Monday, September 30, 2013

A Vision of Ganesha in Green Not Always Just Virginia


I don’t want to be a man anymore
I want to be a silvery freak
A grayish freak, a bluish freak
A dancing freak made of silvery stuff
Not quite a man, not quite a man
But an elephant man with prehensile nose
And long, long loopy flopping arms
And jigging legs that enlace the air
And a nose that taps the dappled air
And eyes that unpeel the tender air
And skin that swings through the mighty air
And toes that graze the grassy air.

From a sordid bus, I saw such a man.
On a dew-intense hillside, he did his turn.
Upside down and right side up,
He swung his skin through the shadow and light
And his thick toes grazed the airy grass
And he swung his skin through the mighty air.

Loosely, elegantly, he sang in my head:

“The poor aren’t good
The poor aren’t bad
The poor aren’t smart
The poor aren’t dumb
The poor aren’t dirt
The poor aren’t god
The poor aren’t wrong
The poor aren’t right--
They’re just the poor,
Like you and me
They’re just the poor
Like you and me.”

© Stephen Margulies, 2013

Art by Stephen Margulies

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Weaver


Filaments of red and black
pulled by small, quick fingers -
this is the way my mother did it,
building a pattern
piece by woven piece.

A blanket for the back
of a tired horse,
or a tired child -
on a long Winter walk to Santa Fe -
is now an area rug
in a coffee shop
in Carson City.

© Scott Stark, 2013


19th century Navajo blanket
downloaded from "Indian Blankets and Their Makers"
by George Wharton James (1914)
from Wikimedia Images


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Technology

    The gadget in my hand is a dear friend.

With it I can text and call anyone at almost anytime anywhere.
I can take and send pictures in a flash. I can check emails or
surf the web. I can listen to music or watch a movie or read a
book. I can buy and sell things. I can poke anyone.

    The gadget in my hand is a dread foe.

With it on my ear, my brain imbues the waves and mutates. In
my hand as I drive, I take a difficult and challenging task and
double the complexity, turning the vehicle into a menace. I can
ignore my wife, my parents, my kids, my friends by hunting and
pecking all the day long.

Screens, screens, screens, screens, screens, screens!

     The gadget in my hand is a sticky magnet.

With it, I can be followed as I wander my meandering path through
the city. As I troll the web, lingering on this or that, I can be
recorded. As I buy things, they take careful note of everything.

     The gadget in my hand is a high-story elevator.

With it, the public schools replete with tablets and smart-boards
launch classrooms into the twenty-first century. The tech gap
crushed and equal education for all. Maybe,  perhaps, I hope.

     The gadget in my hand is an open window.

With it, I can be scrutinized, analyzed, defined, invaded, dissected,
cored, correlated, and vivisected. With it, I am the body on the
slab in the cop show, carefully rendered to give answers.

Screens, screens, screens, screens, screens, screens!

     The gadget in my hand is a gas pump with a lighter.

With it, I can flare the greatest explosion and bonfire ever seen.
With this program and that, my creativity can know no bounds.
The knowledge at my fingertips is quite literally endless.

     The gadget in my hand is a soaked blanket.

With it, I can stare at episode after episode of old reruns. I can
play 'Doom' until dawn, shooting and maiming thousands of digital
people. I can watch bodies of all types writhe and contort.

Screens, screens, screens, screens, screens, screens!

The gadget in my hand is no yoyo, it’s not a rubber ball, and
                               ain’t no thimble.

The gadget in my hand is a boomerang,
                                                          whirling through the air,
                                   three centuries of engineering behind it.

You should be ready to duck…

© Byron Harris, 2013


Texting While at the Wheel
Photo by Oregon Dept. of Transportation
from Wikimedia Commons

Monday, September 9, 2013

Because


I ask myself why do I smile? …
Because I can
Because I have teeth
Because I have straight teeth
Because I want to
Because it feels good
Because people smile back
Because people need to see light in this world
Because I have love to share and compassion in my heart
Because I have a family and friends

I smile because people need to know it still exists
Because of every beginning and every end
Because I have food and clean water
Because of laughter and wonder
Because I haven’t been scarred enough not to
Because I can go to college
Because I can speak my opinion
Because I know sadness and pain just like everyone else—no one is truly alone
Because I’m not afraid to
Because I’m still here
Because I can walk

I smile because blue and yellow make green
Because I can speak without words
Because it encourages positive energy
Because I have two cats that love me
Because I have warm blankets to hold me
Because I have a mother and sister who are still here with me
Because I have hope for this world
Because there still is hope for this world
Because I have seen kindness from strangers
Because strangers become friends
Because I can read

I smile because I love myself—even my faults
Because my short comings turn into learning experiences
Because I can express myself
Because I have good eyesight
Because I can listen to music
Because I love Mother Nature and the beauty of her creations
Because humans are capable of loving and crying, of happiness and sadness
Because I have a bed to sleep in
Because I have a house to shelter me and a home to care for
Because I have clothes and shoes to keep me dry when it rains and warm when it snows
Because I have enough money to live

I smile because of mourning doves and morning dew on morning glories
Because it’s sunny outside
Because it’s raining like cats and dogs
Because I love to smile
Because of the comfort a hug brings
Because of friendship’s warm embrace
Because of wooden ships on salty seas
Because of laughter in a child’s eyes
Because hardships can be blessings in disguise
Because of the simple beauty of a snowflake
Because my life is mine to make
Because I can dance to the drum of my beating heart
Because of the yellow dandelions and meadow larks
Because I am here for a reason
Because I have heard love’s encouraging song
Because two rights might make a wrong

I smile because I am a Leader of Light, a Believer in Love, a Follower of Change, and a Dreamer of Peace
Because of the delicate dance of butterflies
Because of red stars, rainbows, and bow ties
Because there is truth in silence and in serving others
Because there is healing in sharing and understanding
Because of the pain that comes with learning life’s lessons
Because every season change and every sunny rain are one of the same
Because tears bring raindrops of forgiveness
Because without darkness there is no light
Because with knowledge comes understanding and change
Because I hope you will smile too

© Flora Lark Baily, 2013

Dancing butterflies
Photo by Tony Russell

Monday, September 2, 2013

Seasonal Haiku


1

Hurricane season---
waves rear up like wild horses,
the wind goes crazy.

2

Summer is ending.
The first few leaves turn yellow---
at night the air cools. 

3

The days grow shorter...
at night the stars seem brighter...
morning mist lingers.

4

Halloween tonight...
children hiding behind masks,
Ancient Ones watching.

5

Pumpkins with faces
carved to keep away evil,
fire in their eyes.

6

Early November...
sun sleeps on the forest floor
blanketed in leaves.

© Jean Sampson, 2013

Ancient Ones Watching
Photo by Tony Russell