Sunday, February 28, 2010
My Man
"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities". Albert Einstein
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Man's Love
I awoke and she was gone
early morning sunlight through the open window
playing on the bed
Drapes slowly waving in the cool morning breeze soft on my skin
The wrinkles in the sheets where she had laid…her smells
the feel of her warmth, her breath still embracing me
I arise, sunlight dancing in the dew along the porch rails…
Sit, watch, alive in this days beginnings
She is gone now and I ache
I want to show her these diamonds of sunlight in the dew
I want to show her early mornings in this forest
I want her to know the sunsets I’ve known in the high desert
The million, million stars from high atop the mountains
children at play in Paris streets
the feeling of an ancient tree in a hushed forest
the thrill of flying, of children, of birth
the absolute love of seeing your child for the first time
I want to share with her all my joys, all my sadness, all my loves
It slumbered in my heart as I slept next to her and now it is tight in my chest without her
It is the quiet strength and beauty within all men
It is of life and children and passion
It is the inspiration of the ages
It is the inspiration of the ages
It is a man’s love for a woman…and I love her so
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Embrace
Scientists believe the universe began with a colossal explosion – the Big Bang – some 13.5 billion years ago. Moments after the explosion the first primordial matter condensed from the energy released. In the billions of years that have followed much of that first matter has been transmuted within the fires of trillions of stars or in their last catastrophic moments when they exploded into supernovas, the force forming all the various atoms and molecules now in existence. Within each of us is approximately a teaspoon of the original primordial matter. Everything else – everything – has been forged in stars. We are literally star dust. We are this universe, the universe is us. We are not separate or even a special case. The division of man from nature is only an illusion of sentience. In my hand are atoms formed at the very moment time began. In my eyes atoms that formed as a star exploded. I have within me atoms from dinosaurs, atoms from ancient plants, atoms from creatures large and small that have roamed the earth, atoms from my ancestors, atoms from the moon, atoms from the sun, atoms from everything you can imagine. We are this universe, this universe is us. We must embrace - everything.
We now know we all trace back to common ancestors that walked out of Africa some 60,000 – 80,000 years ago. These people account for every living human being on the planet today. All of us trace to common ancestors that walked the earth literally an instant ago in evolutionary time scale. The differences we see in each other today are in fact as trivial and meaningless as the differences in appearance of individuals in any family. When we kill, for whatever reason – we kill members of our family. There is no difference between you and an Iraqi. No difference between you and an Afghan. No difference between you and anyone. The act of setting ourselves apart from the universe or from one another is rooted in ignorance and is nothing more than a dangerous illusion. The consequences – we will destroy ourselves if we continue. We are this universe, this universe is us. We must embrace – everything and everyone.
We now know we all trace back to common ancestors that walked out of Africa some 60,000 – 80,000 years ago. These people account for every living human being on the planet today. All of us trace to common ancestors that walked the earth literally an instant ago in evolutionary time scale. The differences we see in each other today are in fact as trivial and meaningless as the differences in appearance of individuals in any family. When we kill, for whatever reason – we kill members of our family. There is no difference between you and an Iraqi. No difference between you and an Afghan. No difference between you and anyone. The act of setting ourselves apart from the universe or from one another is rooted in ignorance and is nothing more than a dangerous illusion. The consequences – we will destroy ourselves if we continue. We are this universe, this universe is us. We must embrace – everything and everyone.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Obama and the Nobel
The glaring absurdity of speaking of peace through war while accepting a Nobel
Political double speak flying in the face of historical greatness, of historical hope
A war where so many others have failed?
Oh how clever to have pulled off the speech
paid for in blood
Too clever not to wonder – is it evil?
Too clever for me
Political double speak flying in the face of historical greatness, of historical hope
A war where so many others have failed?
Oh how clever to have pulled off the speech
paid for in blood
Too clever not to wonder – is it evil?
Too clever for me
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Dance
Shimmering moonlight on waves of sugarcane
swaying in the trades
tropical island so ancient.... echos of its African roots
goats and the wide white eyes of children against black skin
in the headlights as you speed by
wind in your hair, an energy
a million stars
mountain shack tucked against the jungle
dark, so still
drums in your chest
A beat ancient, dangerous, alive
inside - dim light, smoke and shadow - a hundred bodies in movement, sweat and swaying to the music
skin, black and shimmering, so beautiful in their movements
a rhythm, drums and chants, so sensual…
the seamless movement of her hips…the music in her...through her…
long hair across her bare shoulders, eyes closed, hips softly swaying…
a hundred bodies in the darkness, all moving with her, she with them….
eyes closed...feel her against you now
your body begins to move
the passion, the mounting joy as it flows from her, through you,
beyond you
Dance
swaying in the trades
tropical island so ancient.... echos of its African roots
goats and the wide white eyes of children against black skin
in the headlights as you speed by
wind in your hair, an energy
a million stars
mountain shack tucked against the jungle
dark, so still
drums in your chest
A beat ancient, dangerous, alive
inside - dim light, smoke and shadow - a hundred bodies in movement, sweat and swaying to the music
skin, black and shimmering, so beautiful in their movements
a rhythm, drums and chants, so sensual…
the seamless movement of her hips…the music in her...through her…
long hair across her bare shoulders, eyes closed, hips softly swaying…
a hundred bodies in the darkness, all moving with her, she with them….
eyes closed...feel her against you now
your body begins to move
the passion, the mounting joy as it flows from her, through you,
beyond you
Dance
Please End The Iraq War
As they sat near their fire the night closed in, both lost in their thoughts.
The stars, stunning in their beauty, overwhelming in their mysteries, appeared in great numbers and brightness.
The shaman, deep in thought suddenly said.“ I believe the stars are spirits, great spirits each alone, taken together holding the fabric of all that there is.”
“Some say they are worlds unto themselves,”…the explorer offered.
“Whatever they are, they are great,”answered the shaman.
The idea that we as Americans have the right to violently impose our way of life on others, to destroy other cultures, killing and maiming in the process - the belief that our way of life is more important than life itself embarrasses in its primitiveness and alarms in the immense dangers embedded in its stupidity. The idea that we and we alone have the right to such decisions in the midst of this vast universe is not simply wrong, it is untenable. One has only to look up at night to understand the shame of such narrow, egocentric thinking. We are surrounded by an immensity we can’t even imagine. In your minds eye stand back from this small fragile globe, take it in its entirety as it floats in vacuum and realize its fragility, its smallness, and how utterly alone we are against immense forces. Realize this and ask then what is important.
Life. We are nothing except as nurturers of life.
Once that is understood, really understood – all thoughts of narrow, nationalistic, political, economic and cultural centralism become embarrassingly primitive.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by our hands since we first invaded in 2003. So many innocent lives – babies, children, innocents calling to us from their graves, their cries revealing so much anguish. They call to us to cast doubt on our ideologies, greed and narrowness of mind. We must listen. The loss of their lives has diminished us all and a great sadness befalls. We are murdering our own – fellow humans on this tiny fragile earth – and for what?
The stars, stunning in their beauty, overwhelming in their mysteries, appeared in great numbers and brightness.
The shaman, deep in thought suddenly said.“ I believe the stars are spirits, great spirits each alone, taken together holding the fabric of all that there is.”
“Some say they are worlds unto themselves,”…the explorer offered.
“Whatever they are, they are great,”answered the shaman.
The idea that we as Americans have the right to violently impose our way of life on others, to destroy other cultures, killing and maiming in the process - the belief that our way of life is more important than life itself embarrasses in its primitiveness and alarms in the immense dangers embedded in its stupidity. The idea that we and we alone have the right to such decisions in the midst of this vast universe is not simply wrong, it is untenable. One has only to look up at night to understand the shame of such narrow, egocentric thinking. We are surrounded by an immensity we can’t even imagine. In your minds eye stand back from this small fragile globe, take it in its entirety as it floats in vacuum and realize its fragility, its smallness, and how utterly alone we are against immense forces. Realize this and ask then what is important.
Life. We are nothing except as nurturers of life.
Once that is understood, really understood – all thoughts of narrow, nationalistic, political, economic and cultural centralism become embarrassingly primitive.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed by our hands since we first invaded in 2003. So many innocent lives – babies, children, innocents calling to us from their graves, their cries revealing so much anguish. They call to us to cast doubt on our ideologies, greed and narrowness of mind. We must listen. The loss of their lives has diminished us all and a great sadness befalls. We are murdering our own – fellow humans on this tiny fragile earth – and for what?
Saturday, February 13, 2010
A letter to Obama
Dear President Obama
I wanted you to hear one voice that I think reflects many of your prior supporters. I supported you early in your campaign and have supported you patiently during your Presidency. You must know you are about to lose my support. You promised us:
1. Rapid withdrawal from Iraq
2. Closure of Guantanimo Bay Detention Camp
3. Repeal of the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest
4. Repeal of don’t ask don’t tell in the military
5. Meaningful health care reform. 3% of the population qualifying for a public option is not change. Forcing US citizens to purchase overpriced, inefficient health care coverage is a boondoggle for private health insurance - not for us. I wonder if this deal wasn’t cut awhile ago - give me universal coverage, no denials, no caps - I'll bring you 40 million new paying customers. I hope not - would make you a fraud of sorts.
6. Probably most importantly you promised us meaningful change. Most interpreted that as re-establishing a voice to the individual citizen, empowering us against the ever growing influence of corporate and extreme ideological concerns that in the eight years preceding you so threatened the world’s economy, international relations and peace, the environment, the ability of our system of government to function as it was meant to with checks and balances and meaningful debate, and the dignity and well being of our average citizens.
To date you’re failing in moral and ethical leadership, transparency, and making good on your word. And most sadly you’re failing as regards hope and inspiration. We are at a crossroads – in its essence – corporatism vs democracy – greed, short sightedness, and eventual self-destruction vs. prosperity and sustainability through responsible government and balanced empowerment of all. I appeal for you to rise to this crisis, hear your calling, listen and take power from the hearts of billions who look to you, support you, and love what you stand for. Realize that what is at stake here is sustaining quality human life on this planet – nothing less – you literally have the opportunity to save the world. Stop playing politics, do not compromise to avoid small failures – LEAD - lead us to a better world.
I wanted you to hear one voice that I think reflects many of your prior supporters. I supported you early in your campaign and have supported you patiently during your Presidency. You must know you are about to lose my support. You promised us:
1. Rapid withdrawal from Iraq
2. Closure of Guantanimo Bay Detention Camp
3. Repeal of the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest
4. Repeal of don’t ask don’t tell in the military
5. Meaningful health care reform. 3% of the population qualifying for a public option is not change. Forcing US citizens to purchase overpriced, inefficient health care coverage is a boondoggle for private health insurance - not for us. I wonder if this deal wasn’t cut awhile ago - give me universal coverage, no denials, no caps - I'll bring you 40 million new paying customers. I hope not - would make you a fraud of sorts.
6. Probably most importantly you promised us meaningful change. Most interpreted that as re-establishing a voice to the individual citizen, empowering us against the ever growing influence of corporate and extreme ideological concerns that in the eight years preceding you so threatened the world’s economy, international relations and peace, the environment, the ability of our system of government to function as it was meant to with checks and balances and meaningful debate, and the dignity and well being of our average citizens.
To date you’re failing in moral and ethical leadership, transparency, and making good on your word. And most sadly you’re failing as regards hope and inspiration. We are at a crossroads – in its essence – corporatism vs democracy – greed, short sightedness, and eventual self-destruction vs. prosperity and sustainability through responsible government and balanced empowerment of all. I appeal for you to rise to this crisis, hear your calling, listen and take power from the hearts of billions who look to you, support you, and love what you stand for. Realize that what is at stake here is sustaining quality human life on this planet – nothing less – you literally have the opportunity to save the world. Stop playing politics, do not compromise to avoid small failures – LEAD - lead us to a better world.
Wake Up Bubba - We're in For a Bumpy Ride
Artificial intelligence will at some point exceed human capacity (estimated to occur in 2023)
When it does man will be forced to undergo symbiosis with it just to keep up (already beginning - Smartphone/Internet). Completion of symbiosis will mark the end of the human race as a species (estimated to occur in 2040) as we leave our biologic intelligence behind.
Intelligence probably has no limit. Its expansion is exponential not linear - intelligence a billion, a trillion times the smartest of us today in the next 100 years. A billion times more intelligent = God.
In a 13 billion year old universe and/or in a multi-universe reality this has already occurred. Therefore there is a god – perhaps a lot of them – I doubt we'd recognize them if we saw them.
I’ll wager these gods don’t hang out on crosses. But they may have established all the necessary conditions that led to the invention of the cross and the reasons for its use.
When it does man will be forced to undergo symbiosis with it just to keep up (already beginning - Smartphone/Internet). Completion of symbiosis will mark the end of the human race as a species (estimated to occur in 2040) as we leave our biologic intelligence behind.
Intelligence probably has no limit. Its expansion is exponential not linear - intelligence a billion, a trillion times the smartest of us today in the next 100 years. A billion times more intelligent = God.
In a 13 billion year old universe and/or in a multi-universe reality this has already occurred. Therefore there is a god – perhaps a lot of them – I doubt we'd recognize them if we saw them.
I’ll wager these gods don’t hang out on crosses. But they may have established all the necessary conditions that led to the invention of the cross and the reasons for its use.
Friday, February 12, 2010
On the edge of sanity
We are each made of a swarm of atoms that were originally created in exploding stars billions of years old. We come to exist, glued to a tiny planet by gravitational forces we don't really understand. The planet we are on spins at 1000 miles per hour as it screams through the unbelievable hostile vacuum of space at 160miles per second around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It takes 220 million years for us to complete one rotation around this galaxy - a cluster of 200 billion stars - one of which is our sun. There are at least 1,200 billion other galaxies in this universe each with their 200 billion suns and countless planets.
The universe is unbelievably large and we unbelievably insignificant in comparison. I first realized this at age ten. This was good and bad. The next step was to realize, while sitting in church, that out of all this immensity, for God to have sent his only son here - looking just like us? - pretty suspect. As in bullshit. It was pretty much downhill from there as regards my ability to buy into most of the rest of the modern party line.
Viewing Earth from the perspective of a tiny fragile globe hurling through space humbles and inspires all at once - but makes flag waving and joining in difficult. And so from age 10 on things got difficult. I mean if you're paying attention, even just a little, how can you not be angry? But how also can you not be inspired and awed. And so I write.
The universe is unbelievably large and we unbelievably insignificant in comparison. I first realized this at age ten. This was good and bad. The next step was to realize, while sitting in church, that out of all this immensity, for God to have sent his only son here - looking just like us? - pretty suspect. As in bullshit. It was pretty much downhill from there as regards my ability to buy into most of the rest of the modern party line.
Viewing Earth from the perspective of a tiny fragile globe hurling through space humbles and inspires all at once - but makes flag waving and joining in difficult. And so from age 10 on things got difficult. I mean if you're paying attention, even just a little, how can you not be angry? But how also can you not be inspired and awed. And so I write.
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