Maintaining Perspective

Turmoil in our midst
Leaders scoff at patriots
Warriors wither in wastelands
Glaciers cry in despair
Creatures choke in human filth

I want to raise fists red with anger
scream curses and insults
avenge sins upon the weak
mutilate despots and cowards

But then out of nowhere

I thought of you miles away
your heart heavy and sad
your body consumed by sickness
your turmoil I can only imagine

And I realize that this world chaos
pales in the shadow of our friendship

Good morning, my friend
May I just sit with you a while?

Patriot, Your Voice is Heard

They descended, swarmed
gathered, linked arms
chanted, shouted
the single voice of multitudes

Homemade guardians
obeyed a primal directive
to protect the babies
to preserve family dignity

Homemade warriors
fighting for brown children
against cages and cruelty
against the white whims of insanity

Homemade activists
defending America’s future
from repeating acts of evil and hate
from a legacy of future despair

This is Bonnie, my friend, neighbor and colleague.  She flew from our comfortable Town of Trophy Club, Texas, to fight for our nation’s heart in Washington D.C. in the Families Belong Together march.  Thank you, Bonnie.

Heaven, In Due Time

Heaven, in due time,

will purge thrones of evil kings.

The Sun shines of hope.

Vapor Through the Cracks of Civility

We once strove to march in love
with pledges to be our brother’s keeper
and to raise our sisters to be strong and smart
and to protect our elders in their aging twilight
and to be oblivious to color, religion, love choices

Once we strove as much

Then sharp words pierced through our hearts
words formed, sculpted and nurtured
in arrogant hearts that schemed to govern
the plural hearts in our midst and neighborhoods
that housed holy hearts in steepled monuments

Sharp words pierced thus so

Yet the words are mere vapor seeping through
the blistered cracks of demagogue lips
that whisper favors through splinters in weathered vaults
that protect the green scales of privileged legacy
that proudly masquerade a covering of civility

Know this

Mere vapor dissipates as impermanent dust

The sharp words cannot pierce our hearts

Let us strive as much once more

 

When All is Said and Done

Five things I will remember about my Facebook friends and the 2016 presidential election

Graciousness: I have FB friends who tolerated my postings even though they disagreed. They chose to let my stuff go by the wayside, rather than tell me they think I’m wrong.  I also have a couple of FB friends who publicly vowed to respect differing views.  I thank my gracious and tolerant friends.

Passion: I have FB friends who are passionate on all sides of the political rhetoric. Their postings exposed me to stuff I would otherwise not have seen.  I thank my passionate friends.

Pursuit of honest dialogue: I have a couple of FB friends who sincerely wanted engage in thoughtful dialogue.  Some shared other websites and resources.   Others were courageous enough to invite public discourse.  All good.  Many thanks to these friends who still like to talk to people who might have different opinions.

Shared values: I am so glad that I personally know people who share my political, and hence my spiritual, views.  Honestly, I sometimes think I am so different from most of the folks I know.  I am thankful that I have friends who sometimes think like me.  I am not alone.

Some surprises along the way:  I admit I assumed things about my friends, particularly when it came to living out one’s professed religious views.  I have been profoundly surprised, and sometimes saddened, about what seems to be fundamental disconnect.  I don’t know where this one will go.  I hope to get over it.

 

Intolerance of the Intolerant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there’s one thing I cannot stand
Is when certain people must demand
That we alI think the way they think
Especially thoughts that just plain stink

Like telling me which books I can carry
Or who among us is allowed to marry
Or that I can hoard my ammunition
Because it says so in the Constitution

So I avoid their talk show stations
And declarations of their supreme nation
And their churches that tithe so well
While the rest of us will go to hell

But at the end of the day I must confess
That I myself am quite self-righteous
For I am committed to my own intolerance
Of those I label right wing Intolerants