The act of being joined in
politics,
in harmony,
in mutual benefit
in the strength of numbers
in the financial value of more than one
in the coupling to make a longer pole or pipe
in the state of a merging of interests and purpose
and mathematically … the set that comprises all the elements and no others contained in any of two or more given sets … bet you didn’t see that coming 😉

The ubiquity of the molecule is the ubiquity of life,
it is everywhere, in everyone of us flowing through
life, flowing through the Earth and the atmosphere,
being scarce when it’s needed the most, being overly
abundant when we cannot have any more of it,
elusive if it chooses to be but yet ever present.

Water kills and brings life and it tells its story
if we should only listen. It tells of when it was so very
young at the very start of everything, through
the life eruptions, the middle turbulent times,
on to the present and into the future, for it is
constant, and transformative, and indestructible …

and it is us.

If we have no scars then we know not of life,
for to risk life, risks failure and this then
makes us better for the experience
and these lessons which leave marks on us
give us the stories to tell to all who may
listen that we lived well.

If your day begins something like this
then how could you feel anything but bliss?
For the rain is clearing as the sun rises
to begin its journey ‘cross azure-painted skies,
and family and friends find time for you
because of a birthday for you know who.
And I am surely blessed for such a day
because of all those who took time to say
they wish the best for someone like me,
awed by the rainbow I was fortunate to see,
and by those whose love is alive in me,
so I may understand  the story we’ve been told
that life and love is the very real pot-of-gold.

The scent of open air grilling, frying,
and the mingle of hundreds just trying
for a bit of heritage, a taste of the past,
of flavors, and music which continue to last,
because it is beautiful, joyous and we long
for it, we hang on to it like a child’s song
ancestors long-ago would surely know
and sung with gusto we’ll rarely show
today in our staid button-down worlds
and they’d dance, with swinging and twirls
as a community of language, music and food
recapturing the feeling of a happier mood
and of times log ago, in lands so far away,
except for the fortunate, who still sway
in their hearts to the beat of ancient times
bringing them in touch with ancestral minds.

There are arid lands, with impossible
palm trees and rocks and lizards and
things which scurry and people build
growing farm lands and cities with
the water from below.

There are flat lands, with fields followed
by fields, where crows scour the earth
and mice run, and crops grow skyward
as people use great machines to plant,
harvest, raise cattle … here water is life.

There are cities, paved, with mountainous
buildings, and artificial light, and pigeons
scavenge and dogs and cats fight as people
live and work in industries never before imagined,
as water is piped and pumped.

There are forests, grand, evergreen,
stretching for miles and miles,
where deer frolic and play and bears
and raccoons seek easy meals from
people camping along bubbling brooks.

There are mountains rocky and purple
in the sun’s slanting glow where
goats and lions find their keep with
majestic eagles that people watch, as
they hike and ski on frozen waters.

There are coasts by the seas and great lakes,
where fish maybe found in huge numbers
and great and small vessels ply the waves
as seabirds twirl and dive and people live
watching daily the sun rising and setting on the water.

This is America, the majesty of our heritage,
millions and millions of acres of beauty
and diversity for us to enjoy, as We The People
of this great land celebrate and protect our
diversity washed in the blood of patriots and
the waters of our great fortune.

Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe?https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-consciousness-part-of-the-fabric-of-the-universe1/

 “Somehow, we feel, the water of the physical brain is turned into the wine of consciousness.”  by Colin McGinn

—–

Connected

When we know each other’s mind
something science cannot define.

When the fairies all-about, alive and alit
on us, connected consciousness seem to fit.

And are we an embodiment of soul,
or are we imagining a universal pull?

Fitting us into this space and time
with resonance and perfect rhyme.

For when I feel you and you feel me
then the fairies between us are flying free.

For the sound of piping flutes do say
they are here always and plan to stay.

And all is well in God’s universal plan,
that we may never quite understand.

For we are all connected and share
the presence of these hosts of the air.

People still are putting us down,
because we continue to get around.
We don’t care if we seem awful cold
as we decided we just won’t get old.

We’re using up resources I say
and refusing to fade-away.
Now I don’t want to cause a big sensation,
Just being honest about my g-g-generation.

We are dredging up the past,
because we know it won’t last.
Where all the troubles lie,
and we won’t let them die.

Talking about my g-g-generation
without any wasted lamentation
for the climate we broke
and war-fires we stoke.

Not sure what others might say
but we are refusing to fade-away.
We don’t care if we seem awful cold
as we decided we just won’t get old.

But we’ll keep saying:
what’s this world coming to?
When deep down, we know…
It’s my g-g-generation.

Civilization must be an illusion
for it so easily falls apart
as we unleash the dogs
of war and terror.

Revenge, retribution are
more relevant than empathy,
which is ever elusive,
except when it comes to one’s
own tribe.

Compromise has no standing
when life is undervalued
leaving all solutions to be
devastating and tragic.

We are an all or nothing
species, thinly disguised 
as sentient and caring
about puppies and such.

But not so much for people
sharing our planet, if they salute
a different flag or kneel 
to a different god. 

It now appears, there are
no rules; for the illusion of
civilization is shattered, 
and we are who we are. 

Extremists think they are strong,
stubbornly they will fight because
everyone else is so terribly wrong.

If they find themselves without power
to enforce their strong-held beliefs
they turn to nihilism, to make us cower.

It is anathema for them to compromise
for they cannot reason their populist
leaders may not be all knowing and wise.

They obfuscate with smoke and mirrors
the truths they find inconvenient as they
elevate their favorite weapon, latent fears.

There is no reason, there is no quarter for them,
there is only the fight, until exhausted
and utterly deflated and defeated in the end.

This is a sad state of life, brought on
by ignorance and stubbornness cultivated
by populist leaders perpetuating a con.

So, mother’s don’t let your children
grow up to be extremists, for they
will be defeated and deflated in the end.