United States – Rivers Renewed

Of the Poet’s Heart

Autumn’s frost deepening the crimson of maple leaves, yet

I wonder

of the poet’s heart,

are we only placed here to renew, clearly

we have a voice

as with summer crickets singing

their sweet songs,

yet locusts clattering of who knows what, droning

until summer’s ear no longer listens.

So instead of singing sweetly or droning endlessly

I write simply,

will we survive until next autumn?

I wonder, and an equation is formed like this:

CONSPIRACY THEORIES = HATE = VIOLENCE AND CRUELTY = FACISM =

DESTRUCTION.

Think it can’t happen in the United States? It already has.

Just ask Paul Pelosi.

VOTE.

Poetry and Image © Copyright, 2022 rivers renewed

P.S. Almost all political hate is from the right. The “both sides” theory is from the right wing attempting to defuse their blame. More than 90% is from Republicans, according to Liz Cheney.

Decisions

This is why many religious people voted for the EX-president.

In spite of what the news calls immorality and lying, they voted for him.

They wanted someone on their side, to appoint people that would reflect their views, to turn the tide against secular views of morality.

The problem though is that not everyone believes the way a conservative Christian does. We are a nation of many faiths, ethnic groups and viewpoints. Only 30% of our people wanted this decision.

I recently heard a pastor put it this way: We now have two different views of what Christianity is. One says our views are important, and you need to adhere to them too. The other says I have faith, I’m a Christian, but I don’t have the right to control you’re body. And I shouldn’t.

And if you want to adhere to the view of what our founding fathers thought, think again. Many were deists. I’ll let you look that up. Then of course there was slavery.

Normally the Supreme Court goes through a series of opinions and negotiates an outcome. That didn’t happen this time. Extremists on the court pushed the decision through simply because they had the raw power to do so. What does this remind you of? Democracy? No.

I’m hoping that in the future we as a people will make better decisions reflecting who we are, not who we were a hundred years ago. By this I mean not only in elections, but in the way our government is structured. That we can fix the parts that are broken.

That raw power will be limited, and radicalism will not be allowed to destroy us.

I wish you peace.

Gun Violence

I’m an American and I am very angry.

You couldn’t pay me a million dollars or any amount of money to be a Republican right now. I have had it up to here with their nonsense. No Republican lawmakers are not pulling the trigger killing people, but their policies are. Or in this case their lack of policies are.

And don’t go down the road of most conservatives saying, “we need to let the families heal…”. Of course we do, but that doesn’t mean do nothing. That is just Republican code talk for “be quiet so we can keep our guns!”.

They’ve been saying the same thing for more than 20 years. I’ve been counting. And they say this after every shooting!

And what could bring better healing than making changes…. taking action against guns??

No American citizen needs an assault rifle. NO ONE needs one. Once again that is a Republican interpretation and it’s wrong.

Assault rifles should be reserved for our military and police departments. And they are not in the Constitution. This is just one of many things we could do to make us all safer.

I’m sick too of conspiracies like carnivorous worms eating our brains, with conservatives being against vaccines, being against wearing masks, against books about racism (and helping us heal). All of these are Republican issues. If you don’t like conspiracies ruining our nation then vote them out.

Don’t like Kamala Harris? Ok, find someone else. We need some John McCains. Actually we need female versions of John McCain, and no it’s not Sinema! Look up the name Val Demings.

I’ll bet I could name 100 women that could do a better job of being president than king for a day #45. Want to see gun violence dramatically reduced or eliminated?

Vote out Republicans!

I’m an American. And I am very angry.

Blue Skies and Storms

From time to time some of my international readers will simply be aghast at how dysfunctional and seemingly insane our politics are here in the U.S. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I have a few things that may help with understanding us Americans.

First it not simply a matter of two sides fighting, both equally valid. NOT AT ALL. When the extreme right seems so different than the way people used to be, it’s because there is a real cultural difference now. It is real and scary!

I’m not sure how long news shows from the conservative news machine have been creating a different spin, but they do and they create a cultural bubble. Please understand that misinformation and disinformation are not only normal for them, but it’s what their viewers want to hear. This improves the ratings and makes the company money!

This bubble actually creates walls between us. Many conspiracies are floated into the airwaves all to make people afraid, and angry. And the bubble walls become increasing thick and isolating. Did you know that lies are told for political reasons? M.T. Green admitted it to a Parkland mother, years after the infamous shooting of children at the school, and M.T. Green’s bizarre comments about it back then.

Yet that’s another story. Do progressive people have a bubble? Not really, but if they do it’s more like a dome, much larger and more inclusive than a small bubble. There are a lot more women involved and more people of color, black, brown, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, immigrants and many others. And the dome is growing more all the time, instead of reinforcing fears and non-acceptance. The doors are open instead of closed.

Another way of thinking about it, is that the U.S. is like a large beautiful blue sky. Sometimes there are thunderstorms. They make a lot of noise, seem angry and can be dangerous sometimes (like the Capitol riot). Yet the blue sky always returns…. always pushing away….the storms.

Peace.

Note: I’ll be a break for a few days.

Thank you for reading!

Happy 4th of July!

When I was a kid, my Dad would take me to see the fireworks. We would sit on the hood of his car. One year it was a ’66 Ford Falcon, with a stick shift and dual exhausts.

Just after dark the first explosion occurred scaring the daylights out of us, then 2 more, sounding like cannons. Soon the rockets would spiral up, until finally bursting in multiple colors. You could hear the fire.

It was different then. Racism was very real, yet was more hidden because there were no videos. It hadn’t been invented yet. Thank God for videos. Holding people accountable. And when it came time for Richard Nixon to resign, Republicans agreed, and he was out the door in a hurry. Ah yes, as it should be.

There were no shadows threatening our democracy. Bullies telling lies. Hurting our people. It hadn’t been invented yet. All we had were CBS, ABC, and NBC. Later there was PBS.

Yet it has always been a good and right thing to celebrate our freedom. Celebrating who we are at our core, and who we need to be. That each of us is created equal. Yes, celebrating the dignity of our humanity, that all people should be treated fairly. All people.

Our ideas and our diversity make us strong.

And we can wave our flags. May we always carry freedom in our hearts!

America.

Happy 4^th of July.

Flags and Banners

As I watched on TV that day live, the storming of our Capitol building in Washington D.C., I was struck by how many different flags and banners there were.

Besides the Confederate flags and the Gun Rights flags……wait gun rights? Do we still have that in this country? Seriously? How many more people must die before we change this?

You want to protect your home? Ok. You want to go hunting? Sure. But you don’t need an assault rifle, and you never have.

Now, back to January 6th, The analysis of the flags revealed SIX different white supremacist groups were there that day……SIX groups of people. Did you know that?

One of the flags was Nazi. You remember the Nazis. We fought against them in World War II. Millions upon millions of people died around the world because of them.

There were no Antifa at the riot. That’s another right wing extremist lie, proven to be false by our own FBI. What is Antifa? A group of people, an organization that are ANTI-facist.

You remember the facists, we fought against them in World War II. Millions upon millions of people died around the world because of them.

I’m not extreme in any way, in fact I call myself a moderate now, but I would rather have a cup of coffee and a danish with an Antifa person, than a right wing extremist any day. Hands down, not even close.

My flag is the United States of America.

P.S. By the way if you want to confront Asian hate you need to stop the extremists on the right. It’s always been that way, and always will be.

Note: I’ve only now been able to write about this.

America the Free

Yes, and in my vision I saw many streams and creeks expanding their shores, moving in strength

in their flow, becoming rivers. And the voice said, “There is much work that needs doing….”

So I knew, in our collective sense of healing,

this was only the beginning.

Lord God give us the wisdom,

for our decisions, and with courage

may we heal,

one another.

Amen.

Rivers Diverted

Peace does flow through us like a river, yet in the Untied States, our rivers can be diverted.

I find it difficult to write my normal poetry right now due to the horrific violence at the Capitol the other day. It was worse than we thought. Did you see the Neo-Nazi/KKK flag on the news being waved that day? I saw it with my own eyes.

And then there were the Confederate flags. And a flag with an assault rifle. Yes there were plenty of average Joe Citizens there believing the lies about our election.

Yes…the current president lied to our people once again. Even a staff member said this. And now we have death and destruction. No it wasn’t Antifa. That is another lie busted by our own FBI.

Conservatives often make the mistake of saying there are bad people on both sides. Yes, but NO. Liberals are not armed to the teeth trying to take over our government. Not even close.

One story says there was a truck found close to the Capitol with guns and bombs. Some of these fringe groups came armed wanting to take hostages and kill people. There’s photographic and internet evidence.

My river will always flow, but right now I cannot write. It’s kind of like grieving.

Star Trek and the Klingons

I, like many of you, watched the news yesterday, horrified and angry. And as a writer it’s easy to rant and rave here about what happened at the Capitol, in Washington. Yet I’m not going to do that. There are plenty of news sources already analyzing the events.

I’d like to offer a different view. It was awful, beyond words, yet I can easily see the US as being similar to Star Trek Voyager. We are a ship (a nation) with an advanced society, that has lost our way, facing unbelievable challenges, like a crippling disease.

Sometimes the struggles are within ourselves. And yet we face each incredible challenge and move forward traveling at the speed of light. We did that this past November fighting for what was right. And Joe Biden won by the largest margin since FDR. Did you know that?

And now this week we did it in Georgia. For the first time in the history of Georgia, they will have an African American pastor as a senator. And the son of Jewish immigrants as the other senator. Ain’t that something?

Yep, that’s our America! And moving forward, working on getting home at the speed of light. And one day, our Captain will be a woman, just like on Voyager!

And the Klingons? Oh those are the angry, war-like people…….And they always loose. Always. Violence always loses.

Peace.

A Brighter Future

As I was walking yesterday a neighbor came out of her house, with her hands in the air yelling, “We have a new president!” I said yes we do!

And she walked around her front yard, yelling, praying, crying, all at the same time with eyes closed, saying, “Oh my God!”, Oh my God!”

And I began to realize how deep the scars have been over the past four years. And my friends, it hasn’t been one side just arguing with…

the other side and the result is the fighting going back and forth. No.

It has been the far right enabling a president’s lies, racism, denying climate change, attacking Dr. Fauci, a lack of coronavirus response,

and so many other wrongs, and the other side trying to stop it. Trying to protect our democracy, protect our people. Yet I can see a much brighter future now….

a future where we can actually be neighbors again. Suddenly I can hear Dr. Martin Luther King’s voice say, “I have a dream today….” “I have a dream.”

May it be so. May we declare freedom from the mountain tops.

Tag: United States