prisoners

disciplined, dancing
hardly seems possible
that they could have
done something
so wrong
that prison
was their fate

Mary

your mantle
swaddles the planet

leaving your pedestal
you move among the people

lady warrior, champion

I never knew you
as real

you changed that
and I am grateful

prairies

green, lush

water droplets suspended
from slim grasses

forbs whose names
most don't know

wave their sweet faces
in the wind

I delight in you
my senses so aware

collective consciousness

taking a reading of the c.c. today leaves much to be desired
how can people of earth find happiness
when there is so much going wrong

should we ignore others and their unhappiness, illness, even death?
have we the right to do that
bury our heads in the sand of comfort and oblivion

do we, who feel happiness and thankfulness
who desire a happy moment, get to feel relief
from everyone else's torment

I think if we are to survive, we must allow
the happiness we feel to take over our hearts
to permeate the unhappiness of the c.c.

be a generator of happiness, pumping it into
the clouds of dismay that hover over our planet
blow it over, under and through the grey mists of despair

picture what could happen when the bright light of happiness
burns away some of the sadness,
a parting of the clouds
displaying the beauty within
illuminating what God intended

2nd amendment needs to be amended

For the most part, our constitution is solid
and very well thought out

with one exception

the second amendment needs amending

The right to have guns has been a hugh mistake

People with guns (mostly men) have killed a million people in our country since the

murders of Robert Kennedy and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

And yet, people (mostly men) insist their right to carry arms

is more important than human life

Men insist they carry guns to protect themselves from
other men who carry guns

They hunt wild animals with guns, an unfair advantage

Animals in the wild must use their skills to hunt prey

There is no comparison to a man raising his rifle to his shoulder, pulling the trigger and

sending a bullet ripping into the soft flesh of some unsuspecting animal and that of a snow

leopard's strategy of stalking and killing its prey.

How about leveling the playing field?

Take it back to the caveman days when hunting was required to survive

and was more or less hand to hand hunting,

an intimate experience with the animal......... eyeball to eyeball

animal strength.......... man strength

animal speed.......man speed

How many gun toting men would still be interested or even capable?


Men are smarter than that......men invented guns.

Guns are necessary they say,

There is an urgent need for guns

Take away their right to carry guns and that will leave

them............ vulnerable

Just like the rest of us who don't carry guns



What if............. there were no guns permitted

What if.............. we started over and valued the lives of humans and animals

(in the natural world, pain is involved in the predator prey relationship, but that doesn't mean we as humans could not strive for a higher goal when controlling the population of animals in the wild)

Think of the lives that would be spared

Think of the intimidation that would be eliminated

Men say if there were no guns then men would come up with other
ways to kill one another (remember Hitler)

There is something very wrong with this picture



here's a thought

what if women were in charge......women who were bold and insisted on

no.......... more........... guns

would the world be perfect?................no

would people be killed in mass?.......... probably not

would men have to figure out other ways to solve their problems with one another?.........yes

there's a concept.............peaceful existence with other human beings

or how about letting men live together in one part of the world (they would never stay)

and only be permitted to live with women and children

if they agreed to live without guns (possible)

no guns,

no violence

and only....... peaceful men

they have existed....Ghandi....... Martin Luther King Jr.

nonviolent men sacrificed by violent men with guns

Is this dream of gun extinction even possible?

there are societies of peace loving people who have tried to live peace loving lives

even they are not safe from gun toting men

Wake up men........in the end

it will be up to you

You...... who are peace loving, law abiding men with guns

Keep your right to carry guns, and like it or not,

we all keep violent men with guns.

Is there such a thing as gun control without gun extinction?

We have definitely seen guns out of control...a million lives since 1968.

Let's hope for the future of our great nation and the planet

some creative thinking outside the box (which we find ourselves trapped)

is encouraged even........ demanded.

Men and Guns

Men with guns must protect
themselves from
men with guns

men with guns
insist they must have guns
many men with guns
kill innocent people

all men with guns say
it is our right
to be men with guns

don't take away our guns
men say
take away our guns
and we will shoot you


we will fight you to have guns
because guns give us power over
other men with guns

guns don't kill people
people kill people

we say people with guns
kill people

it is more important
to have guns
than not to have guns
men with guns insist

the lives of others
without guns
are not as important
as the right to
have guns

guns will be with us
until we as a people
men, women and children
see guns in men's hands
as very dangerous, indeed

What is the big picture?

the inverted picture seems to be
EARTH tipped precariously
towards destruction

humankind,
mostly male
sees fit to play with FIRE

"we cannot help ourselves,"
they say

"his gun is not bigger than mine
he thinks he owns the land, the goods
I should have my share, his share"

the rest of humankind,
women and all children
must live with these
decisions
gone WILD

until those of the human RACE
with a sense of the
larger picture

stop the maddness
quiet the savagery
and speak from a PLACE

of wisdom and GRACE

male or female
it matters not

we, together
must find
our voice
of REASON

EARTH'S season
with humankind
demands it.

I feel like writing again

I haven't written in so long and I miss the feeling I always get when I have published something to my blog. So here goes......

Wrapped in orange cloth
swirling, twirling
spinning
in a tight circle


Your mantle
envelopes me
in safety
I have no fear here
next to you

You do this for me
when I am feeling
vulnerable

You wrap EARTH
in your mantle
at least, that's
the imagery
I see

ORANGE is the
color of your mantle

O, Shekinah

O, Shekinah

cancel my regrets
forgive my neglect
care for me
as you would
a newborn
who knows
nothing
of dead friends
and lost opportunities

tribute to a friend

you died so unexpectedly
alone in your house
I wish I had been there
to comfort you

they say you died before
you hit the floor. . .
a massive heart attack

I begged you not to smoke
you lied and said, only 3 a day
but I know now
what you meant
was 3 packs

you were generous to a fault
and I will miss your sarcasm
your raunchy sense of humor
your biting comments

and yet, you would have
done anything I asked

wish I had been there

in more rational moments
I think that maybe
it worked out just right
your body had
nothing left to give
you're better off where you are
sharing thoughts with my mother
whom you loved like your own

speaking of your own. . . .
now that's a pleasant thought
you and your mom
sharing thoughts
catching up on old times

I still wish you would come visit
you don't have to stay long
just pop in to say hi

one more hello
one more "I love you,"
one more good-bye.

shekinah

listen to my cry
for those I love deeply
heal them
mind, body and soul

heal me too

Shekinah

shekinah
oh wonder of the universe
you create
with a delicate hand

keep me aware of your
presence

some might think

that we in the United States
are all of the same mind

oblivious of our
world image

some of us
are quite
aware

and agonize
over our

future
future
future
future
future
future

and the future
of our

Please don't

Look

At our

Nation as people who are

Exactly alike

There are people of conscience

I pray for Jill

I see her face
once filled with courage
now looking thinner
and distraught

her purpose is noble
she is not the enemy
truth is her goal

if I were her mother
I could not sleep
I would be inconsolable

her own mother appears
strong for her daughter's
sake

what can I do...but pray
keeping them
in the front of my thinking
staying with them
in my heart

praying on their behalf
for all that they need
to bear this burden
to give their minds
occasional release
from this torture

I can only do this

I can only do this. . .

to market, to market to buy a fine pig.......

I love the Webster Street Market
I go every Saturday
to see friends
to mill among the market folk

farmer Dan and his family
raise free range chickens
and everything else
organic
you can thing of
they just had a new baby

there is usually live music
today it was the down home
stompin variety
fans toss dollars
into their bango case

I secretly wish I could play. . .

I had my usual cabbage roll
it hits the spot
my toe taps to the music
as I breathe in the scent of cabbage

sometimes I stop by the candle shop
I chat with the clerk
I adore the lace
wall hangings he sells

Then it's
home again
home again
jiggety jig

Renewed . . . .refreshed
with the belief that
neighbors do exist
in 2006

will I know you when I see you....

will you be tall and thin
will I recognize you by your
s mi l e

do you have brown hair or black
what will you be wearing

will your eyes betray what you know
will I know you know my secrets

OR

will you merely pass unnoticed
and the opportunity for friendship

will be

l i k e it

o r not

s a d

t h i n g s happen

today I pondered

while my class read
I pondered the universe
from pictures
in the magazine, ASTRONOMY

there are many times
I wish I could leave
the confines
of my body

and explore

I can't believe
the human mind
would want to
put up with
such confinement

in flesh and bones


when all
it would take
is
imagination

to leave the
boundary of skin

M.L.K.

what he said in the 60's
is still revelant

prophetic voice
God. . . . speaking

showing
the way

why must
we always
destroy
the prophets

violence is
the way of
fight
evil-
aspire to be
radical

dreams. . .

3 nights of dreaming
about water

water rising
water threatening
to invade
a sanctuary

I am panicking
sometimes alone
sometimes begging
others to leave
before its too late

and the water will
overtake the illusion
of safety

they do not listen
to my cries
but try alternate
methods of
building barriers

I can "see" these
will not work

as the water is
crashing
getting higher
seeping in
everywhere

my chest is
tight with fear

and one appeared
with barbed wire
around his throat
and head

I awoke with
the residue of fear
wondering why

when I consider
water my friend

that so much unease
is there

it takes more than one....

Who did I see today?

Who did I encounter passing
the time of day?

Who will I see again...
maybe today
was that once in a lifetime
c o n t a c t

Humans everywhere

some I connect with
some I dismiss

But we're all apart of
God's body
whether I acknowledge
that or not

my ego tells me
I am important
in that body

but in the end
all are needed

and to survive

that is best done
with cooperation. . . .