Hard Copy

 

Words on the screen are insubstantial,

waving in and out, blurring the lines.

Words on a printed page

Black stamped on white

sharp relief, solid-gold reality

steady and always present.

Maps on a screen, all jittery and jumpy,

tell you which way to go with voice or line.

Scroll and zoom in and out,

fingertip convenience but energy-expensive.

Maps on a printed page are there solid,

never change, always tell you where you are going.

Reliable and steady, always there – one-dimensional.

The virtual world is alive and stimulating,

appealing and energizing.

But the day that you lose power,

printed material once again resolves into sharp relief,

and we are all relived that we thought to save it!

Just in case….

No, Do Not Go Backwards

 

In the recent past, there was a general trend in our society to be more open and accepting of different races, and sexual orientations, and gender identities. But in the last year or so, there has been this mad rush to dismantle these added protections and frameworks. Like DEI, for instance.

Many corporate entities added DEI initiatives in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. These were meant to make someone feel welcome and included in most any kind of a corporate organization, no matter your skin color, gender or sexual orientation. And what is wrong with that? They wanted to hire a diverse workforce, representative of society, and to make everyone feel like they fit in. To me, this is the sign of a strong and prosperous society. We are big and strong enough to welcome in all of our diverse elements, to make everyone feel welcome and at home.

But, a sign of a weakening and fearful society, one that is becoming less prosperous, is to exclude. To exclude classes that one has recently allowed to come out in the open and breathe freely, without fear. To create divisions and conflict between diverse groups of people, to distract them from some bigger picture perhaps.

There is a minority of people who were recently allowed to come out in the open and participate in society. Society was adjusting. Rest rooms were being modified to be single-use, or designated a ‘family restroom’, to accommodate different genders. Gender pronouns were being recognized, accommodated, used widely, disseminated generally. Society was making the adjustment, despite some grumbling from certain quarters. We were all getting used to this new world. And when one thought about it, why not – what is the harm in being a fully inclusive, loving society? This is the mark of an advanced, enlightened civilization!

Nope, it just couldn’t last. The dank qualms of a reactionary group were just too much to ignore. Our baser, more fearful natures took over our political leadership. They threw out the enlightened treatment of everyone in society. Tossed out the good with any perceived “bad” (like letting schoolkids discuss gender issues. ). We are just setting ourselves back, and setting up renewed fighting and struggling in the future. We are just creating more pain and anguish, and for what reason? In some cases, it is being based on an ancient set of texts that barely even mention anything about gender or sex. People are getting all up in arms about what some very old literature supposedly condemns as ‘wrong.’

To me, humankind, over many millennia, have created a body of absolute truth outside itself. And while the basis may have originated in religious texts, the law has evolved and changed to recognize the changing, growing, vibrant entirety of humanity. As the human race grows and changes, then so must our body of agreed-upon body of laws governing behaviors. A law that governed a tiny tent society in Judea is not adequate for over eight billion human souls today. Absolute truth, the body of law, must reflect the change that humanity has undergone.

To take a recently recognized group of people and render them invisible under the law again is a major offense of the idea of universal law itself. To give them recognition and protection, then yank it away a few years later, is completely unjust and harsh. It is the sign of a fearful and sinking society, a society that is moving in the wrong direction. Any thinking, feeling human being should oppose this hard turning back in our laws and society! It is only going to do harm to the ones we may love and care about, to our family members, and ultimately to ourselves, as our legal structure further erodes.

Thanks for reading.

Math Formula is our Friend

 

Once upon a time, there was a quantity

measured in an arcane formula,

or not so much, really.

It was just called Delta-vee.

Nothing so erudite as E=MC/2

or long-winded like X + Y + Z =0.

Just a measurement of change in velocity.

Distance and speed together,

for a full reckoning of directionality.

Just make sure your propulsive element

has full functionality!

No ‘Buck Rogers’ without the big bucks,

No high performance rocketry;

No reaching Earth orbit, either,

without enough change in Delta-vee!

Thrust is everything, you see,

as long as you go in the right direction.

So make sure of the proper Delta-Vee,

and avoid any meteorite deflections!

But I never claimed to be an expert in rocket science,

So thank you for following this simple explanation;

Lucky that we have computers to rely on;

digital servants to calculate those Delta-Vee variations.

Mathematics is a map of our entire reality,

so sometimes it’s good to revisit the science;

reminding selves that formulae like Delta-Vee

help us tame and explore many externalities.

Elon and Jeff need help lofting all those rockets;

The math computers tackle care of all the details;

the proper Delta-Vee ensures profitable orbits,

So they can celebrate, tell tall tales and sip cocktails.

Then and Now - This and That - Old Guy Musings

 

Back in the late 1970’s and early 80’s, I was a poor working stiff. But I could go out and find places to spend money, when I had it. Bank branches were all over the place, gas stations on almost every corner. Lots of shops, small and large, dotted city streets. The shopping malls were full of stores, and people too, on the weekends. Even on slow days, our shopping economy seemed to be thriving.

Now, older and retired, I have a little extra money, and a lot of extra time these days. But as I go out and about in town, there are not many places around any more. Once thriving restaurants are closed up. Storefronts are turned into something else. Downtown offices are being converted to housing units. Shopping malls are empty, and being re-purposed. The visual perception I’m getting is that our economy, and in some ways our society, is moribund, stalled out, withering away. It is a frightening and depressing perception.

Sure, we have a whole other economy running hot – the Internet/online/shipping economy. Storefronts are virtual-visual. Goods are loaded from warehouses to trucks, to end up at our doorstep. We can buy more things than ever – but just not “outdoors” or in our town. We walk around a local town and our five senses tell us it is dying or dead. We know better – our homes are full of stuff, and we put more stuff into storage units when we run out of room.

It seems strange, but we live in two worlds in a shopping sense. Granted, there are still places we can shop in person, but they are insignificant compared to what was around in, say, 1978. It is as though most of us are walking around with their awareness in two worlds at once. The virtual cloud-world on their phones and computers, and the real, physical world. Trouble can arise when we don’t make a clean shift from one to the other worlds.

Sometimes, I think that drivers rushing around, cutting in front of people, hurrying up to red lights, etc, are still living in the Internet world, where everything one desires is a mouse-click away. But when you are driving a vehicle, things take time – you have to wait for all the other people out there in the physical world to make their decisions and operate their vehicles. Things on the highway are not a mouse click away, but must be dealt with in a real, physical sense. We have created a virtual way of existing and are now victims of convenience, in a sense.

If these AI programs begin to take over the running of physical systems, like traffic lights, utility delivering and so forth, we could be further victimized by our own clever contrivances, who will have taken on a life of their own. May our new overlords have mercy on us and our slow, fleshy ways. Maybe they will even leave us a small store to shop at in the next century, when we can unplug from the giant matrix of world machinery. Our offspring will get to see if that ever comes about.  Good luck out there.

Mementos

 

A geode gathers dust and obscures its colors;

Elephant statue wears dust on its back.

Plastic statues dance across the shelf.

A tiny medicine bottle stands by nearby.

Tiny ceramic owls gaze out, flanking a

lightpost from some Victorian street scene.

Beer cans hang out on the shelf above,

in front of dog-eared paperbacks and movies.

Flat river rocks and small statuary echoes of

happy memories, times gone by.

Little reminders of past places visited,

memory jogs of fun times had long ago.

But they jog empty cells now – destinations

forgotten, although good time tokens themselves

adding appeal and delight to a small living room.

The mementos become memory and add to the

aura of a living space all on their own.

Don’t you dare throw them away.

So you need to get rid of some Moon Dust

 Here is one idea to handle it:

A crew might construct a large room to receive a person with a bulky spacesuit. Then the astronaut would proceed to walk through a narrower, square-ish entry at the opposite end from the airlock door. This would have three long, narrow strips running all the way around the entry, recessed inside the entry frame. Each strip would have powerful fans built in along the sides of a flat metal strip, drawing air and regolith dust inward. (At the center of each strip would be a flat-ish metal strip that is red-hot.) Any regolith that hits the strip would presumably melt, turn molten. Then a fan at the base would draw material downward – or the molten regolith would flow downward by some fashion. Perhaps the strips could be moving slowly, to draw the molten material down. At the base, the strips could traverse a long, narrow space where they could somehow deposit or drop the molten stuff into a receptacle. Then, rotate back into the chamber to catch more materials. The whole unit would only be activated by a button inside the airlock, or another inside the base – so it would not use any more power than necessary. (It is presumed that electrical power would be at a premium.)

Three such strips, spaced about 1 ft apart, could catch most of the moon dust that an astronaut brings in. A final poweful filter and fans could catch any remainder. The molten material could even be injected into a mold and used as building material or shielding.

The expense of an airlock like this would mean there is just one, installed at the human entry to a moon base. But it could solve the problem of abrasive, cutting dust particles carried inside, and even use them as molten building blocks. The door could be powered by the on-site nuclear powerplant, or by solar power separately.

To test the idea, a chamber could be built on earth, and glass powder could be used to test the “catching ability” of a chamber entry like this. It would be worth it to try it out, since molten regolith that is diverted out could help keep occupants healthy, and also be used as a building material on the Moon.

The main problem is coming up with a fan assembly that could be used to draw air and dust inward, across a super-hot strip (air or gas that would have to come from somewhere). And finding a metal that could be heated like that, and contained, and even turned. CO2 gas might be used as a drawing-in gas, thus utilizing exhalations. Or some other gas, like nitrogen, which might be needed anyway in a long-term base. It is one possible solution to dealing with that nasty glass-like lunar regolith dust.

Thanks for reading and at least considering the idea.

loops and arcs

 

To be young and anticipate all of the future delights.

Times ahead with some intimate other,

cuddling, kissing and realizing intense feelings.

The unknown powerfully beckons!

Even after the physical is finished, that ache in your

gut stays on, and you moon away, in love with love.

To be in the moment,

making love or simply kissing;

everything else is shut out,

time slows and you are happy to exist right now.

To be older, and lose the anticipations,

no more sense of wonder or hope.

You’ve done it all, experienced love and loss,

rebound and more love and more loss.

Various intimate scenarios have unfolded,

and expended themselves with high intensity;

fiery suns erupted inside you, then faded away.

The older body will not function as well,

and if sexual pleasure happens at all, it is shorter, more furtive.

Wonder and delight is left to swim in the sea of memory.

(No longer desired, one can sit back and watch other scenes play out.)

The dramas of life can unfold on TV or in others,

and one can relax, and rediscover the simple things.

Thanks given for each day one can stay healthy and mobile,

and maybe go see some sights.

The sweeping arc just repeats with each human lifetime.

I’m just glad that we were able to enjoy ours to the fullest.

Weather

 

How do they do it?

Out in the frigid air,

working, or playing football,

bare arms exposed to snow and zero temps.

I shiver indoors, wearing layers.

The heat is working, but turned down.

Every time the furnace comes on I give thanks.

C’mon, everything, keep on working,

at least until it warms up some!

Elsewhere, wildfires still burn,

political vitriol fanning different flames.

The world still smolders with embers of anger;

Some outbreaks of peace give occasional hope.

Maybe somehow a huge wave of peace can blanket

the earth, just like this cursed polar vortex.

The former will be a true blanket of warmth.

Not holding my breath here, just staying warm,

hoping that the mechanicals don’t fail.

Time will tell how “Cold” or “Hot” this year will get,

politically or environmentally.

Happy Inauguration Day.

Primeval Old or New

 (With reference to the new Netflix series  "American Primeval" )

Slanted harmonica tunes fade in afternoon dust,

light and shadow play across splayed bodies

spread out in bloody sand, scattered with

arrows and bottles, belts and bullets and guns.

On the corpse-strewn roadways of the American West,

how many weary souls have been laid to rest.

After striving and seeking and travel through expanse

Ducking, dodging and weaving to make advance.

What price does freedom carry when you’ve shot

your spouse, and flee across vast territories?

Whose god should take precedence when the law

is not around to watch, and protect the innocents?

Blood spills red every time, no matter which mangled

body it escapes from, no matter how tortuous the journey.

Native tribes, military officers, settlers or tavern owners

can offend each other so that killing ends up the solution.

Stymied harmonica tunes fade off in the afternoon light,

A myriad of shadows color laid or splayed bodies.

The sand is caked red with human despair and detritus,

along with arrows and bottles and belts and guns.

A hundred-fifty years later the whole miserable tableau

is hidden and covered by immense concrete and steel;

New civilization obscures the old in gleaming magnificence.

Human beings never change, however, so new blood

still gets spilled on presently decaying streets all around.

Wildfire January

 

Wildfires coat the air with orange and soot,

fire hoses, detritus and bodies underfoot.

Another mega-disaster unfolds in the west,

putting our recovery abilities to the test.

Hurricanes, flooding, snowstorms and wildfires

create so much human misery, and they require

all of us to work together to recover

from the many disasters we encounter.

Surely it is within our collective DNA

to rally together and commit all to the fray.

Perhaps redirect resources to fight these battles

facing us on so many fronts, keeping us rattled.

Times like these try the hearts of all human beings

challenge us to overcome devastation and miseries.

Happy New Year 2025

 

HNY 25

On this New Year's Day we stand,

With hopes and dreams close at hand.

The past behind, the future bright,
A canvas fresh, in morning light.

The fireworks loud, the year turns new,
A promise by the sky's deep blue.
We'll chase the stars, with hearts aglow,
And in each step, let our courage grow.

Old shadows fade, but lessons stay,
Guiding us or turning hairs grey.
A brand-new start, a chance to be,
Who we have yet to dare to see.

So raise a glass, both young and old,
To stories new and tales retold.
This year is ours, a path to pave,
With hope to carry, strong and brave.

Happy New Year, the journey's here,
Let's greet it with a cheer, sincere.
For every day, a chance to find,
A brighter world, and peace of mind.

Trees or People

 

A tree crashes down distantly in a forest,

Not acknowledged or heard by many.

Another human being passes away,

and is honored by so many friends.

Lives touched, affected, enhanced.

Memories made – new associations.

The loss of another person who figured

so large in a community’s goings-on.

Sometimes several trees will topple.

Mudslides, severe weather can uproot many.

Age and diseases can also eliminate many lives,

sometimes all at once, in a rush.

We wonder what is happening,

what is really going on.

Just the cruel vagaries of fate,

or some hidden sinister machinations?

One can never be sure;

just honor the memory of those lost,

and keep on trudging on,

creating new memories to treasure.

Twas The Week Before Christmas

 

Not many creatures were stirring,

except in war-torn places abroad.

Some general got eviscerated in Moscow,

Another school got blown up in Ukraine.

Israeli bombs raining down on Syria,

New settlements on the blueprints there.

The Chinese broke a rocket launching record,

closing in on that SpaceX Starlink success.

Health insurers are busy erecting concertina wire,

while the trial of a murderer/folk hero proceeds.

New cabinet picks are garnering screams

of dismay on capital hill and in homes all over.

The quiet jingles of Santa’s sleigh unfortunately

drowned out by drone traffic all over the place.

Could that jolly red elf even land on your roof,

without colliding with some buzzing idiot above?

One can hope for a pleasant enough season this year,

Amazon and Fedex taking over delivery of good cheer.

Perhaps shut off the news feeds and editorial screeds,

renew friendships and loves, wish each other a happy new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and all the best to humanity.

Give each other a helping hand, that we may bond in new fraternity.

Retirement is...

 

Watching a leaf fall from a tree, sail all the way down

to join the others gathered below, a quorum.

Listening to a squirrel chatter or chew a nut,

look up at it sitting on a branch, just being a squirrel.

Strolling along a bike trail listening to a stream gurgle.

Looking at different plants, trying to distinguish species.

Remembering what some of them are named,

but by now most are familiar sights on the trail.

No place to be in the next several hours,

or all day for that matter. Time slows some.

Retirement is time to make the bed, and dress slower.

Time to muse on which direction the day will take.

Life is so fleeting in any case,

why do we hurry up and spend it so much faster.

Our “hanging dewdrop” will burst soon enough.

No reason to panic and make things worse.

We’ll find out soon enough if destined to heaven or hell,

or nothing at all beyond that bright light ahead.

May as well enjoy our brief walk on this Earth,

not dwelling on heaven’s delights, or hell’s frights.

Memories of a Friend

 

Some corner of heaven reserved for sonnets

is likely stuffed with many familiar poets.

And some not as well known,

nor with nearly as much renown.

But special ones who were also friends

are surely there, having made amends.

One in particular I’ll never forget,

a mentor and friend who protected

those around him from various pitfalls.

Thanks to him we avoided real downfalls!

I can envision Jim Dunlap out there somewhere,

hosting some informative lyrical poetry get-togethers.

Perhaps populated by other local luminaries departing

this world, they host heaven’s latest poetry readings.

Unforgettable down here, popular out there,

our friend and fellow poet is favored everywhere.

We may not miss your cantankerous ways, old bard;

But we will treasure your memory in highest regard!

(Jim was a good friend of mine, and a great guy. He has been published on several continents around the world, and was also an active presence in online forums like Allpoetry, where he encouraged young poets to hone their craft. Goodbye and godspeed, my friend.)

(Wikipedia entry for Jim, for those interested:  Jim is an associate editor of Sonnetto Poesia, and he has been published in over 90 publications, including Potpourri, Candelabrum, Mobius, the Paris/ Atlantic, and online in Poetry Life and Times, Poetry Repair Shop, The Poets' Porch, and many others. He is a resident poet on Poetry Life & Times. He has been in the Writer's Digest top 100 in 3 categories, rhymed verse, unrhymed verse and the literary short story.^[1] He is listed in the Marquis Who's Who In America, the Marquis Who's Who In The World, and in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers which is a publication of Poets and Writers Magazine.

God in our Machines

 

So I was reading this novel about the near future, where an FBI agent and her humanoid robot go through a basic training course, including rope climbing, obstacle climbing and so forth. The android could respond rapidly to everything the human trainer said. And as ‘it’ stood and surveyed the course, it was running thousands of completions of said course through it’s processors, determining every precise step and movement it would take to complete the course in record time. Which, of course, it did.

It occurred to me that all of human records, knowledge, experiences are being poured wholesale into massive databases, which are in turn accessed by more powerful algorithms every day. We are handing off the sum total of our knowledge to machines, so they can do things better, faster, more efficiently. This has been talked about a lot already, and the need for some built-in controls is well known. But when I see a scenario laid out like the one I read, it takes my breath away. This is really happening, and going to happen more and more. In many ways there will be more convenience. But there will also be more and more knowledge jobs lost, up to the level of doctors and attorneys. At some point we may well need a national Basic Income payment so people can survive the coming unemployment waves, as our economy adjusts. There will be some new specialized jobs, no doubt, but a lot of dislocation too.

Right now, there is so much data being shoveled at us through our phones, our computers, our TV sets, etc. No to mention all the various household devices attached in some way to the Internet. I feel like I’m drowning in data right now – so of course welcome the help of ‘digital assistants’ - but that is in essence more data to keep track of. Wonder when we’ll reach a point where humans lose all control over the whole massive data structure.

We’ll have to be brave and resilient in this “brave new world” that is coming, coming up on us so fast. Good luck. Deus ex machina indeed.

Two Entered the Ring

 

One old grizzled fighter came on strong,

unleashing flurries of punches, landing some.

The younger, fresher one seemed to be biding his time…

The first two rounds went to the seasoned champion.

In the third round, things began to change.

The young man let loose with his wicked jab,

and began to do damage around an older head…

The champion ducked and weaved and dodged,

mostly effective but not every time – and got hit.

He took it like the champ he was, and persevered.

Dodging and weaving, he fired back some punches.

Got warned by the referee – they both did.

But after the fourth round, things looked bleak.

By the fifth and sixth rounds, the challenger was

scoring hits at three times the rate of the champ.

It became inevitable – and a game of survival.

The old champ stayed on his feet by will alone.

In the last two rounds, the old warrior launched

some desperate flurries, even landing a few.

The young strong bull answered back with plenty!

When it finally came to the end, it was with grace.

You saw the young challenger, now the champ,

behaving with an uncanny class, ceasing seconds early,

giving the old warhorse a bow of respect before the bell.

No bloody knockouts here – this was a sporting ballet.

No thrilla in Manila,

no slash-and-burn,

no ear-biting rages,

no TKO in the first round.

This was a contest of gentlemen,

settled like gentlemen.

Doubt there will be another match like this one.

Congrats, Jake Paul.

Well fought, Mike Tyson.

Don’t spend it all in one place (both of you). ;-)

Technology Relativity

 

Once we could be content with cable TV,

passive amusements fed to us repeatedly.

Only interaction was the channel changer,

it was OK to be sleepy dumb consumers.

Then that Internet age came up fast,

we all had to learn new keyboard tasks.

To think and interact and read many screens;

the old world of paper data receding at last.

Forget going out somewhere to fetch a book,

logging into the right website is all it took

to make our world smarter and better and brighter,

colorful images and columns and charts

accessed rapidly to make us all smarter.

Alas! Many smaller companies became providers,

some unreliable and spotty with coverages.

The more addicted we became to the ‘Net,

the quicker we could find ourselves disconnected!

Now we are all hopelessly hooked,

forty years of force-feeding is all it took.

Without a Net connection one is hopelessly lost,

an EM-saturated world permanently tempest-tossed!

(No AI was used in the writing of this poem.)

Doorways

 

Moving through the hallways of life

one keeps encountering doorways.

Entrances and exits to other realities,

or at least other paradigms in sight.

Life changes and aging bring new

encounters with throughways to novel worldviews.

Leaving the area called “career” and entering

that large unknown void called “retirement.”

Leaving one relationship for another,

hopping between rooms called ‘friends.’

Nice to know one can step back into most

other rooms and reconnect with dear ones.

On a larger scale, regions or countries

can leave a familiar hallway by electing

some new person to a leadership position.

Exiting the familiar, we all step into a void,

hoping not to fall off a cliff into new squalor.

With climate change, our entire Earth transits

a new doorway into climactic upheavals unknown…

Yet in the distant past the Earth was covered by ice.

Perhaps we will know the future by looking back.

Doorways and entrances to new unknown realities

cause one to wince as we take the jump.

Frightening future, here we come!

Last Hurrahs

 

Back in the 1960’s we were all lined up.

Long winding groups of kids waiting for our

mass shots, or exams, or even the cafeteria.

Positioned here and there for various

reasons I can’t even remember why;

Fire drills and fallout shelters and fear.

Now we sit at the opposite end of things.

Lined up in nursing homes,

at doctor’s offices or urgent care clinics,

or massing along pedestrian trails...

Daytime scenes populated with elderly dross,

All us Baby Boomers that have lost our gloss.

Succeeding generations have long since taken over

the running of society, while we Boomers sit and watch,

complain and grumble, or cheer and hurrah sometimes.

It has been a long, strange trip, and only some

of us made it to this other end. To us I say,

three cheers! And let us crack open one more

bottle of 60’s joy and color and good vibrations...

For old time’s sake!