Poem: Dandelions

Kids say the most abstract, yet wonderful things. My boss's daughter, who is ten years old, told him over breakfast that if she was president she would make a law that dandelions would be flowers instead of weeds. How could that not be a poem?!

Dandelions

Through ten year old eyes
Truths are revised
Laws will be changed
Ideas re-arranged
Dandelion grown
Weeds no more known
As flowers she sees
Perception’s degrees

Copyright SGW 2008

George Wirth

How lucky am I to be living in Monmouth County, New Jersey?! I have the beautiful Atlantic nearby, sometimes fast access to NYC and Philly, and so much character and promise in the area, if you look away from Route 9, the strip malls and the corrupt politicians. I also have great clubs and coffeehouses, like the Twisted Tree, where the best music can live and breathe, and a poet can find a sweet spot to pen his words.

It's in these music sanctuaries where a fan of the best of the singer-songwriter genre will find George Wirth. For those that have heard George play, saying he is a unique and original incarnation of Bob Dylan or the early or recent Bruce Springsteen would not raise an eyebrow. Those of us who are entranced by his words and music know that we are listening to something special; at once powerful and tender.

Previously, I have spoken about George Wirth here and here. The poem "Storyteller" is about him, too. That said, while there is a George Wirth performing, I am not certain there can be enough written about what a shining talent he is. With that in mind, I'd like to call your attention to more of George.

You can listen to my favorite song, "Weight of Sin," by downloading from the link. But George has now gone to an entirely new level with "Memorial Drive." This nine minute saga is about Asbury Park; but not. It is a slice of Americana that anyone will understand and relate to via the imagery of loss, emptiness and shattered dreams that translates no matter where you call home. Had Wirth attempted to write an Asbury Park song, or striven to channel Dylan or Springsteen, failure would have been likely; it would have lacked the integrity of truth. However, Wirth comes from a place that is all his own while striking a chord in each of us that is familiar nonetheless.

There, I have said enough; check it out for yourself.

Problem? What problem!?

Boo and catnip ... an interesting mix.

And for something slightly less serious ...

... I just can't get enough of the Poo Song. Forgive me.

Message to some Liberals

If there was a blogosphere in 1992, liberals would have come across as very happy in it with regards to Bill Clinton as their nominee. He offered change, the future and, yes, hope. During the Democratic Convention that year, there was a promise in the air that felt energizing and uplifting, and any liberal not admitting to that is playing a game of revisionism. The one fear many of us had at the time revolved around the stories of "all the women."

Eight years later, the Bill Clinton presidency ended with the disappointment of what "might have been. " President Clinton had many economic successes, and a few international ones, too. However, he fell short because of those darn "other women," and a Republican Party willing to do anything to destroy him no matter the affect on the country.

But still, President Clinton's presidency, while not transformative (Senator Obama was correct on this), was a slightly better than average term that could have been more if he had kept his pants zipped, and had not been forced to work with the worst congress in the nation's history.

So now here we are with Senator Obama as our nominee, and similar messages of hope, change and promise have been put forth by his candidacy. Many of us feel the same promise of better days ahead that we felt in 1992 minus the fears of lack of zipper control.

And yet, many liberals have taken to attacking every little nonsensical item they can latch onto with Obama in the same way a Republican wingnut might do.

They say Obama disrespected women during the primaries. No, he did not. Outside of one "sweetie" remark, which was a mistake, but not that big a deal, the media was the guilty party. If anything, the campaign of Hillary Clinton, and particularly, Bill Clinton himself, were far more guilty of racist comments than Obama or the media was of sexism.

They say Obama has no experience. Well, he comes to the table having been a state legislator in Illinois, a U.S. Senator and a community activist. That might not be up there with what a Senator Joe Biden or a Governor Bill Richardson could offer, but it certainly equates to being governor of Arkansas in my book. Also, the same liberals crying about this, again, loved Bill Clinton, and while he made some early mistakes, namely Somalia and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," I would like to believe Obama would have learned from those missteps.

They say Obama is somehow just "not right." They point to Mark Reszko, though Obama's ties to him are minimal and legal. Reverend Wright is mentioned, but I fail to see how anything he said become the ideas of Senator Obama. Growing up, there was very little my religious leader said that I agreed with. Also, is Hillary Clinton pro the Myanmar regime because her one-time campaign coordinator Mark Penn worked on their behalf?

They pass along E Mails about Obama being a Muslim (as if that should be a negative anyway), or being a radical Christian, or being influenced by a half-brother in Kenya he barely has been in the company of, or ... well the list goes on and on. But here is where the truth comes out. The liberals who grab hold of all this silliness and promote it, and who also spout concerns about him that were never mentioned with other candidates of similar or lesser ilk, reveal their true, dare I say, colors, in doing so.

Obama is black. That is it. Were he white, say Bill Clinton, liberal support for him would be overwhelming. Oh sure, these liberals don't hate black people. They probably even know or hang out with a few. The truth, though, is a person of color is a threat to them when put in a position of real power. The buried racism comes out at that point.

To those liberals, it is time to get over it. Barack Obama is a great candidate and will be a better president than John McCain in every way conceivable. He will be better than Bill Clinton was just in that it is hard to imagine any zipper issues getting in the way of his job. And he will be just as good, if not better than, Hillary Clinton, just on his lack of relative divisiveness. And if you get over your illogical fears, you can join in on the hope that the ruin laid forth over the last eight years is about to be reversed.

Racism is so unbecoming of you.

Yes you can. Yes we can.

Poem: Gardot

When I went to see what this week's prompt was, my first thought was not along the lines of what most others likely were. Instead, I went here ...

Gardot

With a sultry voice
The beautiful songstress breathes
And life comes to words

Copyright SGW 2008

For the prompt at One Single Impression: Melody

Footnote: I have no financial or personal interest, but when something is THAT good, I recognize it as such.

Of the Dollar, and Nothing More

Whether televangelist, new age healer, revealer of keys to success, or spiritual guru, if they are selling the way, they do not possess any insights into finding it.

Poem: Bennies

The summer season has begun in New Jersey and ...

Bennies

If you bring to the beach more than you ever could hold
If you wear socks and cut-offs and large necklace, gold
If you say it’s “New Yawk” or you’ve radio booming
If you’ve all of these traits then I’m clearly assuming ...

You’re a Bennie.

If the Parkway’s a standstill of out of town cars
If you ransack our hot spots and clog up our bars
If you leave behind refuse to mark of your stay
If we beg and we plead will you please stay away

Damn Bennies!

If you’re part of the exodus that kicks up our sand
In your “Jersey Shore” t-shirts like locusts you land
If you say “Long Beach Island” we retort “LBI”
If you’re loud and you’re drunk then your actions imply ...

You’re a Bennie ... or maybe a Shoobie.

Copyright SGW 2008

Fight the Smears

Due to false rumors spread via the internet and Republican noise machines, not to mention the Clinton campaign through insinuation, Barack Obama has launched a website called "Fight the Smears" to fight back against all the lies ... and fear.

Poem: Cell Out

Cellular phones: We have gone insane over them! They definitely serve a purpose and are a wonderful convenience. But they can also be a sorry-ass excuse for rudeness, disconnect, distraction, and silliness.

Cell Out

No act diverts from the time spent attached
Ridiculous habits have relentlessly hatched
An addiction of measure quite absurdly attained
No thinking is given to any effort restrained

Gaggles of teens walk together, though barely
Each busy texting; interaction comes rarely
A guy in the gym must take calls while he works
Too many times I’m held up by these jerks
Listening to music, a cell phone blares out
Rudest of people, without any doubt
During movies or dinner or in library halls
Nothing can limit all these meaningless calls

Seen a man with a blue tooth planted firmly in ear
At a burial service, but he hardly could care
Full conversations on a grocery store line
And fully ignoring any “No Cell Phone” sign

There are places and times for a call to be taken
But from your seats at the ball game they are better forsaken
Each and every occurrence seems a reason to yap
I say take in the moment and shut your big trap!


Copyright SGW 2008

Remembering Daddy

It's a bit early for Father's Day, but check out this article at Newhouse News Service by Michele M. Melendez. She found me via the post I wrote last year called, "Father's Day." My post includes several poems, too.

Those who knew my father will appreciate both stories. Those who did not, should go "meet" an incredible guy.

Some fun observations on Michele's story:

1. I caught the baseball I am tossing in the picture despite looking at the camera.
2. The photographer picked the location, a small cemetery, saying, "I know it is a cemetery, but he (dad) did die." My family laughed the remark off, and the spot actually looks nice, but GEEZ!!
3. Now that those who have never seen me before can do so, do you understand my decision to use my cat, Boo, as my profile shot?
4. I hope "The Birmingham News" is one of the Newhouse papers to run the story. Southerners should see that not all of us up this way are Yankees; some are Dodgers.

Poem: Meow

Meow

Morning eyes open
To find, beside my pillow,
A cute cat waiting

Copyright SGW 2008


For the prompt at One Single Impression: Pets.

The way to my heart ...

... I am a coffee ice cream junkie and there is no ice cream better than Days in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. They close each winter and I await Memorial Day each year for this wonderful image. I ate it all!!!

Freedom prompt

I contemplated a haiku for this prompt, but each time my mind began to focus, I drifted back to this poem instead.

For the prompt at One Single Impression: Freedom.

Poem: WHITE House

Throughout this nation's history, White America has struggled to come to grips with its Black population. Our Revolutionary Era focuses on the slaveholders of the South, and how the Declaration of Independence and Constitution had to soften the blow for the southern states in order to keep the Union together. The Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850 and finally the Civil War were all about the North-South divide over slavery and Black oppression. Into the 1950's and 1960's, the racial conflict went on, reaching a crescendo perhaps with the Civil Rights Movement of that time.

Always, the theme has been the same: The North was more progressive and the South filled with hatred. But the only difference between the two regions was style. The South was violent and "in your face." The North was much more subtle. Northerners were "pro-Black," but only if "they (Blacks) stayed in their own neighborhoods" and "knew their place."

Nothing changes. The South and "Heartland" of this country still hold to open hostility with regards to people of color. To many progressives in "Blue" states though, "those people" are, well, still "those people" when they try to reach for prizes deemed more than seems comfortable. Reaching for anything to justify and rationalize the fear, college theses, distant relatives' religious beliefs, a middle name, a preacher, and twisted statements become items of righteous indignation in ways that would be laughed at if the skin had less pigmentation.

This is not about telling you for whom you should vote (although the companion piece does so), but the reasons I keep hearing from too many people regarding their choices don't appear to be about substantive issues in a great many cases, but sound like right wing, FOX Noise concepts that fill me with sadness for how far we still have to go as a nation.

WHITE House

Frightened by what we fear ever knowing
Blindly to hide behind ignorance flowing
Pretend we’re enlightened ‘long as kept at a distance
If he wants any power he will meet with resistance
Cling to the rumors whether false or illusion
Buy all the nonsense if it feeds the delusion
Excuses are easy as they mask what’s in mind
Can’t enlighten a person who by fear is defined

If the image was lighter and the name less unique
Or if we opened our minds and we acted less weak
If we stepped outside smallness to remove its embrace
If it was more about issues and not about race

But it is easy to wallow in mindless portrayal
To sink to the depths of the darkest detail
No matter veracity as we hold to absurd
When the color goes black then all logic gets blurred

Copyright SGW 2008


Please read this poem's companion piece here.