It happens to good people. It happens to not-so-good people. And when it does, it seems our human nature to cry, “Why me?” “Why this?” “Why now?” Or as a good niece of mine recently wrote, “I need some extra help in trying to remember that God doesn’t hate me.” The short answer to the […]
by SMSmithIron locustsBelching black exhaustionRound on roundTo gorge uponThe gilt of autumn. Round on roundTo pour out ripe September. Round on roundSpewing dry-rowed chaffFor other teethTo gleanConcentric wealsInto ingots of hollow gold. Round on roundFrom dawnTo crew-cut dawnSwallowingDisgorgingArtEssenceSeasonSimilitude. Round on roundLayering strataTo invisible strataOf fruits and daysToo soonForgot. © 1987
It seems as a nation we have been persistently blind to the wealth redistribution that has been going on for decades, chiefly presided over by laissez-faire Republican capitalists.* Wealth redistribution that is abundantly documented except for those who are so ideologically reflexive they have become functionally blind in the right eye—their only focus devoted to
Wealth Redistribution! ! ! Read More »
Eliot* was a crusader. He stood for justice, truth, and consequence. He presented a virtuous face to the world. But behind his words there was an opposing story. It was not a story he wanted made public. It was conducted in secrecy. It violated the principles he presented to the world. He hoped his words
The Déjà Vu of Eliot Read More »
Please, let us be honest. Yes, we can love America. We can cherish her foundational principles and democratic ideals, but to say that one has always been proud of America is to demonstrate: 1) a woeful ignorance of the documented facts and patterns of U.S. policy and action over the past 200 plus years,* OR2)
A Memo to Cindy McCain, et al. Read More »
by SMSmith Curried greenAnd seen if seenIn the hasteOf a summer’s morn. Not seenIn winter daysIn the overcastted lateOf dream-spent spendersCaughtIn the nightOf artificial light. From body-tiredTo mindless easeFrom consuming, routinedHours to pleasePowers and privilege. Weekend escapesVacation leavesPast miles unseenFrom abodes unseenDouble-locked and alarmed. Embellished wallsWide, mortgaged hallsAllVaulted silence. Emptied In the endless searchFor enoughOf
Poor Jeremiah, the First! Forty years he spent trying to stem the flood of national self-deception. He was stoned with insults, from the lowly mob through every class, rank, and commentator (through the reigns of three kings Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah). At last, when insults were not enough his detractors resorted to the real thing.
“My Country, Wright or Wrong” Read More »