tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14320999936366397952024-02-20T15:22:50.912-08:00Batter down the past--Bring the future aroundSchachterK49http://www.blogger.com/profile/12725630675938087524noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432099993636639795.post-9776893325113308122015-12-15T00:28:00.000-08:002015-12-15T00:33:11.017-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If “<i>Can</i>”,
and “<i>Must</i>”, and “<i>Should</i>” <i>Become</i>…</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If from
these shores where we now stand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
ocean, lake, and river tides,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
cast our thoughts to other lands,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
hearts to other sides—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If from
our lives we lift our sights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From barrio
and ghetto-‘hood,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Past walls
of prison days and nights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Toward
“can”, and “must”, and “should”—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If from
our blinders we depart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To find
the sky’s immense expanse <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reflecting
back into our heart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
world where others dance—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
cargo goes and comes around,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
forests stripped by profit greed, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
camps, and mines, and shantytowns <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Twist
every human need—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Through
manacles on minds and hearts,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Through
lives of class and lives of caste,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
we and others dance our parts, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Millenniums
have passed—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
cratered cities, blood-soaked lands,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">With
lives still stalked by heartless fates <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Set
loose on earth by deathly hands;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
gather at the gates—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When at
these gates, and from these shores,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Begins
a full and true embrace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
“can”, and “must”, and “should” combine;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
touch each other’s face—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And,
recognize ourselves in kind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
tears and laughter rise and fall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
many-colored countenance;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We rip
the darkened pall— <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If from
these shores, and at these gates,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
reach to claim our life on Earth,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And,
“can”, and “must”, and “should” reveal</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
better world in birth…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
SchachterK49http://www.blogger.com/profile/12725630675938087524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432099993636639795.post-71976645810742839302015-10-05T07:46:00.000-07:002015-10-05T12:53:13.048-07:00Moon is gone<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(<i>October 4, 2015: “Just
write”, she told me. “Write something every day. Can’t wait on inspiration. You
have to work at it…”)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">moon is gone, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">heavens cloaked in rushing
clouds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">crying their hearts out;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">dark grief (the seed of unfathomable
pain)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">stalks corralled, restless steeds,
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">relentless pacing, bridled,
tethered; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">primed to burst open thickening
cloudscape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and rampage along dizzying
ascents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">lined by guardian hearts <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;">of blinding affirmation <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
SchachterK49http://www.blogger.com/profile/12725630675938087524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1432099993636639795.post-66338077752874612282015-09-02T07:14:00.001-07:002015-12-26T08:54:50.803-08:00my “secret life/wife” -- its demands and agenda (written in three parts in late 1997)<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: 0.9pt; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(This 3-part piece opened up some dialog with significant others in my life, including a written correspondence with my mother over a couple years. It all spurred me to think more, and write more, about other relevant matters, even up to today. I'm working on improving the poetry for future efforts. In this piece, I just used some poetic devices to try to bring thoughts and feelings alive: In Part I, there is loss of love, and a love letter; In part II, a reply to the love letter; In part III, a look at a small sliver of reality and a hope for the future. Please feel free to comment.)</i></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>my
“secret life/wife” -- its demands and agenda (written in three parts in late
1997)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: 0.9pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: 0.9pt; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part I</span></u></b></div>
</div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">how
could i explain it to her?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
thought of putting it all up for grabs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(for
her/for her love)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for
a moment i thought of this<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">because
i had been<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">plunged
headlong into abyss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">yanked
off the chasm's edge with heart in tatters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">flailing
like a ghost against a hurricane<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">yet
hanging on<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with
all the faith i could gather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
managed to slow my descent<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the
more i laid it all bare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
spread out my arms --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
i never hit bottom;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(how
close did i get<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to
being shattered beyond repair,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beyond
recognition,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beyond
one i so desire to be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that
was some chasm!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">never
seen no shit like that before!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">her
letter of love found me in this turmoil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of
cross-current winds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
swirling fogs --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it
healed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it
etched a scar across me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
pull myself back onto the precipice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">scrapes,
bruises, shakes and all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
stand on that ledge,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">glance
back down into that milieu<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of
conflict and wonderment<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as
it roils and tosses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">even
the most steadfast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with
challenges of a million lifetimes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
i breathe in deeply<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(so
that's where and how big questions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">get
posed and concentrated!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">well,
i'll be a blue-nosed gopher!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
grasp her letter,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">clutch
it,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">turn
from that ledge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
go running after her:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“hey,
darlin'! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wait
a minute!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i've
got some things to talk about!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part II<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(from
her letter)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">....”Yes,
I have even wished that we could partner up in this life and take it on
together. That meant that I was wishing to not be as I am in certain
fundamental ways, ways which would clash horribly (for me) with ways of
yours...These 'ways of yours' are your 'secret life/wife' --its demands &
agenda. I have made no secret that I do
not believe in the agenda, nor that I am not unlike most other women and could
not tolerate its demands. It is trying
as a friend. It would be impossible as a
wife...”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(A
reply of sorts)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How
can I explain it to her? Some of these
things I thought of as my hands moved over her back one day, massaging,
rubbing, stroking, caressing. And as I
sat her back and saw her eyes were closed and there was serenity and calm upon
her face, I felt I had helped to bring some peace to her. And I found myself thinking...2,000 years
from now (or maybe 1,731 years, or more, or less) if earthlings still walk the
face of this planet, I can only imagine and desire that a few simple things
would have come to be. It would,
however, be <u>their</u> world, and much of it would be of their own
making. Yet, maybe it be something like
this--<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe
it's Lin Yi, or Gabriela, or Zhodwa, or Milos or La'shon arising, stretching,
inhaling, exhaling, peering out windows and doors, then with a laugh, stepping
out, jogging to gatherings where everyone (dozens, scores, everywhere on earth)
would be buzzing about the latest controversies, advances, breakthroughs,
obstacles, or astir with news of a new art form or theory of space travel or
better ways of growing food or producing housing, or ways that people in all
their diversities could mix it all up in more exciting fashion. Or, maybe a group of youth has somewhere on
earth brought a new dance to the human table.
They'd be talking about it, whatever it is, over their meals, at work,
whenever... They're all friends here, family of the closest kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wherever
they walk the planet rocks, and everyone works about four hours a day, doing
what's needed (And going to work is the most fun of all because what's done
there is for the good of all, and for no other reason!) How incredibly tuned in they all are (to needs
-- to the needs of the whole world and everyone in it). It's that conscious, and that real. And even thru arguments (in the fields,
factories, streets, schools, labs, studios, anywhere) - disputes mild or heavy,
over right or wrong, over possibilities, amid soul-stirring battles for truth
ripping through all reaches of human life - they confront with “tender
ferocity”, so freed up to take it all on and keep raising the level higher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
same would be the “currency” in any endeavors (individual or collective),
cooking up stir-fry challenges, feeding each other's fires for the cosmic
advance. And, every individual is held
by all to be a part of this. You see the
children everywhere, also a part of it all.
They could be anyone's, could be everyone's. You see the elders everywhere, also a part of
it all (could be anyone's, could be everyone's). They're all friends here, family of the
closest kind, wherever human heart pulses.
And with each glimpse, you'd see so much - the pride, the knowing - and
maybe it's Lin Yi or Gabriela or Zhodwa, Milos or La'shon (they all know so
much in their time of work, in their time of leisure—this is about <u>their</u>
life) and the pride, the knowing that anywhere on this planet, humans behold
one another as their own, behold their earth as a home that above all must be
tended to and passed along thru the human dance drumming life pulse of
contentious harmony thru time in a spiraling (upward) search (together) into a
universe in flux - the stars, the atoms, themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every
day they arise, stretching, inhaling, exhaling, peering out doors and windows,
then with a laugh of libertad, bolting out under that sky where every day
wherever they are, that constant reminder (even written on the very air they
breathe) - “This is all <u>yours</u>, yes it belongs to all of you. Treat it all with care and with your vision
to the farthest horizons, the generations to come. Take responsibility for each other/the whole,
the future <u>distant</u>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
would be the only “currency”. This would
be how “human nature” would create itself.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
on the crest of the waves of song and celebration at the end of the day over
ice-sheathed summits/sweltering tropic rain
forests/grasslands/deserts/towns/farms/sunset-moonrise, contented and anxious
for the coming day, maybe it's Lin Yi, Gabriela, Zhodwa, Milos, La'shon
stretching out to touch each other's faces, and with powerful embrace, turning
to look back, maybe 2,000 years (or maybe 1,731 years, or more, or less) to
their ancestors (ourselves, now) and the world we were born into...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
millions starved, were driven into shantytowns, trapped in prisons, ghettoes,
barrios, went homeless, and died of illnesses even while the means were at hand
for all to be fed and housed and made well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
wars of plunder and domination shed blood across a planet divided into
“nations”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
governments of nations propped up their systems of exploitation with brutal
force.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
women and children were raped, abused, demeaned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
some nationalities were enslaved, oppressed, brutalized by others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
poison by-products of “progress” and “development” nearly destroyed the planet,
and natural resources were laid to waste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
hopelessness held too much sway; resignation to all the oppressive workings
buried deep within; dreams and visions deferred and lost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
so many people were so alienated from each other by the workings of
things. Often able to connect with each
other solely thru exchange of money (and there was a price tag on everything,
and even on people), and so many people had so little or no money with which to
procure the means to live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where
“look out for #1” was the cold, cynical “human nature” called forth, propagated and promoted by systems, structures, methods which had only “profit”
for “raison d'etre”, lifeblood, motivating factor. Where all the vast and powerful means and
forces to resolve all these insane realities were owned and controlled by a
handful at the helm of all this - a handful that appropriated as “private” all
that was produced collectively by the billions who “slaved” for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
as Lin Yi, Gabriela, Zhodwa, Milos, La'shon might look back to us and all these
unspeakable workings that shape our world, so destructive, painful, twisted and
obscured, they likely would hold close to their hearts their namesakes of our
time and millions and billions of people of our time who went up against these
workings in many daring and powerful ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
they no doubt would hold close to their
hearts those of us who struggled mightily to envision <u>them</u> and <u>their
world</u>, and who felt impelled to take responsibility for the future, and who
determined that taking such responsibility could only mean (with our vision
cast to the farthest horizons, locked in our hearts and the cores of our
beings) preparing for and carrying out mass revolutions to shatter all those
existing relations and their ideological props and <u>begin</u> to bring into
being something <u>entirely different</u>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
then is that era/stage of human history in which we take beginning, concrete
steps and leaps to destroy exploitation and oppression, free humanity, and save
our planet. It has begun. These are the “years between”, the “years of
transition”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thru
victories and defeats, reversals and mistakes, successes and liberating
transformations, it can be seen: A
better world <u>is</u> in birth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
here I stand amid the whole wrenching process, and I can only say: This then (yes!) <u>is</u> my agenda (and
certainly it is not just mine). It is
not a “wife”. And how could it possibly
be a “secret”?...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>...So,
these things I thought of some as my hands moved over her back one day...And as
I sat her back and saw her eyes were closed and there was serenity and calm on
her face, I felt I had helped to bring some peace to her. And I thought: There is something else of hers that I would
love to massage, caress, stroke and kiss to set her</i> <i>loose all aglow and radiant...(it might
even melt all the ice and the snows of winter).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
have to love and care for each other while keeping our “eye on the prize”,
while preparing for and playing our part in revolution. Otherwise, we'd never get there. But we must keep our eye on the prize. It's all toward the same horizon.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is how I had chosen to live. For today,
tomorrow, 2,000 years ahead. And,
darlin' you know I want to “be with you”.
I'm calling, reaching for you to “be with me”...the rose, the dance...<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part III<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The
Future and a Bag of Chips: Does a Young
Girl Have Any Choice At All?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she
was eleven or twelve last time i saw her -<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my
best friend's neighbor...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(my
best friend has walls decorated with crayon drawings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by
11 or 12-year-old neighborhood kids<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which
have huge hearts and declare:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“we
love you, theresa”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...whose
name is “lala”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whose
parents drank<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whose
house had walls crawling with bugs,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who
had to look after a kid brother<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(and
her parents as well)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whose
clothes were rags<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who
was just an eleven or twelve year-old girl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who
laughed and played<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
whenever she touched those crayons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the
pages sang with color and design<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">she
made the pages radiate and sing and “draw you in”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with
all she had to shoulder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with
all that beset her<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with
all the mood swings and frustrations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
inevitable dysfunctions --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">when
that sidewalk stepped up to her chalk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
that page turned up to her crayon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the
planet rocked..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">patterns
of particle/waves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">broke
on dull gray shores<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">striking
radiant chimes of almost<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">deafening
cascades of color --<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this
much any fool could tell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but
living in this world can sometimes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">smother
torch and ember<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
soon she stopped sending<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">those
solar-strength flares<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
asked theresa to encourage her<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
she said:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“that
girl can't see beyond the bag of chips in her hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...much
less the future”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and,
yes, well, all-right-then,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who
hasn't from time-to-time had trouble<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">seeing
beyond that bag of chips?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i
can only say: don't despair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">some
of us out here have<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sworn
our lives to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">set
loose the spirits and inmates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from
their cells<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so
they can wreak havoc on a world of wrong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
bury it under megatons of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">killer
roses, lilies, daffodils (and plum blossoms!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
we will help the little devils of today<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to
catch a good glimpse of fleeting figures<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">just
beyond that bag of chips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">figures
that look a lot like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lin
yi, gabriela, zhodwa, milos and la'shon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">dancing
like a riot on a rain-soaked day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">no,
don't despair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
don't act too surprised<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if
one day you inquire after lala<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
find that she went “down by the riverside”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(to
lay down her bag of chips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
to pick up her crayons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and
her sword and shield)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>(Writer's
note:<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The
reference at the end of “The Future and a Bag of Chips...” to going “down by
the riverside” is a play on a song (spiritual/gospel) I learned as a
child. I believe it was named: “Study War No More”, in which there is a
verse which goes: “I'm gonna lay down my
sword and shield down by the riverside...and study war no more”. This would (hopefully) be the reality for Lin
Yi, Gabriela, Zhodwa, Milos and La'shon (future people). But in these days, these times, we (present
people) in our millions/billions, must arm ourselves with everything it will
take to make that dream a viable possibility.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .9pt;">
<br /></div>
SchachterK49http://www.blogger.com/profile/12725630675938087524noreply@blogger.com0