peace

my silent wail echoes back blankly from empty fields
the solitude roars in my ears like a sea of despondency
one foot leading the other
i trudge this narrow dirt path
it does not lead to salvation
only to another patch of bland fallow drained of character
mindlessly sapping any brief flare of color
someday i may meet another lonely soul
another wandering pilgrim
what will we share? commune?
or will we just part ways?
we are comforted in our isolation
i am strangely warmed to once again be alone
may you someday find such serenity

let them eat cake

Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you can find outside an advertising agency. - Raymond Chandler

I disagree that an advertising agency is a waste of intelligence. There are TV commercials that I consider more entertaining than anything else on TV. I have a lot of respect for someone who has 30 seconds to get your attention and then deliver a message about their product.

OK, I'll admit that most times I won't remember the product of a commercial that I really enjoy. The ones where I DO remember the product are real works of art.

I have to respect the intelligence of people who can manipulate the opinion of the populace in order to make a profit.

an award for citizenship

No race can prosper until it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. - Booker T. Washington

Is there the equivalent of the Medal of Honor for citizens? I imagine that the award is given to the people who exemplify the traits of a model citizen. If this award exists, it is not highly publicized.

What are the traits of a model citizen?

- Familiarity of government operation at the local, state and national level

- Fair knowledge of US history

- Familiarity with historical American culture (literature, music, movies)

- Competency in reading comprehension and also in basic math.

(Go ahead and laugh but I am continually surprised by people that can't do math in their head.)

- Contribution to community

- Training the next generation in the basics of a good citizen

- Is there even a way to measure civility?

- I know there is not a test for sincerity.


It seems to me that there should be a specific model of citizenry. The purpose of the law would be to shape behaviour of individuals and businesses to match that model. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution explain what our government can and cannot do. I would like to see a citizen's Bill of Rights. It would be like a non-secular ten commandments.

"Thy right shall cease where my nose begins."

Just another interesting thought exercise for the day.


Time keeps a'ticking. My mind keeps movin'.

Worthless

the true nature of the beast

If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock him down first, and pity him afterwards - Dr. Samuel Johnson (1707 - 1784)


Once again, I shall step atop my soap box. This is an excellent illustration of the self-centered behaviour of 95% of the people that you will meet on the street. I shall give you more examples.

- Merge lanes. The incoming lanes are supposed to match speed with the oncoming traffic, indicate their intention to merge and then take an open space in on-coming traffic. Too often have I had to switch lanes or slow down to allow someone on the road who does not know how to merge. I would appreciate a turn signal at the least just for courtesy.

- The signs on a highway clearly indicate that a two lane road is being merged into one lane. While most drivers are courteous enough to slow down in the merged lane, there are still those people who believe that they live outside the lines of decency and drive right up to the merge point. This causes those people who have patiently waited to allow them in.

- Any accident whether it is on the road or around the home. What draws people to gawk and stare? Are they help and rescue personnel? No. They are providing nothing but interference and traffic problems.


At the end of the day, if people in general would look beyond the end of their own noses they would see (oh wonder of wonders!) that there are other people in this world. These same selfish people would see that they are wasting the time and interfering with the lives of too many other people.

I hope someday those people will look left, keep driving or just open their eyes.

a breach in the wall

It is difficult to share these words. It is difficult to share something so personal. I have spent a lifetime building my wall. This wall protects me.

Does it protect me from ridicule?
-> Do I care what other people think?

It protects me from rejection. By sharing fears, desires and dreams, the relationship between me and my friends and family may change. They may learn something that they didn't know and take a step away. It's difficult to make good friends and any diminishment of that would be tragic, painful.

A breach in the wall is dangerous. It can lead to pain and there is enough pain in life as it is without inviting more. It seems like a worthy risk though to expose these thoughts if it makes any of those bonds stronger.

Sometimes the only way to expunge myself of an abundance of grief is to write the pain away. Let words take the feelings with them. The pain is still there but just in a different form. It has been trapped in a far away place.

Oh yes, the pain will return and I will again grab ink and quill. That is the nature of the beast.

I hope you understand.

anguish

anguish gives life to sorrow's jewels
the draw of the deepest depths of despair beleaguers this dark evening
fear of the unknown leadens each step to the abyss
why face tomorrow when the bliss of oblivion awaits

the promise of truth
the familiar burden of the anguish of humanity
the tenuous tendrils of affection

the excitement of the unknown
the draw of dreams

the children of the dawn await
embrace them for the glimmer of hope they embody