Holiday Wishes

First snowfall of the year graces our lands,

Colorful lights twinkle and sparkle;

Cheery-eyed youngsters gather round television

Christmas specials, and root for Rudolph again.

They nibble cookies and gobble candy,

hunt around for package hiding places.

Soon it will be time to tear off wrappings,

and see what Santa has given them this year!

Holiday happiness left a permanent mark on

many of our psyches – peace, goodwill and happy thrills.

Even the most hardened will soften a bit when

confronted with tables of goodies and joyful music.

Another holiday time is here, and fills us with good cheer;

If only we could forget January, and winter's cruel sneer!

Seven Days of the Week

Monday humdrum unpleasantness,

first day back at the grind,

throw yourself into problem-solving,

Try to fix things, stretch your mind.

It will soon be over, just like Saturday.

Tuesday is “get into the groove” day,

Work with various contractors,

dig deep into tough problems.

The day moves fast, and then it ends.

Wednesday, hump day, hope glimmers.

You fend off hassles and conundrums,

even as you peer ahead and spy a

coming weekend on the horizon.

Thursday, hopefully an easy day,

Problems come up and are

knocked down impatiently,

"get out of my way, I have a weekend

to make it over to!"

Friday, hooray!

Workingman's weekly holiday,

cheerful optimism day,

even if it gets busy, studded with problems.

You whiz through them,

gritting teeth, “know it won't be long.”

The end of the day blossoms,

and you trot out of work,

Steps light and spirits high.

Hopefully the weekend will

equal your soaring anticipation.

Saturday, saturnalia day, cheerful

run errands and ponder night's play.

The afternoon drags if nothing is going on.

Visits to home improvement places,

grocery shopping, car repair, yard work.

Then perhaps a nap, and on to the night's

special activities, whatever these may entail....

Sunday, sleep in day two.

Recover from Saturday's excesses,

clean up the place, go to meeting,

beg for forgiveness, or not.

Lazy afternoon relaxing,

perhaps yard work and errands.

Sunday night TV viewing,

perhaps a late social encounter.

Then eat a snack and get to bed.

Monday is coming, rearing its ugly head.

And you just know it will not be pleasant.

But we have been here before, and

survived it (just last week.)

Here we go again!

Cryptic currents

Bitcoin, bitcoin, buy little bits of Bitcoin.

Made a real hit coin, rose 1000's of percent.

Ethereum pumps the ether, raises hopes high,

litecoin and many others promise to be the

next “gold coin” in a very short time.

Forget value, forget P/E ratios, even

profits promised in the upcoming quarter.

Billions of dollars chases digital vapors,

hopes of making more propel prices ever higher.

Let's all chase nothing and see how rich we get.

Tulips, stock or housing bubbles?

How soon we forget!

Regrets of past disasters pushed out of our minds,

we throw precious cash reserves into money hives.

Will we ever see return or get our funds back?

Euphoria trumps caution and it's “full speed ahead.”

The wise are buying gold and burying it in jars,

stashing bills and silver in safety deposit boxes.

If they could they would hide money on Mars,

as the latest craze proceeds to fleece the flocks.

Caution seems best in these turbulent times.

Be careful out there, everyone.

-end

Political assault on the senses

Politicos are great at saying what people want to hear.

Support lower taxes? They'll find a way to throw you a bone.

Support soaking the rich? They'll agree with that, too.

They claim that up is down, and left is right,

green is red, and purple is just like white.

War is needed, and so is peace,

greed is good, but charity is nice.

Good roads and interstates are necessary,

hospitals and malls and subdivisions too;

Downtown development is a priority,

yet suburbs need improved, for me and you.

Partisanship threatens our capitalistic democracy,

the wheels of government seem locked down tight;

backroom discussions take place in the meritocracy,

Last-minute solutions are presented well past midnight.

The underneath processes seem quite confusing,

until one considers that most of these guys

attended the same ivy league institutions.

Perhaps a few pep talks from the old and wise

arrived via phone calls, while performing their ablutions...

Bills get passed, then signed, and life goes on.

People never really change; only the technology

of governing control  is different through the centuries.

-end

Enjoy the Feast

As we prepare to cook the turkey,

ham, roast, or raccoon if that's your thing,

time to give thanks for all of our bounty.

Plenty of edibles are around in our era.

Today we message from anywhere to anywhere,

receive last-minute menu picks at the grocery store,

or just have the whole big meal delivered via

selections we made on our smartphone.

Then we sit and eat and muse on days gone by,

family get-togethers, dueling casseroles from

hardworking aunts, admonished by amused uncles.

Carsful of family going over to the relatives,

everyone chatting and greeting and snacking,

playing games in the basement – childhood dramas,

young adult revelations, new couples vibrancy all mix.

Playing pool, ping pong, or perhaps cards later on,

back then the only electronic distraction was the

corner television, tuned to Christmas programming.

“Which Scrooge is in this years' A Christmas Carol?”

someone asks. “Who cares? So-and-so was the Best scrooge,”

is the refrain, insert your favorite actor here.

Holidays are reunions and trips down memory lane,

a refresher and reminder of just why we go through

life's constant grinds. Hope to show the family something new?

Hope to show off? Hope to reconcile past affronts?

Motivations are many, but suffice it to say,

there is no place like home for celebrating the holidays.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Don't forget hot e-book deals for Black Friday!

Check these out, at least:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/413457

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Nine-Stories-Mike-Wilson-ebook/dp/B0714D14JD

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

Sabbath Stroll (fleeing guilt gremlins)

That cut-off tree stump didn't care that

I interrupted Laura during Humanist Meetup,

the tree limb arching over the trail didn't

accuse me of slighting someone at work.

Sunshine continued to illuminate the leafy path,

throwing shadow reeds at my feet,

the breeze gently freshened the air

for my breaths, the river still glinted

reflecting multicolored hues to enjoy,

no matter what faux pas I committed

yesterday, last week or last month.

The forgiving ground yielded before my

steady footsteps, the trail unwound north,

then westerly, before turning back.

A discovery of piles of bricks, surrounded

by modern castoffs, was an interesting highlight,

taking thoughts off my blunders and errors.

The forest forgave me,

and then absorbed me

in all its subtle November

beauties, and I exited refreshed,

renewed, if a bit tired. Now,

what a perfect time for a

Sunday afternoon nap --

Next week is a clean slate.

- end

Two led the way

They knew they were different,

in a time when such things were scorned.

Fate and chance brought them together,

One even performed surgery on the other.

The female rowing champion became a male rowing champion.

The male race-car driver became a female race-car driver.

They became pioneers in physical and mental domains:

One took his life in 1962,

the other lived all the way to 2011.

Two brave and remarkable people cleared a path

for all of the transsexual and intersex who followed.

At the height of the Cold War these stories were

front-page news, perhaps taking fearful minds off

looming Armageddon.

Religious folk may have thought the end was here indeed,

now that humans retained the ability to change their gender.

As we delve deeper into genetic tinkering it is hard to imagine

what may be on the horizon soon.

But Roberta and Michael led the way –

Legions of transitioning folk are surely glad of this today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberta_Cowell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dillon

read on.    

Republished an older title

It has a new cover and a new price.  Check it out here:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97284

Thanks for taking a look!

9th Street North

The sharp businesswoman trots along the sidewalk,

glancing often at her phone, precious link to civilization.

A short, scruffy black man ambles in the opposite direction.

They approach, seemingly headed for a collision;

Improbably, the woman flicks a glance his way,

even as he gives her a more leisurely look.

Then she executes a perfect semicircle around him,

looking rapidly back at her phone.

Just another minor distraction,

leaf on the sidewalk, branch in the way,

paper litter drifting along,

homeless detritus a momentary

detour in one oh-so-very important life.

 - end

Now on Amazon Too!

My collection of short stories,  "29" is up on amazon, for sale in paperback or Kindle editions.

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Nine-Stories-Mike-Wilson-ebook/dp/B0714D14JD

Thanks for taking a look-see.

- end

Memory rising

Hovering over the brushfire,
I add sticks and twigs.
The yard detritus piles shrink in turn  -- hooray.

The sound and smell of burning fires up memory.
Crackling reminiscent of past leaf fires in past yards;
Crumpling up newspapers to light our minor blaze,
the crinkle and crackle of logs warming our
living room during a festive holiday.
My father supervises as I get to do the honors....

Bonfires at summer camp roar impossibly high,
as lore both modern and ancient are weaved
into some tale, enrapturing all of us 13-year-olds.

The homecoming fire at High School,
guarded by two of us sleeping within,
set off the next night during celebrations.
Never had I seen a conflagration that mighty.

The beach fires on a large sandbar,
just downhill from a local retreat.
Some of us sipping brews, enjoying music,
making love and watching others do the same.
One of the very best fire memories one can have.

Memories rise up with the smoke,
are scented and enjoyed,
then vanish,
to be replaced by others.

One can only hope
that you and I
make more wonderful memories tonight,
to reminisce by at some other bonfire,
many years from now.

- end

Contemplative Particles

In the beginning there was Hydrogen and Helium.

Then, a scattering of heavier elements appeared.

A spinning and accretion over millions of centuries,

bright glimmers and redder streaks painted space-time's

blank canvas, getting ever more crowded with particles.

Stars, then planets, then primitive lifeforms

arose through the vast reach of eons.

Crouching creatures struggled and competed,

slowly ascended life's ladder of capability.

Flashes of sentience and comprehension

assembled into purpose and organization.

One day the primitive gleaner of subsistence

on some African plain looked up at the

magnificent cosmic artwork comprising the

Milky Way, and gasped in awe at Pleiades’s eye.

Stardust finally arrived at a place to appreciate itself.

Latest revision of 29 now available

A Revision of the short story collection  "29" is now available on Createspace.  Grammatical and punctuation errors have been fixed, and a cleaner table of contents is in place.  Thanks for taking a look! 

https://www.createspace.com/7171487

Have a great weekend!

Getting used to those darned seasonal changes

     We are approaching another winter, and the loss of sunlight every day impacts our morale as well as our eyesight. So it was perhaps helpful for me to contemplate what it would be like if our daylight savings time really changed. Like say, if we were able to live on the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Or perhaps orbiting Jupiter. Or further out, say on the surface of Neptune if it were possible to live there.

     With a year lasting 40 Earth years, we would need a lot of adjustments! Would it get pitch black all day and night, then go to total brightness in the summer, like it does now on the Earth's poles? Probably so. Talk about needing to get over seasonal affective disorder.

     But if we had offspring, and they had offspring on said planets, they would easily adapt, having been brought up in the altered state of daylight. Their lives would be comprised of fewer, longer years and they would adjust. Unless they developed longer life-spans, then perhaps they would reach an average age like we do now, here on Earth, of around 20. But their 20 would be comparable to our 180 or somesuch.

     On the other hand, a year on the planet Mercury, or a comparable planet orbiting another star, would be much shorter. There would probably be little need for a daylight savings time. Or, perhaps, more need, since the daylight shifts would be so rapid and dramatic. But again, any offspring would adjust to the changes, and then think that Earth's seasonal daylight changes are the strange ones.

     So while we have some adjusting to do to get used to the winter months, just think of how difficult the task would be for any future settlers of some distant planet. Unless, of course, they resided permanently on some massive orbiting habitat where the seasons and weather are artificially controlled.

     They would have it good, presumably, until something went wrong.

Planets and their seasons (courtesy of NASA) :

PLANET	LENGTH OF SEASON
Venus	55-58 days
Earth	90-93 days
Mars	7 months
Jupiter	3 years
Saturn	About 7 years
Uranus	About 20 years
Neptune	More than 40 years

Good luck dealing with the coming snowfall, everyone.

-end

A Thinker Wonders

All one can do is sit and ponder strange fate,

stuck here on a rock amid such gruesomeness.

A creepy white tree, a grimacing face,

Something all bars and rods, lacking in grace.

Something else like metallic excrement, and

that tall spindly spider capable of who knows what.

Me, with my graceful, slender limbs and tall ears,

a fine specimen of Lagomorpha in my humble opinion,

perch proud and stately amid the chaff and detritus.

All those sculptures that echo Homo Sapiens fears

merely irritate my in-hare-ent gracefulness.

How did I ever end up in this art graveyard?

Clearly I'm superior to all of this garbage,

and just as clearly I resent the humans gaping,

prodding, touching me all the time.

The worst sit on my paws and pose for pictures!

Would I be better off in a stew pot?

After sitting here pondering the matter

for nearly a decade, I'm inclined to think:

Maybe so, maybe so.

A statement of life principles

Something I can wholeheartedly throw my support behind.

                                                         Humanist Manifesto III

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

The lifestance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance.

This document is part of an ongoing effort to manifest in clear and positive terms the conceptual boundaries of Humanism, not what we must believe but a consensus of what we do believe. It is in this sense that we affirm the following:

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humanists find that science is the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies. We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and inner experience—each subject to analysis by critical intelligence.

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough, distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them to be. We welcome the challenges of the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility.

Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. We aim for our fullest possible development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death. Humanists rely on the rich heritage of human culture and the lifestance of Humanism to provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty.

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires hope of attaining peace, justice, and opportunity for all.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community. We seek to minimize the inequities of circumstance and ability, and we support a just distribution of nature’s resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.

Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature’s integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone.

- end

Time Machine

   Remembering an old version of the “Time Machine” by H.G. Wells. I feel like that guy nowadays. Growth has sprung up all over, the cityscape has changed all around me. Like in Ankeny, where bare fields have given way to heaps of houses and apartment buildings. Or western suburb farmland being covered with bungalows. Some great things have happened to us all, and a lot of horrible things too. Humanity has changed irrevocably, and we can't go back.

     All we can do is be like that character in the movie, perhaps, and join a good cause, fight for an underdog, make our lives matter in some way or other. Or at least make it to work everyday, before our jobs become outmoded, and we get replaced by AI modules of some sort. While the flesh is willing, hang in there!

Automatic Gunfire from a High Position

Amid the carnage, questions roll in.
"How did he sneak all those weapons up to his room?"
"How did he buy them in the first place."
"Why?  Why and why.    550-plus whys."
No sense to it, no rhyme or reason.

Killing for killings sake seems to be the newest national sport.
If so, count me out and give me a place to hide.
A tyranny of death, a freedom to kill at random.
No author of a bill of rights envisioned such mass murder.

Now people who go to resort cities aren't just
gambling for dollars, they gamble for their lives.
Will we ever be the same?
Words do little justice to the injured or dead,
so enough of those today.

Take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
We just never know how long we have left.

Do you know a secret

There are secrets all over downtown Des Moines.

Right in front of you if you know where to look;

desperate people of every sex, grinding their groins,

just find a shadow, some out of the way nook.

Every street breathes history along with auto fumes,

Every brick wall images dramas played out alongside.

Hidden air pockets with elite's colognes and perfumes,

less pleasant scents of the unlucky or the unrelieved.

The boardrooms and meeting rooms and rest rooms

of all those tall buildings carry daily dramas galore.

If a fraction of those walls would tell what they knew,

many a confident executive would shudder in horror.

Every city carries its share of secrets small or large,

Yet they all hum on, propelled with urgency of need.

Failures and cruelties would fill many a huge barge,

Everything gets overlooked in our mad rush of greed.

Some have an ear cocked for the greatest secret of all,

how to get off the career “treadmill” without a fatal fall.

A kiss a kiss

Just realized it has been 25 years since I've kissed a woman.  And kinky me, I decided it might be fun to try it again.   Even perhaps (invoking the ghost of Hugh Hefner,) see how many kisses I can collect the last three months of 2017.  Maybe offer to donate something to breast cancer research for every 10 kisses I receive.   Hmmmm - will have to think carefully about this.  I'll tally the kisses in a kiss-notebook, describing each one - duration, quality, name and age of the kisser.  Will keep the notebook hidden - wouldn't want a kiss-and-tell situation  LOL.  

Yep, might not be a bad idea.  Seems like fun, and who knows?  I might even meet a new special friend out of it.    The clever ideas I get on a Friday afternoon.

Total Exposure

What if Einstein posted nude pics,

along with his relativity theory?

What if Picasso blazoned the web with nudes

of himself, overweight as his works were disfigured?

Bing Crosby showing off his conquests?

Errol Flynn showing off his perfect pectorals?

Tyrone power flashing his guns online,

or Doris Day or Marilyn Monroe baring all,

leaving nothing to the imagination of an

admiring Internet public?

We may count ourselves lucky that these icons,

luminaries of the past lacked such exposure.

Why tarnish our shining ideal of fame or purity?

Those days are gone forever.

What celebrity of the last 20 years has not

been exposed in every way by some net denizen?

Celebrity is more, and less, than what it used to be.

More accessible for microscope-focused public eyes;

ephemeral, temporary – tomorrow they are replaced.

An inexhaustible supply of human pride and tragedy,

playing out moment by moment wherever we want to find it.

A star career now measured in months, days, clicks –

Being famous “ain't what it used to be.”

Click and search on, net-fanatics,

someday you, too will be famous,

or at least spied on by

more than one voyeur.

They make an appearance at last

Planted the seed with a touch of bravado,

the narrow strip of dirt surrounded by Mums.

Still, I tended the strip, pulled away crabgrass,

watered them on occasion; hope persisting.

The summer wore on hot and dry,

the tall grasses hung over them,

They broke the soil, came up slowly,

stuck spindly leaf-ringed necks out.

No flower buds appeared,

so I gave them a last drink,

consoled self (the seeds only cost a dime!).

Pulled and culled everything else,

forgot about my lost little strip of snaps.

Then one day, the last day of summer,

I walked the yard, and looked around.

Two brilliant yellow flowers peeked

out from under a Sea Oats overhang.

They made it! My beauties bloomed,

despite all the odds, the insects and moles,

the drought and creeping charlie and crabgrass.

Two blooming beauties gracing a drab area.

A lovely treat to see on this last day of summer.

(And you can see them here too.)

- end

WTF is going on

Privatization of medicare is leaving many untreated,

while providers go unpaid and chaos seems to reign.

What is happening?

Tax benefits are handed out to companies for a few paltry jobs,

while local homeowners and workers struggle to make ends meet.

What is happening?

State workers are being denied overtime,

while the state budget consistently runs in the red.

What is happening?

New apartment complexes are popping up all over,

with rents out of reach to all but the rich.

What is happening?

The cost of ground beef is skyrocketing, and other items too.

Meanwhile, wages are stagnant, or going down due to outsourcing.

What is happening?

Intelligent workers brought here as children are being deported,

a skilled labor drain in the midst of a labor shortage.

What is happening?

Medical insurance is out of reach for more and more and more,

existing plans are disappearing, nothing in their place.

What is happening?

Hang in there, everyone out there.

- end

Can we cure the Hurricane Hangover?

Hurricanes, hurricanes, blowin in my mind.

Causing devastation, ruining many lives.

Why do we have to endure all of this hell?

Is it our climate destruction? Hard to tell.

Tornado season seemed like it lasted forever,

All those homes shattered into so much tinder.

Now we must endure another horrific season,

A bit of sunny weather comes a teasing.

Watch all of the resort towns get flattened,

No matter how many “hatches get battened.”

Will they go through the entire storm alphabet?

All of those rescue challenges yet to be met.

How many can our United States withstand,

Before collapse and anarchy rule our land.

It looks like we are soon going to find out,

though we pray and panic and scurry about.

Perhaps they should fill tanker planes with water,

fly them to great heights to freeze their payloads.

Then swoop over the megastorm and dump the ice,

calm those hot winds and make the weather play nice.

More expensive to do this and pay a huge cost,

or endure devastation and mourn those who are lost?

Something to consider as we hunker in our shelters,

we can take bold action to make the situation better.

- end

A good weekend

Social times with friends, a visit to a neighborhood bar, a picnic, even a moonlight hike.  What more could a guy ask of a long weekend   (except maybe an extra day or two.)    Thankful for a wonderful time.

...have had worse weekends  :-)   

A Faint Hope

So much global anger and division,

government arrogance and derision;

Many deaths result from one decision,

Career boost gained off military destruction.

Stars and ribbons and polished jutting chins,

swagger in rooms packed with high tech sweat.

A quorum is reached on territory to win,

lives to snuff for death's quota to be met.

Another adventure in some dusty Afghan province,

or propping up another regime in Baghdad?

Perhaps large bribes to area tribes to convince

them to attack Hezbollah and make Israel glad.

The players change places, retire and write books,

recount heroism repeated by predecessors.

New ones take over and “sink in their hooks,”

creating their own local ruling oppressors.

Perhaps they would listen to one of their own,

a general who fought many battles for peace.

Time to call Eisenhower's ghost back home,

give tired troops and bloody populations relief.

- end

Listy listy listy

Links to my books for sale on Amazon etc - thanks for taking a look  :-)

Future Property – Michael Wilson

https://www.amazon.com/Future-Property-Collection-Speculative-Fiction/dp/147524732X

Experimental Tales – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Tales-Enjoyment-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1500992429

The Osmotics – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Osmotics-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1495486575

New Venture – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/New-Venture-First-Contact-Kuiper/dp/1508688729

Epic Prime Collection – Dycen Alexander

https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Prime-Collection-Dycen-Alexander/dp/1530631017

Crime Spree – poetry - Mike Wilson

https://www.amazon.com/Crime-Spree-Mr-Mike-Wilson/dp/1535057610/

A Strange Enterprise collection of speculations

https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Enterprise-Collection-Speculations/dp/0615818072

Shadow Intersection - poetry

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Intersection-collection-Michael-Wilson/dp/1481859412

29 Stories – Kindle Edition – collection of short fiction:

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Nine-Stories-Mike-Wilson-ebook/dp/B0714D14JD

- end

A historical find

Oh, how serendipitous, delightful it is to be idling by, digging through old notebooks and reading what my younger self wrote.  When I found this snippet of spontaneous poetry I wrote at age 27, when I was in love  (or at least infatuated).   Now you can enjoy it too.

"Years have gone by;

years of pain, suffering, loneliness.

I have searched, questioned, agonized.

Feelings came and went in a mad swirl of seeking.

Millions is the magic key; or is

it college; no, maybe electronics,

to create an intelligent machine for a pet.

How about plants, to “grow my offspring.”

Or catching fish to snag some good cheer.

Music, sweet music is always nice to hear

                             even when you're queer.

Love is the force I seek –

and into

its warm, bright, soft center I peek.

Money can't earn it. Business can't pay it.

Trees can't grow it. Art can't paint it.

Fishing won't catch it – music can only say it.

Love is the key to your soul."

I thought I was old or something - LOL.

Youtube links

Here are a few experimental videos on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTD_Ypz1jwM
Live Clam in a small Iowa river

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG26EGjpBRE
March for Science and a bell ringer in the background

Tettegouche Falls in northern Minnesota
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQIziOGjqnA

Iowa State Fair 2008
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQt2V9YYf-Q

Navy Blue Angels seen while driving on I-80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_tCJWwUJUg

Enjoy them all.

What Happened to US

What happened to You

America so beautiful,

once you were harsh wilderness,

tamed by adventurers,

settled by Europe's castoffs and so many others.

Now you have turned into a miasma of

self-absorbed fluff addicts,

peppered by extremists and hate groups.

Once you gave the blood of so many youth

to combat fascism and racism.

Now you grow these evil weeds within your borders.

The quiet majority needs to set down their toys

and shout as one “Enough! We will not stand for this again!”

“We paid a horrible price for this in the 1940's!”

“Too high a price to repeat the mistake.”

Say NO to Nazi fascism, NO to racism, NO to bigotry

America was supposed to be better than this,

is supposed to be better than this,

Can become better than this.

These battles evidently must be fought over and over

by every new generation.

We are all one nation and had better figure out how to get along,

before we tear ourselves apart.

One civil war was enough.

Grow up, USA.

Get over the Fascist and Racist Foolishness and move on!

Ready or Not (again)

A rising din of engines and voices,

Dual-wheel pickups tow livestock

trailers to and fro, cutting corners quick!

Porta-potties line up like arriving crowds will,

border the edges of grounds throbbing with preparation.

Nearby neighborhoods sprout campers like weeds,

colored tape marks off yard parking areas,

manicured lawns awaiting their first oil stains,

tire ruts and trash piles of the season:

Promising profits for the property owners.

Cars are already lining some streets...

Various species of livestock announce their presence,

bleating, mooing and squawking their magnificence.

Their odors precede even their reputations...

August 10 is coming soon,

with that another Iowa State Fair is here.

The beast seems to get bigger every year!

This year, the grounds barely hold it all in.

An enormous roar will be felt as fireworks

cap off the entire garish spectacle.

Ready or not,

like a winter snowstorm, it is coming.

Everyone around may as well take in the show.

(Bound to be a good story or two hidden in

all of that confusion.)

Enjoy.

August Cool

Farewell for now cursed sweat rivulets,

stay away clammy air, too heavy to breathe.

Time to step outside and exult in the beauties.

A touch of Fall coolness has arrived in Iowa.

An August wonder, seventy degrees at noon;

In July it was a hundred and people swooned.

Now the yard work can get finished,

natural areas once again explored...

Overworked air conditioners can catch a break,

car engines and children whine a whole lot less.

Grilling and chilling outdoors returns to being fun;

The only ones sweating now are triathalon trainers.

Enjoy this brief respite, lucky Iowans;

we know mother nature is in the windup,

ready to throw us some more misery soon.

At least we caught a nice weekend this time around.

- end

Sub and Super Constructs

If our universe is a mere simulation,
death need not be feared as a destination.
Energy-ciphers flitting about in imagined
reality, we really have nothing to fear.

A curious mind wants to know how far
up and down the universes go, nested
inside each other as they must be.

Realities are created inside
energy-vessels of ever-larger realities.

Larger and smaller the universes come,
occupants within knowing only vastness.
Some distant origin-explosion or
"Big Bang" remains unimaginably distant.

All physical laws, time and 'the real'
fragment or super-assemble and
are incomprehensible to our
relatively tiny human brains.

Consciousness may dissipate,
but our energy persists,
and will return again in
some unimaginable form.

See you in the some-when of
an ultracoherent some-what,
at some time or other!

Lucky Seventies

Farewell for now cursed sweat rivulets,

stay away clammy air, too heavy to breathe.

Time to step outside and exult in the beauties.

A touch of Fall coolness has arrived in Iowa.

An August wonder, seventy degrees at noon;

In July it was a hundred and people swooned.

Now the yard work can get finished,

natural areas once again explored...

Overworked air conditioners can catch a break,

car engines and children whine a whole lot less.

Grilling and chilling outdoors returns to being fun;

The only ones sweating now are triathalon trainers.

Enjoy this brief respite, lucky Iowans;

we know mother nature is in the windup,

ready to throw us some more misery soon.

At least we caught a nice weekend this time around.

Summer on the Water

With various concerns and problems swirling about,

it was so refreshing to discover:

There is still fun to be had

boating and swimming in the ol Des Moines river.

When I got that call from a couple of friends,

and set a time to meet at the marina,

Joyful moments were passed in preparations.

Soon we gathered on a dock at a party arena.

We put the boat in the water, and set out

upstream – when the engine had an issue

with going at high throttle – it conked out.

Then it was time to hunt for a critical part.

But a good while later we accomplished that,

and set out once again down the river – to

swim and sun and take turns water ski-ing.

I was content to ride and snap a lot of photos.

No political world problem seemed close,

no braying politician got under my skin.

It was time to revel in the waters and play,

a rare chance to shed inhibitions in the calm river.

Hopefully I'll make it out again real soon,

with no motor problems to make us swoon.

Looking forward to more occurrences of fun;

enjoy the rest of the summer, everyone.

Not an end-stopped party

There may have been a few poets there,

at the pros social – many were in fine form,

but not quite in rhyme - or even in synch...

Just flowing around well-appointed rooms

all loose and jumbled,

like the words in some e.e. Cummings write.

The pros party did not feature any readings,

just disjointed mumblings and random utterings.

Still it was fun enough, with familiar faces aplenty.

No one talked in Iambic Pentameter, thank goodness.

No villanelles or pantoums or sestets,

just twosomes, threesomes, and one foursome;

Sipping libations and making casual chit-chat.

Still, I've been bored worse in better company...

Another evening passed with time spent

chatting about little oddments and how

are things going and yes, we miss him so much.

Someday we will all be gone, and another group

will be in our place, making the same idle comments

about our now-buried corpses.

Our way of living in the moment,

pros-aic in a non-poetic way.

Sure, “this too shall pass”

but there is nothing we can do about that,

so we may as well enjoy ourselves.

(Pros is a social gathering that meets several times a year in Des Moines, Iowa.)

Once there was a river

Once there was a river of nightlife,

gleeful youth and older alike

celebrated in their preferred ways.

Some drank, danced and laughed;

others had joyful trysts with strangers,

many made new long-term friends.

This ribbon of concrete along our

river that bisected town east and west,

became

a meeting place for folk from all over

central Iowa who wanted to play around.

The party is over, the jubilation ended.

Concrete barriers and signs hammer home

the message: No more fun allowed here.

Weeds grow through cracks in the concrete ribbon,

joyful memories dissipate under relentless pressure.

Life goes on, nevertheless.

Streaming Haiku

peaceful stream gurgles

surrounds exposed limbs in light

dragonfly sets down

limb exposes self above

underneath water surrounds

dragonfly hovers

sets down on brown limb

perches above froth maelstrom

river or kingdom

Trailblazer,

cutting forward seeking what?

mollusk crawls onward!

Frog serenade

It is Monday in America

Keystone cops shoot unarmed housewife in pajamas;

Toddlers are swept away, seen live from an onlookers phone.

A certain celebrity inmate is up for parole again;

Presidential approval fell down to 36 percent.

Just another Monday in an insanely violent society.

If America was a bomb, it would be a continuous

eruption of craziness – nonstop cruelty and murder.

How did we get this way – from virgin lands to

such Roman Empire excess?

Speculation...

It was not easy – took a lot of doing.

European settlers had to wrest the land

from native control by any means needed.

Then Law and Order had to be established:

All of those gangsters did not make things easy.

Reality...

Economic upheavals and leadership scandals

continue to rile and roil the national landscape.

All the noise and confusion makes one wonder

if anything is permanent, or safe, or reliable anymore.

What I tell myself...

Just keep going to work,

and keep your head down;

avoid the frequent lead showers

coming from every direction.

Good luck out there...

Some of us will make it to

tomorrow – there is always that.

 - end