Words to Live By

"C is for cookie - that's good enough for me."

No words have ever been uttered that were more true.

Guns, Guns and more Guns!

Ok, I am anti-gun. I do not believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms, and even if it did, the world was different in the 18th Century.

I see no need for high-tech equipment to be owned by regular people, do not believe that armed homes increase protection (more likely, the owner's will have an accidental shooting in the house involving their own children) and feel hunting is an unnecessary activity in today's society - not to mention being as far from sporting as possible.

We are a nation addicted to a terrible vice that has made us more violent and increasingly prone to violent deaths. Now, we've gone to the next level.

Harrold Independent School District in Texas is going to be arming its teachers. You can tell me how I should look at what happened in Columbine and Virginia Tech, to name a few. But I would argue that armed teachers will not prevent these events from happening. I hope I am wrong, but mark my words when I say that the first news event relating to this will be as follows:

1. Smart alec kid gets a tad over-obnoxious;
2. Teacher with gun has had a bad few days;
3. Smart alec kid pushes the teacher's buttons;
4. Teacher shoots smart alec kid and kills a child.

Poem: Bobby

Bobby

Impassioned every action
Evoking strong reaction
Caring for the masses
Cut through separate classes
Hungered for solutions
Soul of revolutions

The last honest man

Black or red or broken
Concern was never token
Heard the quiet voices
Refused to buy false choices
Spoke what needed speaking
Justice was his seeking

The last honest man

Bullet pierced conviction
Conscience was its victim
Future lay there bleeding
Within we’re self-defeating

The last honest man

Forty years since wasted
His vision barely tasted
No one burns his candle
And none assume the mantle

Of the last honest man

Copyright SGW 2008


I have always admired Robert Kennedy and consider him a hero. After recently completing Thurston Clarke's "The Last Campaign," detailing the 82 days of RFK's presidential bid in 1968, I am more convinced than ever of Bobby's greatness and what he would have done for this country. Kennedy, in my opinion, would have brought people together in ways beyond imagining, would have helped heal a broken nation and represented an opposite path from where we ended up walking - Nixon, Watergate, Reagan, beltway indecision, etc...,

President Robert Kennedy might have been one of our greatest presidents; perhaps only surpassed by Washington, Lincoln and FDR. We will never know for sure - we have a way of destroying the answers to our problems - but oh how we needed Bobby then. And oh how we need him today.

Poem: da Costa

da Costa

With the confidence that is genius revealed
Notes played with passion knowing infinite’s time
The detail of each thought conveyed tells of a Buddha’s wisdom
And I am in awe

As people sit on seat edges watching in amazed glory
Unaware, they are but pawns in a hand’s palm
Everything appears effortless, comfortable and true
And I am in awe

“I have seen the future of (music) and its name is”
da Costa
And the future is happening now

Copyright SGW 2008


Footnote: For the revelation that was an evening listening to Anthony da Costa. He is without a doubt one of the most talented artists I have ever experienced. I could find no other way to express what I witnessed and heard. The quotes are taken from a Jon Landau remark from the 70’s upon seeing Bruce Springsteen for the first time. I altered them a bit, but the idea is unchanged.

Poem: Designer Dogs And Their Looney People

Designer Dogs And Their Looney People

In the morning there’s a process that sure begins each day
With makeup and the jewelry, all part of a display
Comes pouncing up in greeting, and barking? No a yip
A little, four-legged dynamo bouncing to the hip

So off they go; a duo, the princess and her pride
A socialite or pseudo-star and doggie dignified
She dresses him in silly clothes to make some fashion mark
The pooch is more accessory and less about the bark

And pray forbid she lets him walk, no never, not a chance
Carries him from place to place; it’s all part of her “dance”
She’ll bring him into restaurants and must have him around
Whatever scene is happening, where she is, he is found

That’s all to tell, I’ll say no more on folks I find confusing
Britney, Paris or local brands, they all are unamusing



Copyright SGW 2008

Poem: Moments

Moments

These are the moments for glory;
The peaceful solitude of the world,
Where water falls, birds sing and times pass.

Silence permeates the wood.
Sun glistens upon the worn skin of earth.
And nature’s song beats like harmonious laughter.

As the unspoiled promise to Heaven’s door,
Residing in a hidden enclave of dreams,
In a mist of cleansing breath;
An awakening sprouts forth from within.

Just for one fleeting moment.
Just for one fleeting moment.

Copyright SGW 2008

Words of Wisdom

Robert Kennedy - 1968: "I am on the side of those who are not afraid to recognize past error, who refuse to blindly pursue bankrupt policies which will rend us from our friends and drain our treasure, in the fruitless pursuit of illusions long since shattered."

Oh, how this applies to now!