provincial minds (TV was yet to make its impact in our homes).
We had Catholic and Methodist churches (and an irritating gaggle of Jehovahs Witnesses). As I remember, the priest and the minister were buddies. They went deep-sea fishing together all the time. Doctrines were stressed at both churches but the Catholic services were said in Latin which somehow made them more impressive. I liked the Methodist minister (Stanley Reed) best, because he would always come out and help with the farm work when your parents were sick (even if you were Catholic).
Most of us kids went to the Patio Theater for matinees on Saturday afternoons. Cartoons, Superman, Roy Rogers, and the News-Reels (little slices of dramatized world news), and I still recall the smells of that theater and buttered popcorn.
TV came into our homes. And CB radio. I think CB radio had more impact on me, broadening my personal sphere, because I had my base station rigged to bounce my signal off the ionosphere and connect to new friends all the way over in Florida! Somewhat later, there were Bulletin Boards (this was prior to the Internet) where you could interact with people from all around America and even in other countries (thank you, Compuserve!). I think this is where I first encountered people who were hatefully dogmatic. I remember wondering how some of those people could justify being abusive in the name of Jesus. Mostly, the people I met were nice. At the same time that my world seemed to be growing larger by leaps and bounds, it was somehow becoming smaller. The far-flung mysterius world was not so far away anymore. Now I had friends in places like New Jersey, West Virginia, Georgia, New Mexico, Utah, Ireland, China, South Africa, Columbia, India, and Iraq.
The Internet, of course, has made a small community out of what used to be a huge planet. At the drop of a keyword or a short phrase, you may Google the accumulated data of our whole world. As the universe of information opens like an endless lotus bloom, it becomes uneasy, even alarming (more and more), inside the shrinking walls of self-isolated bigotry.
“Great ideas sweep back and forth across the face of a habitable world that is shrinking. Those (ideas) cannot help but fire hatred and fear amongst adherents of dogmas and doctrines under increasing pressure.” ~Glen Cook, The Tyranny of the Night, 2005.
I know of one religious organization which has an “authorized” reading/listening/viewing list, where church members are prohibited from accessing any material which is not on that list. I studied with this particular church and I have seen their proscribed list. Our world encroaches upon them, constricts them, and they draw into their protective (turtle) shells, as if the world will not eventually absorb them. It will.
I know of another very secular organization which masquerades under a Christian icon while preaching white supremacy, and they promote a “Bible Study Course” (very racially slanted) for grade school children and (would you believe) convicts in prison. Like rats, this bigoted “church” has been pushed into a small corner as the world becomes such a small and integrated community. We can only hope that their grey-haired patriarchs will die soon. Soon is good. Their young people are already embracing the warmth of our smaller, more intimate, world community. Their old people, with their hateful ways, need to go ... because they no longer fit in our world.
Progress is being made. Smiles. Have you noticed, in the aftermath of the Twin Towers atrocity, and our American Patriot Act response, we are not hearing about KKK and Militia terrorism! Oh, these organizations still exist. Not ten minutes from where I am typing this, the tiny town of Simms, Texas, remains a die-hard KKK enclave, but they are very quiet these days! Quiet is good. They need to be as quiet as a graveyard.
We live in an always-evolving world. I won't live to see the ideal utopia where understanding has replaced hatefulness, but I see and appreciate our small world-community, and we have made major progress in these past sixty years. Maybe we still have a long way to go, but we are getting there.
Yes!
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Transit
by Ted L Glines
Spirits pass
Like phantoms in the night
Being what they've been and what they are
In their own measure of what is right.
You'll know what they've been
And somewhat of what they are,
Becoming what they will be
As they navigate their path
Toward some fate -- away and far.
And you will try to guide them,
Hug them, stand beside them,
But so soon they're gone away
On their path -- they could not stay.
And you will always wonder,
Did they find their brighter day?
We hope they did.
We always hope
They did.
Sunset
by Ted L Glines
Things you should know about growing old
as life becomes gentle and stable and bold
your knowledge of life - makes you assured
that decisions you make will stand secured
frenetic things belong in the past
now slowing down - making life last
leaving the chaos for those who are young
time to enjoy the songs to be sung
leaving behind all the rousers of rabble
their fiesty words and psychobabble
to be young again is an empty quest
you'll never return to your fuzzy nest
gone are the days when you used to preach
believing that you had the right to teach
'round the world seven times - talked to everyone twice
and never did anyone need your advice
your pitfalls have taught you the wisdom of age
so - let those youngsters write their own page
you've entered the days when your hormones deplete
and those ego symbols cease being sweet
if you wish you may dream about dragon and elf
be relaxed and at ease -- enjoy yourself
you've studied the world and the heavens above
and never found out the meaning of love
those questions remaining all tend to scatter
leaving but one (does it even matter?)
your golden years are full of delights
so smile and walk on - your sunset invites
Author's Notes: It was not possible for me to write this 30 years ago. The "Elder" concept was not in me in those fast-lane years. And I think I had no real appreciation for the Elders around me at that time. If I could go back and do it all over again - forget it - once was plenty! If I could go back and change any part of my life - forget it - every bit of that has made me into the Elder with whom I am comfortable. And, I always did love sunsets. So mote it be.
My Wisdom
by Ted L Glines
Someone recently told me, "You always make sense." Wonderful comment but it got me to thinking (oh oh!).
Fifty years ago, I thought I knew everything about everything. I really did. Maybe most 16-year-olds think they have the world by the tail. But the intervening years have taught me, one event at a time, that I actually do not know much about anything at all. And that is true. I really cannot be making too much sense in a human world which is ruled by Chaos Theory. Think about it.
Look at populations (multi-cultures) of bacteria and what they do in their Petrie dishes. Then look at the populations of humans infesting this planet. In comparing the humans versus the bacteria, is there any essential difference in what they do (except that the humans are on an ego trip about it)? In the cultures of bacteria (human cultures, too), you see random motion; Chaos Theory in action. True, you can measure the motions of a large sample of either population, input this info into a statistical analysis data base, and it will give you the average or mean motion of individuals in either of the subject populations. But this resulting average or mean motion does not mean that any one of the population individuals will ever conform to that motion. You can break your heart waiting for any such conformance. The individuals in these populations refuse to be predictable, and that’s a shame (in a sense).
If bacteria were predictable, cures would be simple and easy, and we would not have all of our current multiplicity of diseases (nor would we have all of those wealthy pharmaceutical houses). That would be nice but do not hold your breath ...
If humans were predictable, we could isolate and eliminate the bad actors before they ever became a problem, and there would never be a need for war or famine or poverty. That would be really really nice (and has been the subject of many utopian science fiction/fantasy works), but we are back to the breath holding ...
One might think to find "sense" in the churches since they seem to be the heartbeat of ethics and morality. Nope, here we have Chaos Theory, too, as all of those churchy individuals talk their talk, all of them believing that their church is the Chosen Church. There is a statement which clearly refutes this, but most churchy individuals will hate this statement: "You belong to the church, but all of the churches belong to God." Say what! But that makes too much sense, and it won’t work in our human Chaos Theory world (if God ever watches CNN – we are in a heap of doo-doo). So, here we are with our worldly statement, "God loves my church, and God hates your church, so – let’s fight!" Hmmm ...
So, the next time I think that I have the world by the tail, I will try to remember that the world does not have a tail (too predictable), and I really know nothing at all. So much for wisdom.
Mine anyway ...
Sensitive
by Ted L Glines
Born to feel
inequities of life
love unrequited lost
tempest tossed
born to cry
when hugged or loved
or even appreciated
but love is depreciated
in emptiness
we never learn
to cry less
born to touch
that which
must not be touched
fingers burned
touch is spurned
born to love
unendingly
unbendingly
that which
cannot be loved
at all
born to write
feelings strong and light
soul is flightier
the pen is mightier
than the poet
don't we know it
and our screams
if they were swords
would kill nations
Author's Notes: Down through recorded history, it has always been the poet or the bard whose sensitivity and pain heralded pushes for reformation. This poem is in tribute to all those poets who dare to be heard. Long live the bard!
Hunter
by Ted L Glines
Once upon a time we hunted the wild
wind in our hearts with the hope of a child,
roaming the plains and forests so vast
with only our gods to make us aghast,
we fished the lakes and roamed by the sea,
hunters with honor -- living free.
Now -- we hunters -- build our own cages
small cages -- tall cages -- caging our rages,
movement restricted -- freedom constricted
bound and gagged -- release interdicted,
and we paint the inside of our walls
with sunsets and meadows -- pools and falls,
oh, how good it looks -- like the real thing,
never feeling the wind -- a bird on the wing,
we whine and complain about crime and hate
things done by hunters sharing our fate,
for cages breed hunger and greed, you hear,
where kindness is weakness destroyed by fear.
Oh, Heavenly One, You will not help,
“the caged hunter -- hunts himself.”*
*This almost-quote from: “People of the Silence,” by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear.