A Soul Exposed: Across Colorado

I saw the mountains

And they stared back with indifference

And yet a comfort like no human being

Could ever convey

That feeling of being overwhelmed by beauty

As all the outer stresses melt away

And they stand so tall

Above me

And they seem to dwarf all questions I could ever ask

Their beauty makes me feel

Like the water in a stream

It rushes through every limb

And every point a flame

I don’t remember yesterday

I’m just glad I came

And they comfort my dying form

As the autumn trees lay down their own

In the silence, a victim of such distance

But I don’t feel alone

Instead, God seems closer

Colors are brighter

And with that passion

Sweeps across my troubled mind

No words to write

No questions to ask

A captured moment in time

When the mountains spoke with out a word

The most beautiful sound of silence

The most hopeful voice I’ve ever heard

God is a painter

And I’m ashamed

Of ever attempting to say

One word or stroke of hue

That could make you feel

The same

It’s no mistake we all stand quiet

All in our own space

We watch as the light and the colors

By the seconds change

And the lesson begins

As a stranger says and I agree

God is an artist

Describing it beautifully

I never offered up any of my words

Or even dare call myself an artist

Instead I spoke of my son

The only work to even compare

Across a vast autumn valley

both of us in silence stare

All the majesty of a Tuesday afternoon,

Set free across the great divide like a wind

Landscapes waiting to uncover

Secrets I never sought to find

Flaming aspens

Rich yellows and golds, crimson and wine,

Time seems kinder

Leaves me to my space

As every corner another amazing landscape

That draws itself like a painting

Slowly giving up all its colors

And all its pain

The dark and violent storm, the peaceful rain

Sleet upon mountains high

Every word and every color explained

Across the long hills beneath the shadows of giants

They say nothing

And I comply

I could barely describe this sense of being

I hesitate to even try…

A Winter Scene: My first poem ever approximately 1973

A Winter Scene

Pictures painted 

to capture live,

views of nature

artists strive

nothing captured quite as keen

enchanted oak and evergreen 

in a silent winter scene

Silent wonder

snow abound

casting shadows

all around

colors hidden, others seen

mood is captured quite surene

in this silent winter scene

Nature enters

in the scene

finch and kinglet

in evergreen

now the finish almost seen

paint the deer with senses keen

in this silent winter scene

Pictures painted

to convey

living nature of the day

mother nature seen pure and clean

to find what artists strive to mean

you must paint a winter scene

you must view a winter scene

SGL- 1973

September 1976

Do you remember the fireflies

When the edge of the forest would come to life

And they’d rise to light the sky

The humid air above us,

The open fields before us

The sounds of cricket frogs from puddles

The last incessant buzz of cicadas

Everything was green

A warm safe green

when mosiquotoes

meant innocent stings

And a band-aid cured everything

Coke syrup for queezy stomachs

Mercurochrome to close all wounds

The simplicity of summer

when evening would come too soon

running the streets, the woods,

the trees

we had it all in our endless landscape

we were kings

monsters stayed safely under beds

there were heroes and fables and stories we read

the cold sweet breezes of autumn

that wonderful September day

watching with sadness, anxiety

as summer burned away

In the darkness of autumn

We grew a million years

As monsters showed their faces

And truth became our darkest fears

We grew up in one day

When dad that sailed his ship

To somewhere far away

Give me a few days

And I’ll make it all go away

Give me a few days

and we’ll be happy again

Do you remember the fireflies

The summer that followed

Or the spring

I don’t remember the sounds,

Or the colors

I don’t remember anything…

Wander Lust: The journey begins

On the bottom rung,

This unknown architecture

Where climbing seems the same as coming down

Find yourself in the sky

Or digging in the ground

The apparatus is never the same

Couldn’t explain it if I tried

But it’s liquid

And it runs through me and borders us

On every side

This strange landscape

You’ll never recognize

Enthusiasm and excitement

Is the fuel you’ll need

Beware of the doubt and the negative thought

Planting

Seeds

Fly across this great expanse

With the reckless abandon

Of a feather in the wind

Watch it rise and fall

I’m ready to begin

Across this parched earth

We’ve sought ideas

That kept us awake and alive

Disconnect the oxygen

The restraints of logic and time

We’ve charted an unknown landscape

I couldn’t explain if I tried

Don’t know how to maneuver

this awkward Apparatus,

a clumsy body

a wandering mind….

Crying Wolf: Not Everything is an Assault on Our Liberties, Choose your Battles Wisely

A problem that distracts from the real problem; everyone is a victim. This post is about the TSAs, I saw several youtube videos on their abuse of power and although I was ready to be disgusted, I wasn’t.

One of the videos was about a young girl who was beaten and bloody and although I didn’t know the full story, I thought it would be hard to justify her being singled out.

The others were people looking for trouble and finding it, in my humble opinion.

First, in the world now, although our government seems to be uneasy with the term, there are terrorists that want to kill us. However this happened and whoever is to blame is irrelevant, we are in a dangerous global phase of American life and it’s an ugly place.

All of us need to realize there is a problem and we all need to work for some solution that doesn’t make us sheep at the mercy of power hungry TSAs nor victims looking to be victimized by government workers simply doing their jobs. Can we all just get along?

What I saw on the videos were government employees who were trying to make the best of a bad situation. It’s common sense, if I mess with a police officer, ask them inappropriate questions and verbally antagonize them, I will probably end up being roughed up or causing the officer to show his authority. If you look for trouble you can always find it.

I see a negative stigma to the whole herding of people into the airport, not that I know how to change it but if anyone goes through security checks, it can feel humiliating. I think this is what causes the attitude of some individuals to push back, their feeling of being herded like sheep makes them react back with resentment and hostility, the exact attitude the TSAs are watching out for, to protect all of us.

I have never had problems going through, I greet the TSAs, I make it easy for them much like I do when getting stopped by a police officer, I make it as painless as I can for both the TSAs and myself and I think most appreciate that and treat me with respect.

I am not a proponent of the government especially in its current state but I feel if you call foul when it is not appropriate you water down the times that it really is a problem. I believe we need less government interfering in every aspect of American life but the examples I saw did not justify the outrage.

Probably by watching videos that didn't merit my disgust wasted time I could have spent watching videos that do truly capture a real problem with a section of the TSAs that are perhaps abusive with their power. This is exactly what I mean by watering down the real problem.

What’s wrong with watching the news?

A beautiful day outside,

you sit in your chair,

muscles relaxed

Your back sags

Deep into the leather restraints

You remain

News cast warns, impending storm

They’ll show you every death and every bit of destruction

But don’t be alarmed

Close the blinds, protect yourself

Turn your chair away from the door

All you need to know is what they feed you

But there’s more!!

There’s violence in the streets

and they’ll deliver every bit

truths,  half truths and lies,

You sink in your chair

As you slowly go blind

The light in the room dims

You pull closer to the television

Turn up the sound

While beasts with great shadows

Stream across the wall,

Mosquitos, flies, criminals

Be afraid of them all

Zica, west nile, you keep your windows closed

Can’t go outside

For fear of the heat, or the bacterium

Sure to infect

Be assured the news is there

Be still as they protect

You sink, deeper into that shrinking chair

The front door is unsafe

You linger there

Shadows cover the walls, flooding the floors

But wait, there’s more

Don’t eat, don’t drink

Don’t do this, stay

And watch the app

Stream live

We’ll be right back

Stay tuned

Close to an image of the world

You’ll never see

Stay in your chair, shrink

There’s no place else you need to be