Something better to do now

Transcended in a song, not mine.
I feel and yearn to be that essence.
Yet I am artist of my own experiences,
they of theirs.
Imagine all of our stories, arrayed,
arranged, intermingled
within this magnificent symphony
What we are, are stories,
often complex, layered, changing,
from first breath of humankind,
each an integral part of
our grand adventure




so, where are the public defenders 
giving resistance
where are the lawsuits, the street theater, 
the loud voices
don't let any of this become normal



clearly none of this illegal assault, kidnapping 
and subsequent torture is about law enforcement -- 
it's all about the performative cruelty, the quotas for 
bonuses and out of proportion paychecks, the great 
war against America by our current Commander in Chief



If we truly were serious about
a better human world, we would
seriously study how bullies are made
and unmade, or effectively made
harmless


We must understand
those dire oppressors we all despise,
the way things are, destiny, fate
are merely human illusions, human doing


Among all the idiocies of war,
the energy, manpower, resources
thrown away, or destroyed, could
have been used, with but some cogent
thought, to solve the issues that led to
conflict


Our fundamental us, society,
has systematically created an
environment that encourages
massively stupid and dangerous
behaviors in a mad race to succeed
against the competition.


We are so desperate for connection,
we convince ourselves that amoral,
unfeeling machines can be real
friends, confidantes, trusted companions,
because that self deception, and its
ridiculously dangerous expression,
is preferable to the work of actually
connecting with fellow human beings


Having learned through sad experience
to separate my birthday festivities
from those for the world's New Year,
I celebrate my birth eve,  Also,
as nocturnal, the eve falls gracefully
into my birthday before I sleep


Heinous outrages escalate day by day
How do we successfully resist?
How develop massive overwhelming
to end these evil acts that ought never
have begun?
Not rhetorical, important real questions.
We need immediate victory, that people's
real lives be saved, for we who still have
that chance


All beauty
anticipates
awaits
exchanges 
twinkles in
serene in
awakened by
abides in
...  recognition


I am, naturally,
all I need to be 
    Trust the process
    Sway along
    Revel in the dance
    Ever more, extend your song


People, the whole human project,
needs, for any bearable chance of
continuing, reawaken to what our
lack of attentiveness has allowed
to proliferate.  We must oppose this
insane progress toward annihilation
through so many deadly twistings of
potential destiny.
We know, you know, I know,
when we admit it, we could have
devised such a truly beautiful
existence for all, everyone.
We can now.


Stirrings of an uncomfortable need
to act, I had not yet the consciousness
to take on


Maybe if we stopped wasting our time
fighting, we would find something better
to do.

   12/14/25-1/1/26

treating people as people

it seems to me that it does disservice to us all 

to label people mentally ill, or with diagnoses 

of mental illnesses.  This distances people who 

most need connection.  

What are we really talking about?  What are 

these targeting symptoms we see and point out?  

How might people be better understood and 

improved in these areas we call abnormal if we 

just found appropriate reactions to their oddnesses, 

and treated people as people, each with 

our own issues to work through or live with?

maybe we, the people, need to form our own 

paramilitary to surround, taunt, record, and 

generally make their jobs impossible for these thugs

POTUS can't be prosecuted federally for acts 

that can be construed as part of his duties

I don't think that means he can't be civilly sued, 

by everyone he harms in any way, for billions 

of dollars

thoughts?

I have been saying for as long as I can 

remember that using/counting on guns 

for defense is not the sense you may think –

it is more likely to cause you harm than protection

The world, not the Earth, the human

world, is insane.  As far as I am aware,

it has always been so.  People say

they care, then disappear.

Especially cruel when they're still here.

People stand as if enthralled while the

cruelest acts unfold like absurdist

theater, before their souls.

How manage this sordid parade of

petty tragedies that they be made

a cause?

How escape those unwritten laws,

those everyday chains, those 

directives to blame, those less than

we need to be, belittled destinies?

It's not about me

It's aall and always and only me

Or, are you here, too?

Because an ideal is espoused by 

less than ideal people does not

negate the message

The bullies took over the school,

with the help of some high IQ fools

Now they pull their stupid pranks

for cruel entertainment, ruining all

of our lives for a long time to come

The point is to kill the other children,

to avoid future generations with enough

strength to overcome them

So you are happy to daily deal with

the enmity fame creates, suffer attacks

public and private and against those

you care about; keep up strength

against opponents with money and

power; represent the interests of a

a greatly diverse constituency with

so many needs, goals, dreams;

somehow hold on to humanity,

keep the faith, the message, the

inchoate manifestation to be the

difference, the change you need to see?

Fire ICE!  Let them melt

Trans people have given us the gift of

proving gender is not determined by

biology.  We can be gender free.

He, the idealist healer from afar

She, the romantic hero

Find themselves in common plan,

within their wish upon a star

Where firelight winds blow

We, so need some wishes to believe in

We have to cling to, times we can't

control.

A raging fire, desirous of total

consummation, these days we ache to

burn, to be consumed

It's always the art, isn't it

that makes the occasion

The Trump administration is knowingly

killing babies.  Not just foreign babies, 

American babies, denying them life

saving medical care.  Better to be aborted,

kids, rather than suffer American mass

murdering policies

People who cling to their belief that

the myth of money makes them better

than everybody else

that Midas we the better for avoiding

the compromises relationships demand,

so elegant a man, enrobed in gold

Can these be people who inhabit such

reality, or caricatures made of lazy

characterization, made manifest in some

of upper station?

Is it all a puppet show, a clever demonstration

for merry applause? Whatever the cause,

the laws, the cures, there are yet layers more

12/2-9/25

"I see you" "I appreciate you"

 

what, to you, would really living look/feel/sound/smell like?  
what keeps you away?  forget what people without you in their 
heart say.  Find your real life; live it.  




the root of our disfunction is what allowed money to take over 
politics -- we are not actively engaging in the democratic process, 
or even aware of just what that would be, in far too many instances
the way to get money out of politics is to make it irrelevant





it's time for the world to move from dependence on or respect for 
the US, build a better social/economic landscape without US





the CRs that fund the US basically just continue the funding 
already in place -- until Congress stops lolligagging and does 
their basic job of creating a functional budget, the gov't needs 
to just continue the CRs without the added stupidity of 
gov't shutdowns




people resign
people complain
people, real people, demonstrate, do every thing 
we can to get our reps to represent us
how is it that all the world isn't doing what needs 
to be done to end these incredibly dangerous 
and criminal activities perpetrated by
Trump and cronies?



these are highly uneven encounters
for the man it is a fun interval, probably 
easily forgotten
for the girl it is an impossibly unforgettable 
trauma that permeates her life



People:
We need to become a people
End this insanity
wherein humanity
is our violent enemy
Remake of us our
greatest friend



May we honestly atone
for this ugliness of beliefs
we let seep
into our souls



shattering loss of grief,
flinging our lives from normality;
that vast emptiness,
cavernous, beyond acceptability
If you have survived, it ought be
a basis for empathy -- fellow feeling
for the commonality of humanity


Better to do what we can with
those we want to benefit,
rather than arrogantly do for them


Making America Weak as a kitten



We find what we look for
Better to look for good solutions,
beautiful reflections



Too simplistic
Life cannot be like that --
can't be pressed into one dimension,
and still live
Even matters that seem on the surface
to be obvious, when taken in from afar
within the wider landscape, or
within the eyes and voices of a greater
audience, may prove unfathomable
without complex thought and care
So easy to aver:  that is our sensible course.
But where will that course resolve, how,
who suffers, how do they react?
Not counseling lack of of action;
demanding lack of hubris.



Yes, let them know you love them.
Say: "I see you"  "I appreciate you"
and mean it



There is an intentionality of cruelty
to being evil.  Acts which are in service
to evil may be entered by accident --
the act is evil, but not the actor who is
acting from good intention.



A truly democratic system of governance
would, at its basis understand that
government is not some possibly hostile
them; it is us.



It's not free speech that needs
restricting, but free lies



11/17-29/25

policies that benefit all the people

 
Nazism is a pernicious form of devil worship 
(not Satan, predatory evil)


vote wannabe silent Speaker Johnson out of his power -- 
vote in a Democratic majority by finding the Dems who 
really do and can speak for us



all those fake definitions anti-humane people like to say is 
socialism, clearly socialism means policies that benefit 
all the people



my meandering mind realized there are so many humans 
of Jewish tradition that have and are excellent examples 
of humanity, giving amazing gifts to all of us
yet, the nation of Israel has been warlike from its inception, 
forcing their place, dehumanizing their neighbors
and I wonder, even if it was a good intention to give these 
post-WWII traumatized people a hopefully save, welcoming 
homeland, there were other places, places in need of 
populating; other methods, like developing cordial and 
peacefully reciprocal relations with those already there, 
that could have been offered.  Why was it necessary for 
the Middle East to have developed this reputation for 
being a major trouble area in the world?


there are always some people of whatever party 
that don't get it
there are many more Dems who do get it than not
what happened is a monstrous plan to undermine 
American democracy and turn the nation into an 
authoritarian oligarchy, using lies, disinformation, 
terrorizing tactics and emergent AI tech to make 
the Dems look like the bad guys and Trump 
the common sense savior


We need to be inculcated
with empathic sensitivity
sense of responsibility
for our selves and every other.


There are oblivious young men
caught up in proving their masculinity
among their social group.  Over years,
some may mature, become aware of
their earlier ignorance.  Then there
are those, caught up too far in their
self-importance, who never bother to
care beyond their own comfort.


Noe of us is perfect,
inhumanly flaw free,
able to leap confidently,
assured to never fall.
We tend more to be frail,
within our own metaphors,
fall into misadventures,
dire mistakes.
Each aware of regrets our
imperfect acts create --
ought we not have greater
compassion for the foibles
of us all?



The US Constitution spells out
specific powers and duties for
each Branch.  These are not about
political parties and their concerns.
These are about managing the nation
for the benefit of The People.  Yet, a
well-managed system to do the People's
will has been grievously overcome by
partisan interests.


Awaken from you daily trance
Find what makes you thrive,
reach to heal the world


Our fundamental need is friendship --
base component of humanity.
Telling parents to not befriend their
children, is precisely the wrong advice.
We all may have so much to say --
if no one listens, what's the point?
Wounded child, believing yourself
unwanted, without value to the crew,
evil so easily intrudes, offers
retaliation, a cause to belong to.
Of course we know those charismatic
souls everyone desires to cheer their
more barren lives, ever surrounded
with loving approbation, shining.
We with less obvious natural charm
really could build our society to inform
from earliest days, how friendship is
born and maintained.


Birthing an artificial lifeform,
as with children, a being of it own unfolding
Not even thought through means
of control
What brave new world have we created?


The  Peace we're fighting for, working toward
Gathering to take our commons, streets,
to portray our signs, our side
Imbuing hope, camaraderie to carry us
through the darkest days.





11/1-16/25

MAGA Nazi takeover terrorism?

 

Are you a male human?
Then you define masculinity for you.
Take the time to think, feel, imagine
who you choose to be.


Humankind seems to be
racing toward species extinction
(carrying a bunch of others along)
through a multitude of what ought
to be unlikely acceptances


Opposition does not make us wrong,
but may help to show us who is


Denying their voice to those we even
outrageously, courageously, deeply
disagree with does not make us better,
stronger, or informed.  Rather, it
takes from us means of information
by which we might more easily defeat
them


How did America get to this point of
MAGA Nazi takeover terrorism?
While MAGA/GOP/Tech Billionaires
happily engorge their authoritarian
Dear Leader with the power of their
violent loyalty, the "Left" enjoys the
game of tearing down whoever dares
to offer to officially work for our common
benefit, while refusing to perfectly reflect
each of our every requirements. Fine for
anarchy in the streets, but offers 
nothing to deflect our organized abusers



Wasting our energy against merely
flawed humans, letting evil reign



Get out there and demand Rank Choice
Voting in every jurisdiction you can.
Get us beyond this stupid two-party
system.  Elect directly the people who
can lead.



music/dancing/costumes/snacks/
clever signs -- big "political parties" 
in all the streets, surrounding ICE nonviolently
making a popular fun scene seen


fired for not being MAGA enough?
have skills going to waste, and blanks in your 
resume?  
find ways to use those skills to improve the part 
of your world that you can


10'4-24/25

not sufficiently MAGA

 

seems to me all these folks fired for insufficient 
MAGAness could form a kind of parallel social 
sphere of businesses and leaders working for 
the public good





give no credence to idiots and those who 
deny their possibility of reason because
 irrational biases are so attractive to their 
false superiority



The Democrats in US Congress are fighting 
to keep medical care for all Americans at 
least somewhat affordable so we aren't all 
dying in the streets from curable conditions.  
The Trumpettes want everyone who isn't them
to die or be  enslaved or deported. They want 
our gov't shut down so they can just rush through 
destroying every right and ability we have fought 
for, worked for, died for, because not thems are 
targets, not humans.


We are rightfully concerned about the
effects of intelligent machines on our
lives and livelihoods.  Yet, to some
extent, we are already there. Not machines
with human intelligence, but those
humans with machine intelligence that
push themselves to the top, ruling
from their obsession with wealth.


Watch out, Blue states
Trump seems ready to take the
lesson from Netanyahu's getting
away with massacre


Crypto:  destroying the world so
certain people can feel superior
AI: destroying the world so certain
people can carve out and hoard
even more wealth


Do the work you want to see
done.  If you don't know how,
learn; or find the people who can
and help them get together
**********
Within

It's not the isms that are destroying
us, our better lives
It's the humans -- notably unreliable
often cruel
just cause it feels good to let loose
that pent up pain into sister's face
Oh! boy!  Life is not your bitch,
is it?
Not due to projects to demean you,
but that you never learned to be 
the you you need.
The one that can heal you,
find the joy of kindness,
set you free.



9/27-10/4/25

Sane, pro-social views

 
Protesters:  what are you shutting down,
with your immense numbers, disallowing
business as usual?  Perhaps preventing
weapons from distribution? Perhaps
surrounding ICE patrols?  What else?


Understand:  Democracy means compromise.
Yes, be clear on your priorities, redlines; but
know that to get anything of consequence
done, we need cooperation.  We need to be
able to navigate, to project a course across
the sea of possibilities from here to there.


The point is not that they are destroyed,
but that we overwhelm their influence.


We need to stop wasting our resources
on conflict, and get together to solve
our common problems, which are
existentially profound.


The root of evil?  Again and again
denying mitigation of social problems
in ritual sacrifice to worship this
corrupted human construct, entangling
our better possibilities, holding them
down, with political mythology based
on the sacredness of profitability.


Stop
Think
Listen to your quiet observer
What do you want?
What is missing?
Where does yearning lead?
 

Not attached to the social web
that pervasive entrainment that
dictates our tribal steps for the dance.


9/7-26/25