Morning

light washes through open blinds

you are forgiven for everything 

you have ever done or said

you are clean

untouched, without names

your habits are comfort

your past has passed

yesterday was before the night

you slept and dreamed

stories you forgot on waking

your eyes open and you search

for your name, the floor beneath your bed

where do you go when you slip

into the star-field where nothing cares

about your history or your opinions

any more than you care

about the feelings of fruit flies

the elemental spread sheet

has left the columns and rows blank 

for you to breathe.

Dear America

 

When I came to this continent I met Ralph Waldo Emerson

—society as a project, a home, built by friendship, 

barns built by community.

Jobs for people—but you were awed by capitalism 

transcendence of economy above sentiment, 

fantastic things, celebrity, the remaking of men 

and all the ways a woman’s body can be used

influenced by privileged souls.

The universal church of screens, talking heads and red lips, 

new words for new meanings, crash and bang 

you made it up and presented us with Jesus the Superstar 

and Trump the Christ—in the new world who needs real people 

when you can turn it on and turn it off again

—but we cannot escape the meaning of this wizard 

who replaced shamans, kings and emperors 

with prisons for profit.  

Let them eat candy floss.

While the great fascists of Europe were fed oil and gas

you were singing in the rain and loving Lucy

we lapped it up like cream and sugar 

reading Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt 

teach truth—which nearly caught on 

until the next economist came out with breakfast puffs

and by then we were marshmallow chums

singing kumbaya around the campfire

more fun than British Bulldogs

(bobby sox were not for stiff upper lips)

and those hippies knew how to put an end to war

until the neoliberal economy wiped out everything 

from the Amazon Forest to the orca whale 

and all that remains

is lizard brain and far-sighted raptor.

Neo-Nazi’s, I suspect,  are supported by two camps 

those afraid we will use reason to create a future

and those traumatized before they met tenderness.

Now the continent must be returned to earth 

and its inhabitants or bonfires without borders

will finish the game.

About Conspiracy Theories

As long as power is centralized to a privileged few, there will be conspiracy theories. Utopian and dystopian imaginings flower wherever we have a few seconds to think. We survived by looking at what is happening in our world and thinking about how we can improve it for our own well-being.

There are hundreds of books theorizing conspiracies throughout the centuries of human consciousness.

Conspiracy theories will be with us as long as we think, read and speak. Conspiracy is that Universal monster that flies over and under the canopy of forests and in the soil beneath the fields. 

The big problem today is not the conspiracy theory but the lack of conscience between those who are given the responsibility to rule or protect others.

Jeremy Lent, has written five conspiracies that are real:

1. Conspiracy to turn the world into a giant marketplace for the benefit of the wealthy elite

2. Conspiracy by transnational corporations to turn billions of people into addicts

3. Conspiracy to plunder the Global South for the benefit of the Global North

4. Conspiracy to hide the effects of climate breakdown for corporate profit

5. Conspiracy to grow the global economy indefinitely, while killing most of life on Earth and risking the collapse of civilization.

But we don't call these conspiracies in general, we call this future planning.

There is an over-arching conspiracy to undermine the human conscience that is inclined towards love for life which is very effective.

It means educated people who have studied business, philosophy, politics, medicine, education and other disciplines would never keep their positions if they claimed that love is the central core  of what could  save the planet. This is how atomization has put us all into the boxes of a pecking order that serves the most popular ideology and why so much effort goes into torturing and killing the people who possess other ideas.

You can read 1984, watch endless crime dramas, read cultivated religious theories, about the danger of being innocent in a corrupt world.

Is there anything you and I can do about this to avoid destroying the mental health of beings forever? Perhaps it's a question as unanswerable as the meaning of life.

My suggestion is, if you can't prove the claim, go back to the values that have worked for you. Don't read everything presented to you unless there is a personal and immediate danger to your loved ones.

The danger is in the number of confusing claims. Love everyone. hate no-one, move to the edge. Then do whatever you can to make others feel worthy, loved and needed.

And the word was Life

Let the ‘L’ gently come from the tongue

as it touches the upper gum of your tender mouth

let the ‘I’ fly lightly toward the fricative ‘F’

and let ‘E’ be the silent witness.

‘Life’. It’s easy to say.

Authentic and yet unassuming, non-judgmental.

It precedes ideology and makes every assumption

a conceit.

Say ‘Maisha’ like the mothers of Africa.

Say ‘Shxweli’ like the people of the river.

(from Infinite Power, Ekstasis 2016)

Don’t Look for Beauty

Beauty will not look back at you

from mirrors or photographs

beauty is art and intellect conspiring 

to keep you alive and breathing 

it will pierce when you least expect it

when you’re standing in line at the checkout 

it will run across the road in front of your car

appear as a remembered look from someone 

whose name you never knew

or the raven’s sudden lift off—its wings defining 

ground from sky.

Beauty can be anything and everything

except the intentional harm of another being.

Cruelty for the sake of domination

is mental illness no matter how

it is excused.

See beauty where it is

let it in, for your own sake.

(from Sleep With Me: Lullaby for an Anxious Planet, Ekstasis 2020)

Dear Humanity

Made by what we observe

we have opinions, self-interest, 

professions and positions, 

yet noises all around.

So in this age of generalizations

I am infiltrating the world with words

based on where I sit

and whether my teeth ache

and where the radio is placed

yes, but

the world is interpreted by others

before it reaches the headline or mic

and then there are other experts

besides me

frogs, stellar jays, storms and scientists

as well as many smug faces

revealing murders and protests

all over the world, someone somewhere

chooses what we see or hear

it’s not bleeding that leads

it’s whatever pays the piper

and oils the printers

unconscious elements which drive

something that has no love for humanity

from Sleep With Me: Lullaby for an Anxious Planet (Ekstasis 2020). Cover image by Debbie Goodman, www.debbiegoodman.com.

You can email the author at lipstickpress@shaw.ca to order a copy of this book or go to Ekstasis www.ekstasiseditions.com

The Emptiness of Despair

In the last few days I have felt beaten. Energy, capabilities, hopefulness, joy, have all left me. This makes me more vulnerable to despair, to find answers in nihilism. 

This throwing up of hands, giving up is apocalyptic. 

It's one thing for a single person to commit suicide and quite another when our society gives up on the future.

Everything is about money and power we might say and turn away from the suffering of others. There's nothing we can do is partly true - power is an elusive thing when it comes to making drastic changes. However a small virus has shut down our common habits like visiting family and watching theatre. 

This is an example of what can be achieved when millions of us work toward a common goal.

No it's not simple and as much as I can create future scenarios in my imagination, it doesn't change anything.

Weapons only take out the conscience and install the quick killings.

Many very intelligent, thoughtful people have created movements to fix problems and many intelligent people have found ways to create systems of greater misery.

It still comes back to what I can do, how can I resist. It's daunting but I have to start there.

Hundreds of pages have been listing all the things that are wrong in our society so I give up on being an "expert" on that.

Let's breathe well, calm our anger, and be kind. Let's mother the world since the nurturing principles have been beaten out of parliament.

Whatever talent you might have, if it's done for peaceful inspiration, for affirming the value of life, for the greater good of all, it is at least the first step and the principle for making change.

A witness to the suffering of those who are not given voice is a powerful start. As painful as it may feel, it is the beginning of the infinite world, it is the equalizer that demands attention so you can act with the authority of integrity.

Once we begin to create strategies that trick us into the appearance of winning, we act on a different impulse and we are taken down the path of corruption and confusion.

Take care.

UU The Vote: “We Shall be Known” by the “How We Thrive” Virtual Choir

Lullaby

 

Your heart swam through ocean to air

how to breathe where you couldn’t swim

no-one to show you how 

you were the ocean,  the plankton

and everything that flowed into you

also flowed out of you.

Now you gasp in the dry heat

on a sandy beach

and even though you can’t see it

everything from now on

will be a struggle

to find your legs

and catch flies for supper.

You will be told in many words

you are an isolated ego

fighting for survival until you die

and the only thing that will save you

is a good night’s sleep

and this lullaby.

(from Sleep With Me: Lullaby for an Anxious Planet; Ekstasis Editions 2020)

Dear Anger

 

I know you are there to protect me

from the violent corruption of disembodied vanity

the other's egos claiming ownership of my love

or the labour of the most vulnerable beings.

I know you will not go away

while young children are raped

while small hands are whipped

while mothers shake in fear.

I know there is a place for you

tired, weary, called out again and again

watching innocent blood stream down

the gutter of capitalism.

My stomach tightens as much as my mind

while stories of conquest

obliterate relationship between kin

silencing rhythm of rain on a roof.

I am at risk of hiding in my closet

waiting for the next show to start

unnamed, unseen, humble

living and dying without scars.

Nothing to speak of

leaving behind no visible sweat

of rage against all the crimes

that describe the nature of things.

Please go and visit conceited

strategists, chess players

and high heeled messengers

marching down shiny corridors

and their bosses in well-lit offices,

please churn the Machiavellian 

time sheets and their wealth

accumulated from babies' tears

while I get on and do the task

of housekeeping the worlds

and their cities—not to make them shiny

but to clean up the rot beneath concrete.

This Means That -- confusion in the late stage capitalist influence

Listening to The Current this morning I learned more about Bishop Michael Curry's sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The theme was about the power of love and I thought "Yes!" that's my team.

I am obsessed with how power affects our society because the major theme of the age I was born and raised in, was the power of authority.

I learned I had a duty to maintain control over my life and the way to do that was study how to be a success.

From my Mum, success for a woman was getting married to a man who would provide a home, for you to clean and live in with decency.

I learned about what a woman should be by watching TV sitcoms and dramas. At school I learned there were times when I could speak and times when I could not.

Mostly I learned that I must be lady-like, and to smile sweetly. I also learned that my parents were very busy and had a lot on their minds.

I learned that I was not top of the class in anything and there was nothing I could do well. Everything about me was either mediocre or dreadful (such as being too soft).

My family did not want me to fail so whenever I dissolved into tears I would be sent to my room — away from my people.

Whenever I expressed confidence I would be questioned "who do you think you are?"

So the lessons were (1) be more than attractive, be fetching; (2) have confidence in yourself but don't tell anyone; (3) don't speak of yourself; (4) don't attract any kind of attention except some quiet magnetic beauty so the boys will like you.

How could I be a success, how could I prove my worth, and still be lady-like? How could I defend myself against the office/school/playground without having some self-worth?

This is a much publicized query thanks to the feminist movement that managed to fight the exploitive capitalist colonialism of the world that has now pronounced the economy the only measure of worth.

Now there is something much deeper and more sinister about the rise of violence towards minorities, blacks and women. 

What is driving it? Is it a subconscious realization that white male supremacy will no longer be tolerated by the majority? Do the men who cradle guns and threaten to kill women in public office, simply fear they will lose something valuable if they can no longer threaten women? 

How do these men benefit from misogyny? Do they wake in the morning and think about who they can bully next? Do they hold tight to the notion they are superior because of their gender or do they fear that myths of supremacy have always been a lie?

Then there's the colour of skin, and sexual orientation. Are they frightened of what they don't know? Is there a creeping feeling that someone or something is controlling the world and they have no way of accessing what it might be? Will they survive? Is there a crack in the sky? Is there anything that makes sense in a society where nothing and no-one can be trusted and nothing can be predicted with certainty?

Yes, there is the love that kept children safe and fed until they were old enough to take care of themselves, the love of aging parents who are now vulnerable, love of two consenting adults to care for one another, the love of pleasure given and received, the love for leaders who are entrusted with power to make choices that protect all who depend on them.

Then there is the Bishop, a descendant of slaves and the author of Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubled Times.

The Secrets of Living (Pilot Episode 2020)

The Secrets of Living! Yes! Yes! People who are engaged politically in the creative survival have created a pilot video.

My heartfelt thanks to all the visionaries who bring their talents to create a better standard of living for all.

Shelagh Rogers, Jules Molloy, Chloe Straw and People For A Healthy Community.

Biggest love ever!

Journey Of A Rumour

Adam says he is concerned about a rumour

Bill thinks they should check if its true

Carol warns Bill not to say anything

Dave believes its up to Adam to reveal the rumour

Eve agrees with Dave - we should not spread it

Frank says nothing

Gabriel doesn’t know anything about the rumour

Helen asks why we would worry about something we don’t know

Irene thinks there is no way we can know what’s true

Jane fears  a secret might have gone viral

Katherine changes the subject

Liam asks if its true

Mike says what is everyone talking about

Nick confesses he heard a rumour too

Oliver asks what it's about

Paul comments — who, what and where

Quentin hasn’t a clue and doesn’t care

Rachel advises everyone to stop

Samuel can’t believe it’s still going around

Tom calls Ursula to see if she knows

Ursula hasn’t heard anything

Vivian believes her friend is pregnant

Wendy reminds it’s nobody’s business

Xavier looks at all the faces in the room

Yvonne finds a lifeless body in the park

Zach wonders why no-one did anything to help.

What Is The World Coming To?

 It's coming to you

the words you hear in your mind

the blessings you give to children

when they are still forming a relationship to others

and to themselves.

It's coming to you

in blood splattered directives

in the freezing of your eyes

and shrivelling of your skin.

It's coming to you

beneath the nagging squawk 

of demanding jays

and the sun bleached pillow of your couch.

The world may think you need to wake up

like all the despairing faces locked behind bars

the haggard eyes of drug dealers

frightened their boss will find some reason

to torment them because they haven't sold enough

to make him richer.

The world is coming to you

to set it free from the worst fears

of its consumers.

Five Real Conspiracies You Need to Know About - from Jeremy Lent's Patterns of Meaning

 

1. Conspiracy to turn the world into a giant marketplace for the benefit of the wealthy elite

2. Conspiracy by transnational corporations to turn billions of people into addicts

3. Conspiracy to plunder the Global South for the benefit of the Global North

4. Conspiracy to hide the effects of climate breakdown for corporate profit

5. Conspiracy to grow the global economy indefinitely, while killing most of life on Earth and risking the collapse of civilization.

by Jeremy Lent
Read more about it here: https://patternsofmeaning.com/2020/10/01/the-five-real-conspiracies-you-need-to-know-about/

Don't Ask Your Friends and Family What They Think About Trump.

 

It really doesn't matter. It's like asking them what they think about peanut butter or a virus. Really! 

The cabal who put Trump, Fox News, White Supremacy on front pages are not interested in the health and well-being of democracy or in the pain you suffer or in your dreams for a better future. They are not interested in truth, justice, art, music or the weather. They are not interested in whether this organized human world will survive or not. 

Ask your family, friends and neighbours,  how they are today. Really how they are. Ask them about the thoughts and feelings they have that they don't want to talk about. Ask them what they wish for in the coming year. Ask them what ails them at this moment. A headache? Insomnia? Indigestion? What do they worry about most? What has become clear to them lately?

This may lead to finding out what news source they value most or what book they are reading, or what art project they are working on. Avoid judgement. Avoid confirmation and putting their answers in the context of popular opinion. Avoid cliches like "oh that's interesting."

Keep it open. Explore deeper if you can. Make eye contact. Listen as though your neighbour is the greatest expert in your neighbourhood. If they offer opinions on 'others' or make generalizations, ask where they learned that opinion or admit that you don't see it that way.

We humans have so many centuries of prejudices, so much harm has been done to our curiosity by group conditioning. Our first ten or twenty years didn't encourage us to examine our beliefs and it is so much easier to hold onto privilege by manufacturing common beliefs or laying out correct beliefs. But now I hunger for belonging, for peaceful community, and the freedom to inquire.