As a child, I never thought
of water as something I needed
of education as something needed
… nor wanted,
or for that matter,
freedom (for whatever it means)
as something needed

For they were given freely
assumed and ever present…

As was love,  not thought of as needed.
It was just there, as too were
appropriate behaviour adjustments,
to teach respect for all others,
a form of love I didn’t know I needed.

These things given
without condition.
Come with no guarantee,
must not be returned unopened,
for they must be used,
if not understood at the time, until
they become a part of who we are.

Something to be added to
and passed down, and is this then,
not the essence of civilization?
Without which, only chaos
and the wildling of life
would live in its place.

Many worry about the future
and just as many lament the past.
And some too few are changing the present.

War’s refugees, the maimed, the dying,
the children, and destroyed cities
ever present suffering here and now…

Climate’s refugees, the displaced,
the economically ruined, the drought, fires,
ever present storms, here and now…

Autocracy’s refugees, the morally
corrupt, the domination of minds, body,
and ever present suppression, here and now…

What’s the point of lamenting later
about a future we’ve failed today
in this, our season of here and now…

Bald Eagles are amazing creatures,
building nests over years
that may weigh a ton, and living
twenty to thirty years in the wild,
and up to fifty years in captivity.

In the wild, Nature can be brutal,
she is all about selection and purpose.
Whereas we worship capture, and
comfort, as it is and should be.
Preferring longevity and comfort of the
nests we build for ourselves and
our hatchlings… who if they fly,
we wish will often return to home,
to recapture, remember, recoup,
and we can watch over them,
in their natural state.

Then for fun we go to be in Nature,
which we have captured and groomed
to be what we envisioned her to be,
even tamed her, or so we may think.
It is our nature to capture,
nurture, and redefine her.
But she has different plans for us,
as it is always to be her nature
and preference for evolutionary
selection and purpose.

This morning
a mourning dove has
chased the marsh birds song
replacing it with its own
most melancholy tune,
singing from the chimney,
from dawn to noon a song
of someone or another
who may be no more.

Or, possibly it is nothing but
nature’s process which
banished the marsh bird
and her song which for months
insistently announced each day.

Everything moves to its
next place in a cycle of life,
and so it goes.

Endless change is life’s purpose,
and endless fascination
in what was, is and will be.

The idea that all things
should stay the same,
as if permanence is a virtue,
seems a violation of nature
for all the living,

and yet,  don’t we all want
the song to stay the same
for a little while longer?

The art of going nowhere
and returning gracefully.
The joy of wind and sail
and waves, for the sake of same.
The birds, the dolphins,
they play along in harmony.

Like children wandering
in the woods, inventing
fantastic adventures
we blissfully imagine
exploring the everywhere
of the worlds great oceans.

The mind wants to see
horrors in black and white.
War as newsreel abstractness,
not in clarity of bright light.

Not in color of death’s blue
nails of translucent hands
and bloods brown red hue.

Fires bright orange and golds
exploding on our stage
as the bitter fight unfolds.

Chasing the shadows of pain
on the faces of survivors
showing wars ugly scar and stain.

Impossible to believe this is live
and not some apocalyptic movie
scene which we may forget and forgive.

But it is real, it is who we really are
and have always been, even though
we think we’ve advanced so far

Ice melts cool on the tongue
but is no cure for fever within.
The mind races ever faster
but fails finding godspeed.
The time of ages does not reverse,
but memories, live on in aging time.
And yet this fog of the past,
inspires clarity of present
and winged hopes for the future.

In ten easy steps:

1. Understand Definitions:
   • Humanity – Everyone else in the world
   • Domination – Control Humanity
   • Leader – Dominate Humanity
   • Followers – Humanity
2. Be a Narcissist
   • Look in mirror with abstract admiration
   • Insist on praise from all around you
   • Cheat so you win at everything
   • Comb your hair again
3. Grab Power
   • Tell people what they want to hear
   • Be ignorant of history – it gets in the way
   • Get Lawyers, Guns and Money
   • Corrupt everything you touch
4.  Alternate Facts
   • Truth is your enemy
   • Invent new facts
   • Tell Alt facts to everyone
   • Reinvent your history
5.  Control the Media
   • You are your own publicist
   • Wrestle CNN to the mat
   • Close non-compliant media outlets
   • Jail critics
6. Make Friends
   • People who need your power – like White Supremacists
   • Who will wear your red ridiculous hats
   • Others who can teach you the fine art of dictatorship
   • Discard all those you don’t need
7. Get Money
   • Sell more hats and flags
   • Borrow from banks and don’t pay back
   • Don’t pay taxes, because you are smartest ever
   • Sell more hats and flags
8. Rid Yourself of Rivals
   • Have your minions investigate rivals
   • Get foreign friends to cheat for you
   • Create havoc and division
   • Bait your rivals to anger
9. Dominate
   • Attack weaker neighbors
   • Sell your red hats your audacious story
   • Tell everyone you are making peace
   • Remember everyone loves you
   • Ask for Nobel Peace Prize
10. Get Beaten and Die Alone
    • By the corruption you enabled
    • By the weight of history
    • By the red hats who turn on you
    • By all humanity who now know!

A sign said Retail Space
and I thought of, selling space?
But then who built space?
And decided this space,
could be bought or sold,
which is in-between something
and another in order to be retailed-space.
While open-space can be found
right between nothing and nothing.
Then there’s luxury-space,
which must be somehow
more comfortable than living-space,
maybe less so or more is inner-space,
which is vast if we remove walls,
and outer-space which
seemingly empty is massive,
and yet is a destination for some,
where there is a space-station,
with space inside, protecting
from so much space outside.
Space is remarkably versatile,
which reminds me of flex-space,
which maybe more useful, if
I could bend space and time.
And possibly find the words
and thoughts which rid us of
useless        space         between us.

I ask my watch
who won the game last night?
…….. “UNC beat Duke, eighty-one to seventy-seven”

I ask my watch
what the temperature will be at noon?
…….. “Seventy-three and cloudy ”

I ask my watch
where are my shoes?
…….  “I don’t understand… check your feet, idiot”
(I made the last part up)

I ask my watch
what is the meaning of life?
……. “No one knows for sure, but there is no harm in extra love.
For family, your friends, and most importantly, for yourself. ”

Smart watch!