1/18/13

Wander Off Into Myths





"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Timothy 4:3-4




Signs of Spring. 8"x11" Pigment ink on 11"x14" Bristol Board


Whispers of Longing For Signs Of Spring In The Winter Of Discontent


What happened to hope?
And change?
Never have two words 
Been so maligned
And distorted
Since
Acorn
This is now
A country called united
So divided
A country once considered 
World leader
Made irrelevant
Insignificant
Mocked
And derided
Terrorists considered to be on the run
Killing Americans 
With impunity
Our leaders proudly proclaimed
Of having chased away terrorism
Quiet
Cried  during the parade of coffins
Touching image
Oh, that was just the 
Demagogue campaigning
To date truth is elusive
We have priorities
Celebrities and reality shows Tweets Sexting Sharing myths and urban legends Lies and distortions Instant communication  Shallow and empty Exhibitionists and stalkers Vile commentaries  in public dialogues Cowardly hiding behind anonymity Falling in-love virtually Friends by the thousands Never having met Make believe Killing hundreds in video games Smoking dope Free birth control pills Abortion on demand Young girls Their mothers need not know...
Free phones
Free food stamps
Free health care
Just making things 
A little more fair and more equal
So we take from one to give to the other
Perhaps wiping off the smiles 
From those who toiled and have
Will make the rest of us grin
Except we are now all equal
Slaves to debt
Don't worry
Here, take an anti-depressant
Do you have an 
Avtomat Kalashnikova at home?
Why not
Whatever for? 
Give up a little liberty 
Let drones hover above
Let Big Brother care for us
Because we are incapable?
Black boxes in our cars
Tracking devices on pill bottles
Please take off your shoes
Strip your coat
Raise your hands above your head
Do not move
There!
Didn't that make you feel 
A little more secure?
In Illinois 
Where I visited
1 in 3 living in poverty mostly in Chicago
In gun violence in 2012 
"144 American soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan in June, 228 Chicagoans had been killed during that same time period. Many of the dead were school age or teenagers."*
In one state.
Why were there no 
Executive Orders? ***
No press corps? No photo opportunities? No closeup of tear shedding in a press conference in the midst a football game?
Why wait 
For an insane antisocial evil
 To massacre little children? 
Because they were better looking 
And more effective props?
Despicable tyrants and demagogues love to use children as props.
Let's blame someone
Let's blame something
Just blame
Maybe we should talk?
No one listens
We cannot hear above the shouting
Or the silence of those who favor gun control but worry about their own survival
In the next election
More photo opportunities
More fawning.
No sense no sensibilities
United states
Divided people 
Failing to learn from history
Ignoring where we came from
Why we are here
We will be lost
Let it not be so
This is my home
Promised land
I believe
Americans will do the right thing.



*** Unofficially, there were 513 homicides in Chicago in 2012, nearly 100 more than New York City, which recorded 414 killings but which has a population three times larger. Chicago’s body count is 200 more than the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan last year. The carnage has continued unabated into the New Year.

5 comments:

k.h.whitaker said...

so beautiful!!!!

Bella Sinclair said...

I long to be still, nestled in your branches, watching fireflies dance on my left and geese commute on my right. Here, there's serenity and peace. This country is a myth. Common sense is a myth. I wish I could be as optimistic as you.

Tsup

Debbie Clandening said...

Lovely lovely

brandi said...

~spoken ever so clear...truth in each word written...often i fear what the world will be when my littles are left as adults raising their own...

signs of spring is beautifully drawn...the geese have been flying over our home for a few weeks now...i can hear them calling in the early hours...a sign of hope...be well my dear friend and much love light and blessings~ be with you and yours~

steveroni said...

In the end, everything will be OK.
But it is certainly NOT the end--as you noted.
Yessss, I have hope.
Change? Well we have plenty of change--DAILY, hourly.
Waiting for that pendulum to swing back...
and knock some heads during its arc of return.
I copied thispost, don't know yet how to use it, but SO important.
I do not say, "Who will ever listen."
Rather, "The Peeps are WAITING to hear this!"
TSUP...("friend")