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The Poetry Corner
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What have they done to us?
Made cowards of the strong
Into a chicken-shit crew
When will we stand?
Is the strength still there?
We're hurting for this change
Steady steps intune with our Nature
Rally up the comrades
Tell them they've been living a lie for too long
Full of hope but knocked out of it
What did they tell you?
Did they syphon out your pride?
Made you languish on the outside
While the fire rages inside
We're all still here
Just hanging on...
---Wes
A Small Prediction
Bicycling in traffic,
hoping some stupid cage pilot
doesn't kill me from behind,
I marvel at the ignorance and arrogance
that allows people to think
That it's still okay to drive cars.
Astounding.
BUT
One of these days, and it won't be long,
All the dinosaurs will be dead in their tracks,
Your little boys will be coming home
in rubber bags from the latest war for oil,
And I will no longer have to breathe
your stinking exhaust.
- Nelson Kaiser
"Hope this is not too negative--
this really did come to me as I was riding
through a bunch of cars. - NK"
MEIN KARMA
Must use guns to bolster trade
third-world children, eat grenade
gulf war robots get parade
Lockheed, Boeing - getting paid.
Station missiles at every border
must defend the New World Order
U.S. Business Resource Hoarder
- "Madeleine Albright" (abrupt.org)
Dr. Seuss on politics...
The Whos down in Whoville liked people a lot,
But the Grinch in the White House most certainly did
not.
He didn't arrive there by the will of the Whos,
But stole the election that he really did lose.
Vowed to "rule from the middle," then
installed his regime.
(Did this really happen, or is it just a bad dream?)
He didn't listen to voters, just his friends he was
pleasin'
Now, please don't ask why, who knows what's the
reason.
It could be his heart wasn't working just right.
It could be, perhaps, that he wasn't too bright.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
Is that both brain and heart were two sizes too
small.
In times of great turmoil, this was bad news,
To have a government that ignores its Whos.
But the Whos shrugged their shoulders, went on with
their work,
Their duties as citizens so casually did shirk.
They shopped at the mall and watched their T.V.
They drove a gas guzzling big S.U.V.,
Oblivious to what was going on in D.C.,
Ignoring the threats to democracy.
They read the same papers that ran the same leads,
Reporting what only served corporate needs.
(For the policies affecting the lives of all nations
Were made by the giant U.S. Corporations.)
Big business grew fatter, fed by its own greed,
And by people who shopped for the things they didn't
need.
But amidst all the apathy came signs of unrest,
The Whos came to see we were fouling our nest.
And the people who cared for the ideals of this
nation
Began to discuss and exchange information:
The things they couldn't read, in the corporate-owned
news,
Of FTAA meetings and CIA coups,
Of drilling for oil and restricting rights.
They published some books, created Websites,
Began to write letters, and use their e-mail
(Though Homeland Security might send them to jail!)
What began as a whisper soon grew to a roar,
These things going on they could no longer ignore.
They started to rise up and reach out to all
Let their voices be heard, they rose to the call,
To vote, to petition, to gather, dissent,
To question the policies of the
"President."
As greed gained in power and power knew no shame
The Whos came together, sang "Not in our
name!"
One by one from their sleep and their slumber they
woke
The old and the young, all kinds of folk,
The black, brown and white, the gay, bi- and
straight,
All united to sing, "Feed our hope, not our
hate!
Stop stockpiling weapons and aiming for war!
Stop feeding the rich, start feeding the poor!
Stop storming the deserts to fuel SUV's!
Stop telling us lies on the mainstream T.V.'s!
Stop treating our children as a market to sack!
Stop feeding them Barney, Barbie and Big Mac!
Stop trying to addict them to lifelong consuming,
In a time when severe global warming is looming!
Stop sanctions that are killing the kids in Iraq!
Start dealing with ours that are strung out on
crack!"
A mighty sound started to rise and to grow,
"The old way of thinking simply must go!
Enough of God versus Allah, Muslim vs. Jew
With what lies ahead, it simply won't do.
No American dream that cares only for wealth
Ignoring the need for community health
The rivers and forests are demanding their pay,
If we're to survive, we must walk a new way.
No more excessive and mindless consumption
Let's sharpen our minds and garner our gumption.
For the ideas are simple, but the practice is hard,
And not to be won by a poem on a card.
It needs the ideas and the acts of each Who,
So let's get together and plan what to do!"
And so they all gathered from all 'round the Earth
And from it all came a miraculous birth.
The hearts and the minds of the Whos they did grow,
Three sizes to fit what they felt and they know.
While the Grinches they shrank from their hate and
their greed,
Bearing the weight of their every foul deed.
From that day onward the standard of wealth,
Was whatever fed the Whos spiritual health.
They gathered together to revel and feast,
And thanked all who worked to conquer their beast.
For although our story pits Grinches 'gainst Whos,
The true battle lies in what we daily
choose.
For inside each Grinch is a tiny small Who,
And inside each Who is a tiny Grinch too.
One thrives on love and one thrives on greed.
Who will win out? It depends who you feed!
- Poet Unknown
The Road
by R.D. Masters
for Jan Lundberg
Who built these roads? Pathways of death.
Who made these cars that fly so low
And unannounced, quick, cunning, leap
Away and tumble? Roll! And leave
The ones who loved to weep
And curse at night, within
Their tortured sleep, the road.
The road. The road. The road so long.
The endless road that ate the corn.
The road that cast the city wide,
Flattened the mountain, spoiled the dawn.
That sped the soldiers to their slaughters,
Brought the fire to the forests.
Gave the strange men to our daughters.
Who built the road?
Who made the promise?
The road will set you free, I heard,
I built the car that killed the mare.
I poured the roads that spurned the air.
I buried children by the score.
Yet, deep within my beating heart:
The road! The car! The thrill once more!
=
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Smart men
those Toltecs
for they know
how to maintain
a dialogue
with their heart
Toltec Poem, 250 B.C.
=
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Read, weep and rejoice: The
Low Road
by Marge Piercy, 1980
=
= = = = = = = = = = = =
"What's Holding You Back?"
What is that call that spurs one on, that
causes you to go that extra mile and do the things that must be
done?
Who is it that must enter your room to wake you up, to press you on? Your
lover, your boss, your friend?
Is it that tiny voice within, urging you on, calling on you for more than
you have given, more than you thought necessary?
Or is it that conscience-pricking Jiminy Cricket that stirs your emotional
pot, that gets you off your duff to accomplish something extra that
day?
Oh, but there are so many distractions--the touching moment in that dream
interrupted, the comfort of a warm bed, the tender arms of your lover,
nearby.
There are reasons why you don't want to stir, to put pen in hand, to set
forth what you truly believe.
Will they deter you now from all of those misguided things you've wanted
to say, those glorious thoughts that would stir the masses?
Are you still capable of enunciating it clearly, of persuading people that
this is what they really must undertake to do? It will take courage to
find out for "...the moving hand writes and, having written, moves
on, and not a tear you shed will wash away a word of it."
Rise up dear soul!! Thy muse calls out to you; you have meditated long and
hard on these things.
Now's the time to remove that shroud of indecision, to seize the moment,
to act NOW.
- John Falchi
=
= = = = = = = = = = = =
I am too poor to go to war
I am too poor to go to
war
Let me tell you the score
Your last war left my crops asunder,
Now my children hunger
You planted mines in my field
Nothing but misery, they yield
Your current battle destroyed my cattle,
Only a bull and a cow
Because I am not a Jew, not a Muslim,
You allow me a boar, and a
sow
Your soldiers gloat that they got my goat
Was it the marines who stole my sheep
From you, many sorrows I do reap
With preemptive interventions and multiple inventions,
You tell me of good
intentions?
Who is supposed to explain the detentions?
With great math, the warís cost you do extend,
With your latest military budget, me, you do offend
Who is to pay for road mending, for health care spending
For student tending, for water vending
Quartermaster, halfmaster,
fullmaster
Who would envision worse provision
Domestically, you insist on standard testing, with efficiency
You teach war games with proficiency
Would that we could help children with educational sufficiency
While far away, thousands of troops are quickly deployed
In iraq, bosnia, haiti, siam or thailand
At home, the streets fill with the unemployed
I do believe
I am too poor to go to war
I am out of step, I am inept
I am too poor
Yes, I am rich with other stuff
with Thomas Mann, I have a lease
ìWar is only a cowardly escape from
the problems of peace.î
Would I, would you, would we, if we could, afford peace
I am too poor to go to war
david inkey, 12-15-03
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= = = = = = = = = = = =
A nonviolent scenario
Ready for deep revolution?
When
the gasoline pump dries up
When the human mind opens to possibilities without oil
This will signal the cultural revolution of all time
Unmatched for speed and reaching to every colonial outpost of Petroleum
Civilization
Old and new ways will be held up to the light
Some will see only darkness and the rest a new opportunity
What will be the flavor of the transition?
Tears are enough, blood we donít need shed
But will petro-fed masses starve peacefully?
Who
will be in charge of this revolution?
No one.
No one can hasten it, but is tomorrow soon enough?
We can understand it, prepare, and welcome it, or cling to a collapsing order
that can offer no more
The
pain of the Earth, if that exists, will shift but lift
So much waste and theft will cease when false wealth slips its grip
As we clean up the mess, we rejoice in having to share
Off
will go television, computer and refrigerator as energy is dedicated to
essential survival tasks and little else
Rediscovering our brains and talents we will meet basic needs, while we forget
our cancer-generating ways
Simultaneous restoration of the ravaged land will occupy us
Good
luck to you in being a part of the whole cycle of adventure
A beautiful planet could not accommodate several billion anyway
Learning will accelerate as we watch the few preserved ancient trees continue to
grow and become top soil for new life
So
many have guns today they intend to use if and when necessary
When their ammunition runs out, the gun and bullet factories will be useful for
other purposes or abandoned, with no more unlimited electric power
The human tribe did not go through long evolution by killing and cheating itself
Before
the fall, one sang:
"I think itís most peculiar to be using these machines
When
eating sleeping loving and a home is what we need
"
There
is no ahead or going back
When the living Earth and its glorious inanimate elements are a constant process
Progress and return are linear ideas obscuring the now and the best
possibilities
The
real priorities would be to gather acorns and enjoy their life-giving
nourishment
Growing food will take more human work and love and responsibility; despite such
limitations without fossil-fuels,
Future generations will retain the same or better world we will now care for and
use in balance
Welcome
any cool fog and cheer the rain albeit falling harder from climate changeís
supercharged evaporation
Uncover the asphalt, expose and recreate the creeks.
Fill in this last line as you please; itís for you
______
I wrote the above on
a Greyhound bus around Los Gatos near Santa Cruz, in what some call Ecotopia.
It
is hoped that my twelve stanzas of visualizing cultural revolution will be
worthy to someone, about something, in the cosmic struggle.
For instance, between installations (now out my window) such as Camp
Roberts | Army California Guard
and any of its suspect intentions, on one side, and on the other side kindness
and reason promoted and practiced by peacemakers.
Rather than a clash of entities, we are witnessing the beginning of
wholesale decay and rapid transformation.
When
a society bases its raison díÍtre on material wealth for individuals
(limited to comprising only a portion of the population), wealth is used up
relatively quickly for the whole population, eventually including even todayís
wealthy.
Rather
than a poor class taking the wealth from the rich, the rich will lose their grip
by virtue of losing access to ìunlimitedî petroleum and the exploited labor
of the globalized corporate system. People
will wake up to living their own lives to the fullest, for they must manage
issues on their own in concert, leaving behind the discredited ways that have
brought us to the precipice that we have in part already jumped off.
There
are many kinds of concerted action appropriate now, but they lack the necessary
social context to take place on a large scale.
However, many kinds of direct action ó such as workers' going on strike
ó can achieve wide notice and an economic effect.
Clearly, though, successful concerted action will have to wait for
faster-changing conditions that most of society will be aware of and dealing
with. Small actions resulting in
arrests, as well as actions that break no laws, appear to offer little basis for
useful response today. I thought of
a good form of concerted, high-profile action when I began this paragraph, but
it slipped my mind despite my waiting three days to remember.
This may prove that circumstances are premature for instructive concerted
action in the eyes of the as yet unstirred masses.
I promise to pass along the idea (which was not original or spectacular)
if I can in a future essay or song.
ñ
Depaver Jan
January
2004 California
*****
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