Abused & Abuser

When the abused
Become abusers
They become
Especially creative
In wielding cruelty.
07.31.10

Reflection & Self

As long as I do not look
At my reflection
I know who I am;
But when I look to see
How do I look
I lose myself.
07.30.10

Burden & Pleasure

Those who are not
Capable of pleasure
Are a burden.
07.29.10

More & Less

The well endowed
Should be held to higher standards;
The less endowed
Should be tolerated with deeper compassion.
07.28.10

Pioneers & Spirits

Pioneership
The spiritedness that builds nations
Suffocates in the effeteness of security;
To resuscitate pioneership
A nation needs emigrants
Legal, illegal, young, old
From all places and races
Who will bring with them
Their indomitable spirits.
07.27.10

Nations & Futures

Nations that think
That they can protect
Their futures with guns
Are adolescent sophomores
With too much muscle
And too little wisdom.
07.26.10

Preaching & Nature

It is puerile to think
That any amount of preaching
Can influence a person’s nature;
We can only receive
What we are inclined to receive.
07.25.10

Hubris & Humility

To call somebody stupid
Or to mistreat the less intelligent
Is the pernicious hubris
That poisons life;
Intelligence is given, not earned
And those who have received more
Should guard against the slippery slope
Which tumbles us from humility down into hubris.
07.24.10

Praise & Gifts

Sincere praise
For good minds and hearts
Ignores the fact that our hearts and minds
Are but the generous gifts of our Maker
And are not personal achievements.
07.23.10

Repetition & Anxiety

If one asks you
The same question
Over and over and over
Or if one repeats himself
Without sensing his repetition
And if your answer is heard
But never acknowledged
You can then diagnose
Severe anxiety.
07.1.22.10

Submissive & Shy

The Submissive get along with everyone
And the Shy conjure everyone’s compassion
For they both vouchsafe to everyone they meet
Everyone they know and everyone who loves them
A false but gratifying sense of dominance.
07.21.10

Good-Byes & Hellos 07.21.10

Were it not for those lengthy good-byes
We would have more time for hellos.
07.21.10

Struggle and Health

Nature is unforgiving
And exacts struggle for fitness and health;
Reward creatures with more food for less activity
And they’ll become unfit and fat.
07.20.10

Nature & Borders

Nature has no borders;
Divisions are figments
Of the human mind.
07.19.10

Quality & Majority

Quality decays
Awaiting majority approval.
07.18.10

Self Worth & Sabotage

Self worth engendered by others
May be sabotaged by others;
But the self worth that springs from within
Is immune to sabotage and praise.
07.17.10

Evidence & Dogma

Science offends humanity
When it challenges beliefs
And undermines dogmas;
The burden of evidence
Is too heavy to bear.
07.16.10

Voting & Evidence

Voting is emotional
Not evidence based
And the winners are those
Who best manipulate emotions.
07.15.10

Dictatorship & Cosmos

Democracy is dictatorship of governments
Capitalism, dictatorship of capitals
Socialism, dictatorship of ideologies
Society, dictatorship of traditions
Religion, dictatorship of beliefs
Power, dictatorship of the military
Desire, dictatorship of instincts
Emotions, dictatorships of passions
Thoughts, dictatorships of memories
Reason, dictatorship of the mind
Behavior, dictatorship of the mores
Life, dictatorship of our programming
Our programming, dictatorship of the planet
Our planet, dictatorship of the cosmos.
07.14.10

Freedom & Illusion

Freedom is an illusion;
Not even our imaginations
Are totally free.
We are the progeny
Of our programming
The output
Of our nurturing
Contained in body and mind
In soul and imagination
Within our places in history.
07.13.10

Legal & Ethical

What is legal is not always ethical
And what is ethical, not always legal
And having the right to do something
Does not sanction its ethicality or wisdom.
07.12.10

Noise & Quietude

If you want noise
Turn on the TV or radio;
If you want quietude
Turn on your mind.
07.10.10

Self & Information

Those who always talk about themselves
Actually think they’re being generous
By sharing vital information.
07.10.10

Innocence & Reality

How innocently we pass through life
And how shocked we seem to be
When checked by reality.
07.09.10

Optimism & Pessimism

Optimism
Is just as bad
As pessimism.
07.08.10

Useful & In Need

Those who are useful
Are pray to those in need.
07.07.10

Evidence & Human Behavior

Evidence
Seldom influences
Or else takes a long time
To influence human behavior.
07.06.10

Smiling & Death

We cheat death
When in our sleep
We die smiling.
07.05.10

Speaking & Listening

The pressure to speak one’s mind,
To empty one’s overflowing heart
In spite of the listeners’ disinterest,
Is the need to vent, share, imprint;
It also is the listener’s chance to hark
The excogitations of a soul in distress
And a chance to ease a spirit’s anguish
Through the generous act of listening.
07.04.10

Substance & Noise

Observe how the noisy lack substance
And how the substantial lack noise.
07.03.10

Self-Entertainment & Freedom

It’s only through one’s abilities
At self-entertainment and enjoyment
That one gains freedom from loneliness
And independence from burdensome society.
07.02.10

Performance & Truth

If you perform
For those who like you
You’ll get applause
But you’ll never know
What they really think;
But if you perform
For those who don’t like you
And you get applause
You will know what they think.
Only those who don’t like you
Will tell you the truth.
07.01.10