I went to the store to buy a couple things,
happy the newly repaired car started
and ran great,
until I had a few groceries
and the newly repaired car
would not answer me
when I asked it to start,
so there I sat wondering why
it would work then suddenly not,
and there was no answer at all
except the rain on the roof
that said pitter then patter,
and then started over,
unlike the car that never started over.
So, there it remains sitting in the rain.
Pitter-patter.
All posts by Mike Varga
NATO Strengthened, China Accession
Russia, and by that I mean Vladimir Putin is unwittingly accomplishing two things in the matter of weeks which would otherwise have taken a decade or more.
One is the unification and strengthening of NATO. This is clear and playing out in the united front being shown as defenses are strengthened. Germany committing to 2.5% GDP expenditure in defense spending is extraordinary. The threat from Russia is now so very clear and apparent. This has been written about and spoken about quite clearly in the last two weeks, and requires no further discussion other than to say that the Trump administration weakened NATO alliance, and Putin corrected that weakness in just a few weeks.
The second impact Putin unwittingly caused is a bit less obvious, the rise of China. I’ll make the case for it here. His actions, will result quite obviously in economic disaster for Russia, while allowing a great acceleration for China. Europe will be slowed by energy issues, and dealing with millions of refugees for another year or more. China seeing the challenge it is for Russia to take over Ukraine via land invasion, will think twice and maybe thrice about threatening invasion of Taiwan, an island not so easily accessed.
If China gives up its obsession with Taiwan, they then can reduce their defense expenditures and double down on economic growth, presenting an alternative to US and Europe for second and third world development. China will seek to secure critical natural resources through either the raw materials and/or the processing of those materials… they are doing so today for critical battery technology that is needed for electric vehicles. This market will grow as threats to oil have caused price increases and the world seeks greener power. China will emerge very rapidly as a superpower, and will distance themselves from Russia once it serves their needs to do so… which is after Russia bloodies itself against the patriotism of a democratic Ukraine.
Putin, inadvertently strengthened NATO and paved the way for China to accelerate their position as a superpower… interesting.
Sunflowers
Sunflower’s careful keepers tend
fields of yellow not yet knowing
experience of evil eastern wind.
But the winds come hard, relentless.
Children flee, father’s stand, resist
unheralded brave most are nameless.
Investing in a future more free
for their children, for future
generations will rebuild, you’ll see.
The soil may be bloodied by those who remain
but the future skies above will be free and blue
and below the yellow flowers will reign again.
The Blue and Yellow, an example for all to see
that freedom isn’t free, it is paid for by
patriots who believe and sacrifice for you and me.
In solidarity with Ukraine!
If Dogs
If dogs had opposing thumbs
would they flood social media
about the butts they sniffed?
If birds could speak,
would they pass on fake news
along the wire?
If people could envision
the future, would we see
what we see today?
March 1st
March 1st
March and it feels like seasonal grid-lock
To the East each morning black birds flock
I know it could all just fade to white
For there was no answer in the night
Nor in the day when blue chases the gray
And these words have no clue, no sway
Other than the thought loud in my head
Maybe I should have just stayed in bed
Hoping the bear hibernates a while longer
Until we are much wiser and bit stronger
Marsh Birds
Early in the morning I hear the marsh
birds sing their lonely songs, with
repeating melodies, as if they have
no other purpose but to fill the world
with sound.
And I sit with wonder, and think
then write these lonely words, with
repeating rhythm on this page
with no purpose but to fill the world
with thought.
Chaos
In a world in which fire is applied
to move the will of the people
to futilely change the arrow of time;
such heat as applied will be absorbed,
returned in an expanding system
which consumes everything on its way
toward further disorder, for entropy
will not be denied and heat moves
to cold, never the other way around.
And the source of fire will too burn
in an inexorable drive toward chaos.
Ukraine
Ukraine is in a fight for existence, not just existence of a people and a culture, but for the right to self-determination. A fight for freedom! This is the same fight that the United States Capitol Police were in on January 6, 2021. The fight to preserve democracy. In that moment, it was every bit as existencial as facing Russian tanks driven to attack by an autocrat with a megalomania messiah complex… Putin, believing that he can change history and reverse the will of the Ukrainian people. This is not about a threat that Ukraine posed to Russia, this is about raw naked aggression and power and his threat to use his nuclear weapons to keep others from interfering. He justifies his actions with his own big lies, he justifies on the basis of power. This is a cousin of the autocratic, lying, megalomania that was Trump’s attempt to stay in power and banish the will of the people in democratic America. You wonder why Trump idolizes Putin…. well you see it on display right now. Anti-democratic autocrats hate government of and by the people. We should be learning a great lesson right now.
God Help Ukraine! God Save democracy!
Downhill Run
Downhill Run
A white picket fence on an azure sea
cutting the waves on a close haul.
Rounding tight,
jibing for a downhill run
raising colorful spinnakers.
A spectacle for those who care to see
Another race around a track
going nowhere but,
such as the winds allow.
Rounding tight for downhill runs
then floundering when the winds fail.
A spectacle for those who fail to see.
Some rather, wander aimless this sea
going everywhere as the waves allow,
never finding a downhill run
until rocky shores do avail
themselves of an end of sorts.
A spectacle no one should ever see.
Time…
Time
If I moved forward in time
would the ghost of myself
give warning to myself?
Knowing if I moved backward in time
I would just laugh at the
mistakes myself is making!