Only the Latest Good Old Idea

Only the Latest Good Old Idea



There’s only you and me and seven point five three

Billion other persons on this little revolving ball in

Space, so it shouldn’t be hard to keep it amongst us

Few only. I like only-ness, it feels right, even when

It’s dead wrong to consider it as being a possibility.



I know, I know, I’m going off on tangents again. I

Better be careful before I lose you, my audience, to

Ennui’s carelessness, or to the despair that lurks in

The leaden motes of sad hopelessness in some of the

Cowled, hurt eyes I’ve seen, but wished I hadn’t. I

Promise to desist and stay on message, as it were.



Ok, here it is but before I say it, you have to cross

Your hearts and promise to tell everyone who is a

Resident of Gaia and her immediate environs, for to

Spread these simple ideas to the immediate precincts

Of our charmed little blue orb could be…very good.



The secret of life, the prime reason we were, each of

Us, born of woman from the seed of a man, is clear.

We are meant to be happy. We are meant to keep our

Lives as simple as we can make them so that we can,

Unreservedly, give our love without a lot of bother.



You may argue, you may bemoan, but aside from those

Wretched ideas you can cast upon the shores of human

Wrack and ruin like greed, hate, fear, and anger, there

Is another, far older idea, that outmaneuvers them all:



When we give our love we are, ourselves, enriched

By the replete feelings of hope and goodness the act of

Love-giving creates simultaneously in our own hearts.


Think on this and I'm sure you’ll agree.

Never Says Never Again

Never Says Never Again



An object falls from above, unexpectedly,

To hail a new reality. Salutations to what was

Never imagined before, he, she, or it, has just

Popped in! Into your voids, for good or not.

And wreaks, what it will, at will; nothing’s to

Be done, whether stoically endured, or not.



Blinkered chance can’t look up while trying

To see what lies ahead, once without substance

It loomed, then it fell, now soon to be known.



Who was she, or he, or it, before chance decreed

Our fates become entwined? And so perforce, we

Linked karmically, to settle, fractionally, what has

Always been shared, by us and we; either as debt’s

Measure, gift’s delight, or a grand companionship,

Which bodes well to endure to journey’s open end.



Never, having endured beyond saying either way,

Keen edge becoming blunted by the impossibilities

To which it can now subscribe without measure.



Yet, never, seeks to lull into complacency, mis-

Directing your mind from what could be, to what is,

Substantively, a shadow falling across a moment,

Ingraciously, never, to be seen or known again.

I May Offend You

I May Offend You



Tell me again how you abhor change. “It’s

Always unfair, unless there are some gains

That accrue only to me” your words spew.



Say how loath you are to being open to

Share what you’ve got when others are

In direful need. “They’re greedy takers,

Too lazy to save anything,” you declare.



Tell me how what’s yours is yours, and

Should never be freely given to another.

“What about me?” “I slaved and saved, it’s

All my own, earned to keep,” you assert.



How unwilling are you to help those less

Deserving than you? “They’re despicable,

Unworthy of help, indolent,” you declaim.



About this deep connection to loathing

You grasp onto whenever words like

Dire need and sharing are mentioned.

It sounds to me as though your need

To keep all, and deny any help to the

Needy are grafted onto a weak heart.



“Your sophistries offend me,” you scream!

We Perished

We Perished



We refused to listen to the most strident scientific

Warnings, we didn’t think it could possibly happen.

We perished.



We refused to calculate and establish sensible population

Limits which our finite, limited resources could support.

We perished.



We refused to stop burning carbon and expelling methane,

And poisoned our precious, irreplaceable habitats forever.

We perished.



We refused to equitably distribute the wealth which resulted

From the labour of all, and fairly tax all at progressive rates.

We perished.



We refused to stop using harmful technologies who’s by-

Products were everlasting toxic waste poisonous to all life.

We perished.



We refused to stop genetically altering our foods without

Fully understanding the long-term health effects or risks.

We perished.



We refused to attempt any remedial actions to mitigate the largest

Extinction of flora and fauna in our planet’s brief history.

We perished.



We refused to acknowledge the shared, human racial heritage in our

Disparate faiths, waging ever more lethal wars against ourselves.

We perished.

True Happiness Comes from Loving and Respecting Yourself

True Happiness Comes from Loving and Respecting Yourself



Happiness is an idea that every human being can understand.

We all know how it feels to be happy or unhappy. I’ll point

Out a few examples of true happiness and identify links

Between positive attitude and health, work and family.



Attitude is the key to judging whether a person has

Created true happiness for themselves. If someone is

Impatient and rude then you can probably guess that

They are not truly happy. If someone is warm, patient

And caring then you will probably notice that they have

A lot of happiness in their life. But have you ever thought

About the reasons why they are happy or unhappy?



True happiness cannot come to a person who does not

Take care of their health. If people love and respect

Themselves. They will eat the right food, avoid alcohol

And cigarettes, and get enough healthy exercise and rest.



People who sit in front of their televisions eating chips,

Drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes do not love

Themselves enough to take care of their health. Many

Will get illnesses that could have been avoided, because

They did not love themselves or respect their body.



Having a job is more than just doing work for money.

People who go to work with the attitude of putting only

A little effort into their work are not usually happy with

The job they have chosen to do as a career choice.



Because they don’t try their best, their boss and co-

Workers will not respect them and will not be happy to

Have them on the team. People who go to work with the

Idea of doing their best will be respected and appreciated

By their company and colleagues. People who feel appreciated

And respected at work feel a greater sense of happiness with life.



Responsible family members are always loved and respected

By their family. Those who do not show they respect and care

For each other are often a family problem. Families need to be

Strong together so the next generation will have better futures.

Families need every member to contribute to make this happen.



Usually people who are selfish and unhappy did not have a good

example of love and respect and duty in their family when they

were young. People who have a strong bond of love, respect and

duty to their families are more warm and kind and caring for other

people in general. When people feel love and respect for you

because you are a good person; don’t you feel more truly happy?



So, we have seen that people who feel truly happy are the ones who

try to do their best whenever they can. We have also seen how

people who take care of their health are happier. And finally, we

have seen that people with a strong sense of duty and responsibility

to their families are happier. If more people would learn to love and

respect themselves then the world would be happier for all of us.



.

When Lives Don’t Matter

When Lives Don’t Matter



The lives of the poor don’t matter.

The lives of refugees don’t matter.

The lives of the imprisoned don’t matter.

The lives of combatants don’t matter.

The lives of brown people don’t matter.

The lives of the homeless don’t matter.

The lives of atheists don’t matter.

The lives of old people don’t matter.



I wonder who has been forgotten?

Oh yes, now I remember, it’s you.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of the aged.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of nonbelievers.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of the dispossessed.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of people of colour.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of soldiers.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of the incarcerated.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of those who must flee.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for the lives of the impoverished.



Your life doesn’t matter either if

You don’t care for anyone who isn’t just like you.

I Need

I Need



Why is it that such a plaintive cry,

Babe’s or elder’s, be so keenly heard

With trepidation, and is so deeply felt?



We all know, its human universality;

Its tender, grasping demands, so hot,

So urgent, as desire’s needs always are.



But did you know that the I need of

Latter days, can un-twist itself, and

Can surprisingly become I need not?



How you may ask, can this surprising

Un-twisting become, in my life real?



It’s not known as a hard or soft goal,

Or as some dream, fetched up on me or

You. But is rather, an absence of the me,

Or the you, of blared ego’s needful noise.

Flowers of the Mind

Flowers of the Mind



Human minds can be foul pits,

Roiled by slime and stench; or,

When tiny spores of goodness, by

Chance or circumstance arrive;

Germinate and take root, deeply,

Into attitudes as yet unbeknown.



Nurtured by love and friendship,

Grow into flowers of acceptance

Which were never seen before.



Flowers of the mind, those treats

Of perfect beauty lend vision depth;

Sown by kindness, they open deep

Awarenesses to support conscious

Clarity that bequeaths to all who see,

New feelings of love, and courage,

And open our hearts to hope again.

Courage: A Positive Human Attribute

Courage:

A Positive Human Attribute



The fact that demagoguery causes suffering of the masses

Is in every history ever written throughout human times.


I am here to tell you that it is the idea of the suffering of

Innocent human beings that caused those records to be kept.


And that those histories are not really about blaming leaders

For the dreadful things they ordered to be done to people.


Those shameful histories were and are necessary because they

Serve as reminders that it was people, much like ourselves, who

Carried out those unthinkable orders against fellow humans.


Those writings should be heeded as warnings to the race of

Men and women that they, themselves, have always been guilty

Of the most foul depredations and murders of each other.


Don’t blame demagogues for the suffering of your sisters

And brothers if you aren’t willing to impact your own life

To fearlessly oppose fascist, racist hatred and prevent the

Needless suffering and death of others whose only fault is

In being seen as different from spurious, so-called norms.


In doing so you just might be able to see in yourself that

Most enduring of positive human attributes: courage.

Words

Words



Many, many words are being written about our most dire state.

They often bear witness to epic polarities of division and hate.



Set to immobilize our thoughtful regard and enhance sad regret,

And push us into such a state that we shall forget to appreciate.



We shouldn’t allow ourselves the luxury of hoping for better

Times ahead, hope is a fickle companion who will often desert .



No! We’ll mock them and let them know that we know the truth.

Dire states can only exist where there is fear and anger uncouth.



We’ll love our neighbors who trespass with hate and offer a hand

Of forgiveness before it’s too late, and show them that hatred can’t

Be sold here because there are no willing buyers for any of that.

Listening for Keywords

Listening for Keywords



They are listening. They sieve through all our spoken words,

Listening for keywords they believe to be code for organized

Resistance. Listening for negative political commentary designed

To rouse emotions to action. Listening for complaints. Listening

For hate. Listening for anger. But especially, they listen for fears

They can manipulate into service to the state ideology of fear.


They watch. Cameras at the ready, millions of humans are being

Spied upon while they go about their lives. At any other time but

This it would be outrageous for a state to intrude into private lives.


But we gave up outrage when we opted for the hollow concept of

Protection from fears. Instead of maintaining our dignity and privacy,

We gave it away for nothing but empty promises of security and

Dangerous ideologies of authority designed to suppress freedoms.

Shedding Light

"Our hearts and minds change from moment to moment, just as the clouds shift in the evening sky as the sun goes down. Who are we to think we have grasped the true nature of our souls?"

—Abbess Fushimi, “Shedding Light”

Maybe the linkage that binds our hearts and minds is but a wisp of the will of the ineffable that we call our souls...Tao

The Wounded Heart’s Formula

The Wounded Heart’s Formula



Within some torn, familiar, battered hearts,

Lurk in wait numb and darkly-quiet echoes

Of youth’s innocent hopes, to fitfully abide.



Remote and unheralded, contrite and fearful,

Those pure hopes wait. See there, glimmers

Of white light struggling to shine out upon an

Opening that leads to trust turning upon itself.



The admixtures of your hopes are born from

Deep within your own wounded, torn heart.



It’s hard to stir the mix, and harder still to

Find a fix, to keep to your unique formula

That unburdens you and lightens your load.



Searching for fears to conquer, or for angers,

And depressions too, will not smooth the mix,

As your illusions mount upon your wishes and

Lead you to the empty place of less-ness-less.



An ungentled crucible will find only lumpen

Coarseness. Without purpose other than trying

To be the one you of the me that cannot yet be.



Gentleness, and forgiveness too, will, more than

You can know, reduce all that you’ve been, to

Create conditions ideal to make your hopes real.