A New Energy

A New Energy - for April 30, 2015

What if a new transportation method

came with an easy fuel recipe, made from

most any kind of plant material around?

Then what if a competing industrialist concocted

a way to kill off this fuel by pushing Prohibition?

Then other companies bought up and destroyed

an electric trolley system that spanned the entire USA.

Viola: A nation completely hooked on a dirty,

expensive fuel called gasoline. We have been

suffering under fuel tyranny ever since!

Booms and busts correspond to oil spikes;

Middle Eastern countries still have us by the throat.

Even though we could use clean-burning methanol

and other fuels, even though we could use electrics,

we refuse to give up this addiction to filthy fuels

provided by fossil remains – finite fuels that can run dry.

We desperately need a new energy in this country,

before other growing economies and hostile nations

strangle us with our own gas guzzling greed.

An energy that is a determination to create several

options for fueling transportation, and for getting around.

It is time to render petroleum a cheap waste product,

come up with new alternatives for the 21^st century.

I dream and wish for big things, to be sure.

But some are already building such things,

long-distance electric cars and their infrastructure.

When people put their minds to it, we can do it.

Lets ditch the gas and reach a technical “critical mass.”

Put control of our transportation future back where

it belongs – squarely in American hands.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Looking Back

Looking Back – for April 29th

They crawl underfoot and follow me around,

This little artificial contingent of mine;

they clean, fetch, and remind me of appointments...

How did I ever manage without them?

Once I would have swatted the flying creatures,

but now I welcome my mini-gyro helpers

that fetch my glasses or TV remote.

Besides, they fan the air quite well.

Some keep the floor spotless, or feed the cat,

who chases and plays with those silicon mice.

In winter my snowblower comes out to play,

summer, and the robo-mower-trimmer goes to work.

The days when I did all of this with my own hands

are fast fading from memory – how did I ever manage?

Of course I was younger then, still worked full time.

Now I am the manager of a busy enterprise – my home-bot fleet.

My robot possessions are overflowing,

but the bank account is empty.

Some things, truly, never change.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Musing on Rioting

Musing on the Riots – for April 28th

Another black man died in custody recently,

some kind of accident, six officers suspended.

The reaction was swift and predictable...

Has it been institutional genocide all along,

or just crazed perpetrators creating tragedies?

The answers seem slim these days,

when city after city erupts in violence;

some march for peace, others loot and burn.

We were here in 1992 after the Rodney King beating.

The riots and protests go back further and further,

back to the 1960's civil rights marches (and atrocities.)

How does a society integrate races and produce

equality for everyone, bar none? Wish I knew.

But we should still try.

There has been progress.

We have African-Americans holding high offices,

up to and including the Presidency of the United States.

These riots could be seen as sociological growing pains,

eventually solved and resolved in some way or other.

One way or another, we all need to try and get along.

There are too many races on this Earth to do otherwise.

Let's all declare ourselves part of the Human Race,

and put aside the divisions, intolerance, resentment.

There will be no end to what we can accomplish

when we are all pushing in the same direction –

and not trying to push each other aside.

• end
• www.createspace.com/4973862

Mars One For Fun

Out of This World Fun. For April 27th

Some people want to live on Mars,

no matter what the consequences.

All for a chance to go down in history,

as one of the first to live off-Earth.

Conditions will be rough,

living off insects and pills;

hopefully they can find water,

or get thirsty and die even sooner.

Huge sandstorms, radiation, no

breathable atmosphere all make it

tough to “live off the land” there.

Many signed up, and a hundred were selected.

First flight is due to depart in 2027,

provided they can raise a lot more money

between now and then to get it all “launched.”

I and others will watch with great interest.

May they succeed, and not die unnecessarily.

Stay tuned.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Dressing in Memory

Memory Shirt - for April 26th

Time to get dressed for the writers salon,

Need a wardrobe to match power creativity;

I excavate through the closets and racks,

There has got to be a perfect match.

Aha! There it is, that shirt I wore in Chicago,

back in the nineties with Hal and Dennis;

we turned heads parading down Halsted,

somehow, I felt eyes aplenty bore into me.

Were they wanting to rob or hurt me?

More like curiosity tinged with interest:

who is this stranger wearing a poly chromatic

shirt with all those speckles, hues and tones?

That afternoon was full of wonder for me as well,

taking in all the sights and sounds of the district.

After a whirlwind night of drink and laughter,

I remember making it back to the hotel around 3 AM.

The shirt came out only rarely since then,

such were the memories imbued thereon:

Why spoil them with more pedestrian fare?

But this day, this Salon seems worthy enough.

So out it comes, and I launder it with care.

It sparkles and catches the light so fine - wet;

I toss it in the dryer with a few other items,

and then get involved in other matters.

It dries to a crisp, and shrinks apace,

the aged material just not up to the heat.

My once-fine shirt has lost a size...

And I have gained at least two,

since those halycon days.

Twenty years ago.

Back to the racks I go,

hunting for a last-minute compromise.

They will surely understand;

they are writers after all.

• end
• www.createspace.com/5346916

Ars Poetica Iowa

Ars Poetica En Extremis - for April 25th

One short snappy write about a circus

got some chuckles and grins;

Another spinning dervish garnered smiles,

before a critic brought it crashing down to earth.

Long-ago family feud engendered silent treatment,

a short snippet on surgeons snipping got admired.

Jazzy staccato couplets kept us wide-eyed with wonder,

Then night visions encased us in star-studded blackness.

The fast rush of time spat out an eight-line refrain,

a falling leaf dancing captivated one insightful writer.

A woman's dress became the all-enveloping sea,

The weatherman inflicted more and more misery.

A boy's night out to the serial thrillers collided with

Ekphrastic visions of a still-life dinner, both winners.

From all these fellow ponderings there was no escape,

rather my brain was infused with this poetry landscape.

My mind swam through another IPA workshop today,

Then the dazed body stumbled out to a grocery foray.

Always delightful to spend time with authorial intellects,

They get my attentive respect, and I gain new knowledge to project.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Flower Homicide

Abused Flowers – for April 24th

What is that I hear?

The usual clod coming along,

going to dig up all of my friends,

maybe me too. It figures – right about this

time of year when I'm trying to bloom.

I feel the vibrations, hear his digging and

grunting, pulling at innocents – can you hear

their cries? He ignores the screams and yanks

away, killing many and caring not at all.

But I am a plant he normally passes over.

He likes my blooms – it is why I try so hard.

Some cruel instrument is dislodging family now;

I feel and hear it getting closer...

Aaaaarrrrrghghgh – I am doomed!

(Hmm, the air feels different than the soil)

I want to scream, “is it worth killing all of us

for your stupid, petty little tomato plants?”

But of course I don't have lungs.

So I just fly through the air, land

onto the pile of mulch where he threw me,

and try to look pretty and dignified.

What else is a dug-up, discarded Viola to do?

(Darn humans anyway – they always have to screw things up)

• end
• www.createspace.com/4281639

Hollywood 70s

Hollywood 70s - for April 23^rd

Take a giant mixing bowl,

throw disparate individuals from

Detroit, New York, Los Angeles,

Add music, concerts and deals,

sprinkle liberally with illicit drugs...

Tame folk acts quickly give way,

wild bloody naked crazed scream theater

comes flying off stage and out of speakers;

Goodbye plain vanilla, hello psychedelic swirls.

Say hello to the new Vaudeville,

1970's style. “I'm a killer and I'm a clown.”

It lasted long enough to see several stars OD.

When enough of the leaders died or went into

rehab, the impetus went out of the movement.

Disco reared it's disliked presence,

Studio 54, lines of coke in the restroom,

flaring dancing pants, even a duck was dancing.

A last gasp of a brief fiery drugged-up rebellion

felt far and wide around the world.

The 80's came and conservatism reacted,

technology flourished and people moved on.

New battles came with new actors, including

a bloodborne virus that took center stage.

The wild abandon of the 1970's faded or changed.

No more long-haired, barefoot and carefree,

we the youth of the 70's had to grow up.

By the 1990's many had teenagers of their own,

rebelling in their own ways, fighting their own battles.

A wild amazing time faded or was mocked on TV.

Every so often a documentary will take one back

to the days when the only real concerns were which

drug to take and where the junk food is hidden.

While it is a relief to not be trapped in that world,

a quick re-visit can engender a wistful sigh.

Wow, what an era that was! Glad I made it out alive.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Up and Up and Up

Fees Ever Escalate - for April 22nd

It starts with a plan duly researched,

charts and spreadsheets present a “yes;”

Then funding must be secured to move

ahead – so some fees and taxes are raised.

It is hoped that the splendid new thingamabob

will bring exited crowds and lots of money here.

So you deprive working-class folk – small sacrifice,

to bring perceived benefits to everyone.

When we get the High Elves to come to town

and spread their fairy dust around;

all will be made whole, all will be well.

We just have to get the ball rolling here and now.

But it rarely seems to work out that way,

and one project propagates another.

The new convention center needs a new hotel;

the new condos and lofts need a grocery store.

If and when greater numbers do relocate here,

and spread their magic munificence around,

guess what? We will require more infrastructure

to accommodate them – streets, freeway ramps,

parking ramps, so on and so forth.

So, fees must be raised again. The future is always

just out of reach, and the present sees costs ever rising.

Not sure what the answer is, but the pattern seems clear:

No one comes out a definite winner, and we seem to have

no good alternative to what we set forth.

Happy Earth Day everyone.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com/links-of-interest

the force makes a comeback

Star Wars 1976 to 2015 - for April 21

Star Wars approaches middle age!

Turning forty is not always fun,

whether you are a person or a

money-obsessed sci-fi franchise.

When it was new it was really good,

fresh-faced actors and an operatic plot;

good and bad easily discerned, we knew

exactly who to root for all the way.

Angelic beautiful people fighting

heartless demons, taking orders from

a hissing black-cloaked devil. But wait -

could even the most evil be redeemed?

Of course he could be – and was.

Now we have more coming,

the same dated graphic title

looking more and more like a

yellowing flea-market package.

One can almost smell the dust.

But we will go, us boomers who

remember how we felt on first seeing

the movies, how fun they were,

whether we were stoned or not.

May the force of something or other

be with us as we spend and spend and spend.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Regularity

Comes Around Again - For April 20^th

They pop up with unfortunate regularity,

these first days of the old workweek;

Us lucky people who have a five-day

schedule starting on Monday must cope.

Monday Morning! Time to hit the bricks,

get on the road, catch that bus and head out...

First day of the week, hopefully you got sleep.

If only those weekends could last forever

we would all be retired or unemployed.

But Mondays make us appreciate Fridays

as a virtual weekly holiday of anticipation.

The flip side of Monday misery, Friday frolics!

Just have to grind out the first day, then it is downhill.

What about those shift workers who go in

the afternoon, as the Morning workers go home?

Or overnighters, who still have several hours

before they go in to work? They face it later.

And then the day ends:

After work is so sweet,

kick off those shoes,

sip your beverage of choice,

prepare dinner and then relax.

You have earned it!

• end
• www.createspace.com/5346916

Spring Sprouting Madness

For April 19^th. Human Nature Bursts Forth

Seedlings are sprouting all over the place,

buds pregnant with new possibilities;

politicians are popping up all over too,

espousing their own superior philosophies.

Springtime in Iowa, colored by the usual

flowering trees and shrubs and poisonous

political advertisements of all stripes.

One group even attacked every politico running.

Sure as there is more hybrid corn and beans,

more silt runoff in the Gulf of Mexico,

more squabbling over local and state budgets,

more potholes on proliferating asphalt roads...

So too are there more politicians claiming

their answer is the right answer for us all.

Fun to watch the entire process from afar,

a bit more tricky to decide which “horse to back.”

As long as there are salutary forces like

a good economy, low interest rates, a hands-off

Federal Reserve – we should do pretty good...

No matter what candidate X says about Y and Z.

Hope one and all can enjoy this Iowa spring,

with herbaceous and human surprises it brings.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Topsoil Robbery

What soil - for April 18th

If Iowa home builders association have their way,

we won't have any more topsoil, just hardpan clay.

No more gardens or ornamental flowers,

just more runoff to add to pollution in rivers.

When a person buys a home, they expect

years down the road they can plant a garden,

or perhaps a tree or bushes down the road.

They are buying a major investment in the future.

To be robbed of this to supposedly save a few grand,

when we all know savings are usually subjective,

is another outrageous hoodwink of the consumer.

And we wonder why our streams and rivers are filthy.

Average folk have to oppose these industry groups,

if not for themselves then for their children...

Greed alone is not a thing to entrust our well-being to.

Human beings rule this planet, like it or not.

It is up to us to take care of the place.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

School Funding Debacle

Iowa School Funding Mess - for April 17th

The children are suffering,

the legislators are arguing –

when they aren't dining out together.

Another year, another constituency

thrown to the wolves for expediency.

Forget any free trade fallacies,

never mind our allies undercutting us;

Aggressive foreign military forces not here yet!

But our local children are pawns in a real mess.

Funding bickering has school districts

hamstrung in a financial bind.

Some are cutting back, others simply

going on with business as usual.

Amazing they can wrangle for months on

when to set school start dates – and not

decide how much to fund them regardless.

Makes one shake their head in disbelief.

Nothing more to be said here today.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

One Jacket Too Many

Even 1 jacket is 2 many - for April 16th

The bushes blossom and trees explode,

clusters of colors manifest everywhere;

sweet scents waft on gentle breezes,

was winter just an awful nightmare?

A light jacket usually used as a liner

seems too heavy today, with warmth

pervading throughout and around all.

Worn in the morning, a burden by afternoon.

Not a real problem in any case,

the price of seasons' change and

a welcome inconvenience.

Flowerbeds along sidewalks scent the way

forward for jacket-toting spring walkers.

Thank goodness winter is over!

Summer is right around the corner,

Swimming, sunning, vacationing;

Spring flower-scent presages the fun.

Put aside those jackets everyone!

• end
• www.createspace.com/4281639

Goodbye Percy

Pop stars fading out - for April 15th

Percy Sledge passed away Tuesday;

many were “in love” with his work;

He had a few hits and then toured

all over the world reprising them.

Another great name passes on,

like so many in recent years.

Boomer icons that framed our

teen dramas and first loves all

saying that oh-so-final “goodbye.”

Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett,

James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke.

Here is a salute to all of those greats,

who started from humble beginnings,

then left unique imprints on our culture.

Their creativity is a part of us all now,

one more fragment in the human mosaic.

If cybernetic life ever does take over,

here is hoping they preserve these moments

of soaring human emotional achievement.

Let us keep the music going as long as we can.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Thick Skin

Right Side of the Grass - for April 14th

Some days it does not matter what people think,

easy to ignore anything unpleasant or ugly heard;

So intent on a goal that background noise

becomes insignificant, ignored for good or ill.

Other days sounds are like needles,

they prick and jab, making one jump

inside, then wince at any implications.

Only some strong self-talk can get you past it.

Words can and do hurt, depending on our

mental state of fragility, sense of vulnerability.

An active will to ignore it all and bull ahead

seems the only recourse. It may be fun to see our

peers uncomfortable, but not so much when they

return the favor in spades.

The wheel of life courses around,

deeds and mis-deeds both repaid.

All we can do is forge ahead,

acknowledge our own weaknesses,

and somehow overlooking the weakness

of others. At least we are still

on the right side of the grass.

• end
• www.createspace.com/4281639

Mondays Suck

for April 13th

Dragging the old corpus out of the sack,

prodded by insistent alarm – where is that shutoff?

I know I will make it in to work, always do;

It is just so damned difficult – and

stomach cramps aren't making it easier.

I do make it in, and the day rolls along

in fits and starts. Elevators break down,

bathrooms need extra attention, the usual

mini-crises to tend to – nothing I cannot handle.

So I manage to avoid getting stuck on an elevator,

and after copious belching the stomach finally calms.

Lunch is reached, and then the end-game of the day;

By the time I walk out I'm feeling so much better.

Then dinnertime, and after I feel up to some yard work.

Twigs everywhere, sarcastic comments in the air,

endless work facing me towards the summertime.

There goes that good mood, in a heartbeat.

I dream of impossible things, like finding a

quiet apartment, and work as long as I can stand it.

Then it is back inside to other concerns.

Tuesday is right around the corner. Maybe

this will be a good day to go to bed early!

- end

- www.dycen-alexander.com

Thoughts of Pennies

Pennies for thoughts    - for April 12.

The US mint still makes billions of pennies,

costing almost 2 cents apiece – what a loss.

Nickels, too, cost almost a dime to make;

Many other nations have ended their manufacture.

It is an easy thing to do to cling to the past;

I do it often, sifting through photos whispering memories,

imagining the horse-drawn, trolley clank worlds,

downtown department store, cigar smoke and candy dreams.

A dollar was a dollar, man was as good as his word,

People had values and morals, except for those who

did not. There were exceptions – though never spoken of.

The past looked good unless you had polio or TB or

any one of a dozen or hundred things we can cure now.

No matter how many of those cigs you smoked,

those beers you swigged, those meals you shared –

you never seemed to feel like the smiling people in ads.

You learned early that ads were all a facade, underpinned

by sad, unfortunate, often ugly though ever striving...reality.

Change is often good, denotes many benefits for all.

Seems best to put aside fear and accept the challenge

of integrating new developments into our lives.

Like this Internet I will post on soon,

newfangled inventions can make

life just so grand sometimes :-)

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

Computer Folklore

For April 11

Back in the days of DOS and before,

Many groups were working on the next

big idea in personal computers:

Lighter weight, faster speeds, greater memories.

Pushing the laws of physics to the limits

requires smaller, lighter technology,

At some point, American companies looked East.

Asian skills at tiny manufacturing grew apace.

Suddenly we had LCD screens, lightweight metals,

smaller, faster memory chips. Less and less was made

here in the USA. But PC's got better and better.

Only the microprocessors were made here eventually.

Speeds became lightning fast and displays became

graphical and visually rich with images.

The newfangled cellphones began to get smarter.

Less and less were manufactured on our shores.

Today one can watch a TV program about the early days,

something about Halt and Catch Fire.

At least the TV show was made here; I think so, anyways.

Happy computing, or make that Happy Smartphoning everyone.

 - end

 - www.createspace.com/5346916

Wiccan Prayers

For April 10th

There is more than one way to worship

a creator or overarching being.

Christian traditions have absorbed

many Pagan rituals, including Easter

and Christmas. Celestial events drove

many early traditions that we still follow.

We sprang from the loins of the Earth,

evolved from ever-more-sophisticated

mammalian groups and subgroups.

Our apex reached when we began

exterminating, then protecting lower species.

Now we are virtually in charge of the Earth.

Gods on our own planet, yet vulnerable

to weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions...

We are weak enough to give us humility,

strong enough to feel like we are in charge.

Disasters make sudden pray-ers of us all.

To ancient humans in the stone age,

modern people would seem like gods.

Future humans may seem the same way to us;

Let us pray now that our species does not

wipe itself out before our descendants extend

the human reach out into the Milky Way galaxy

and beyond. Amen.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com

State of Pollution

What Matters Clean Water - for April 9th

The leader can congratulate himself;

many fine things have been achieved,

and his family is well taken care of;

Prosperity is guaranteed – for some.

While the brother rakes in confinement profits,

any water quality legislation is blocked.

While corporations are given tax breaks,

mentally ill are turned out of institutions.

More homeless people for our local government

to chase around and harass – just wonderful!

Oh yes, things are going real good in

the state of gold and black. Gold

goes to corporate farms and black to

most other citizens who live and work here.

How can the leader look himself in the eye

in the mirror each morning, knowing what

he is doing to our water, our topsoil, our

mentally ill in this “abandoned” state?

It is time for a new leader -

one with a conscience and a will to

make things better for all of us.

Good luck with that.

- end

Nature's Score Card

A Different Measure

No hefty paycheck can replace

a sunlit river flowing at lazy pace;

Big bank accounts do not compare

with gorgeous mountain vistas out there.

Deep-sea explorers like James Cameron

push back frontiers and bring us along,

digital photographic wonders duly recorded.

There are still species being discovered down there!

Musing these things as I dig and move dirt,

in preparation for planting a mass of Canna bulbs;

These grow and expand every year, yield more and more.

Inputs of sweat, time and some loving care bring a stunning show.

Financial skills matter up to a certain point,

then our basic human skills take the fore:

strength, persistence and the desire to explore

new frontiers of hobby and gracefulness.

Our natures which created this world of

infinite complexity, also possess the skills

to escape it entirely – we can simply

re-acquaint ourselves with that natural world

from whence we sprang so long ago.

• end
• www.createspace.com/4281639

What a Game

What a game - for April 7th

Wisconsin Badgers vs Duke Blue Devils:

Intense shootout of equal teams,

Amazing blocks and stunning outside shots.

Swift layups, fakes, pokes, grabs;

Every player was giving their utmost.

Even the band members were thrill-playing,

showing enthusiasm in every number.

Thirteen turnovers occurred in the first half alone,

neither side gave one iota. Sweaty, serious

countenances of dedicated warriors yielded

up shouts and grins at score times.

It was 31-31 at the half...

This was a true horse race,

fought ferociously back and forth.

The two teams dueled, and then the

end loomed near.

Wisconsin was ahead by nine points.

Duke found new reserves of strength,

put forth a burst of scoring. They got ahead,

and never let up. The final score, 68-63,

a determined yet precarious lead, sealed

the Badger's fate. The Blue Devils

could celebrate a hard-earned victory.

All games should be half this close

and hard fought. Another NCAA

season is over. But even now,

some planners are marking up boards...

There is always next year!

But what a game it was.

• end
• www.createspace.com/4281639

Task checked off

Got er done - for April 6^th

I tried to put it off a little longer,

ignored the problem day after day.

Always something more pressing to do,

Someplace to be, to put “it” at bay.

But sooner or later comes the reckoning,

That final time teetering on the balance

of evasion, avoidance, and facing up to it.

Predictions of heavy rain pushed me over the edge!

The gutters were overflowing with twigs,

leaves, dirt and obstructive bark chunks.

How could they perform their vital function,

and transport water away from my foundation?

So I dragged the ladder out and clambered up,

with a willing mind and reluctant, achy body...

Scooped them clean with my bare hands;

On my tiny house it only took a half-hour.

Now let the rains fall and the winds blow,

My gutters are prepared for spring rains,

let them fill and empty as the waters flow;

My heart is at peace as I wash my hands.

Another dirty household task is done,

now back to Internet social media fun.

• www.createspace.com/5346916 New Venture – Two settle in the Kuiper Belt

Nagging Questions

For April 5th      - Happy Easter

If a black hole birthed our universe,

and a singularity birthed the universe that

gave rise to that, then how far does the chain

of universes birthing new ones actually go?

Can we even measure time that enormous?

Will we ever rise to the power to come up

with a plausible theory of the first rules that

started the first universe that started all the others?

And how will we even know if the rules are “plausible”?

I can go with the theory stumbled across when I was a youth:

Our solar system is just an atomic element inside someone else's

body, or in a drop of water, or snot, or something.

Universes go on and on forever like that, both up the chain,

and downscale. There is no vaccuum, no 'outside'

just endless matter existences. There was no first,

there will be no last, there only was, is and always will be.

• end
• www.dycen-alexander.com
  
  
   

Spring Breezes

For April 4th

Warm winds breathe new life into dry ground,

encourage green shoots to thrust upward.

Storm clouds ride on the gusts then drop

voluminous amounts of life-giving water.

Young folk mill around and project their

hormonal prowess and power. Older

ones deal with it or stay out of the way.

But they still watch, admire and reminisce.

The outdoors bursts into life once again,

promising so much, and in some cases

taking everything away in one fell swoop

of a tornado or fallen tree limb.

Hopes and dreams push us forward,

through balmy spring breezes,

or gale-force winds, until we reach

summer's boundary and complain about heat.

See you at the old swimming hole on June 21^st.

www.createspace.com/5346916

- end

Projection of the Possible

For April 3:

He projected positivism in a unique way,

postulated possibility thinking from his

Crystal Cathedral in Orange City, CA.

This church could be attended in your

living room as well as in the Golden State.

A refreshing rarity to me: a nonjudgmental

religious institution, that was a pleasure to

watch on a Sunday morning. It felt like

a concert with an uplifting tone and beat.

Many others must have agreed.

His congregation grew to international

stature and breadth. Funds came rolling in.

Unfortunately it all unraveled after a bad

family transition: these things happen.

But the man will go down in history,

however you credit what he built.

Along with Norman Vincent Peale,

Robert Schuller promoted positivism.

This titan of the 20^th century will be missed

and long remembered – I am positive about that.

www.dycen-alexander.com     

 

Deal or No Deal

for April 2

Hard decisions had to be reached,

international teams negotiated late..

Secretary of State Kerry haggled all night long

with his Iranian counterpart. Ultimately

a path was worked out towards an agreement.

Sacrifices were made on both sides,

With other nations participation.

After tedious and intricate bargaining,

A way was found towards securing

an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

Hopeful? Positive? Makes the world safer?

Yes, if the US Congress does not destroy it.

Opposition party congress-critters over here

threaten to undo or sabotage the very agreement

the USA pioneered and promoted.

As usual, this mottled mess of a nation

is showing the world that we have little to

fear from the rest of them:

Once again,

we are our own worst enemy!

-end
www.dycen-alexander.com
 

Authors Fair coming to Ankeny

ON April 11th  (Saturday) from 9 A.M. to Noon, there will be Fifty authors present, signing their books and talking about their work.  It takes place at the Pinnacle Club, 4100 NE Otter Creek Drive in Ankeny.  Otter Creek drive is just off of the 36th Street exit of I-35.  You turn right or north and just follow the drive into the parking lot.   Come one - come all.   Free refreshments available.   Hope to see you there.

Happy April 1

Iran sunk a US aircraft carrier,

war rages on in the middle east.

Russian and US reinforcements moving in.

The Dow Jones dropped 5,000 points.

Justin Beiber became a Baptist Minister,

Muhammad Ali just signed for another fight;

China offered to combine resources with the ISS,

And promised full safety compliance at all factories.

Ford Motor co agreed to be bought out by GM,

and Chrysler Motors turned a huge profit.

IBM is investing in Indian abacus factories,

believing this is the future of energy-efficient computing.

Anything is possible in April-fools world,

let your imagination soar, and play.

But good luck convincing anyone else

of your fictions – it's probably been tried before –

Last April Fools Day.

May as well enjoy it anyway!

- end