Friday, September 30, 2016

Goodbye Baltimore!

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.
- Mary Elizabeth Frye, "Do Not Stand By My Grave And Weep"

8 comments:

  1. ___________ DIAGNOSIS ___________

    Stopping Racism today is now believed
    No harm, but only good could ever do ––
    Of Paramount Importance. –– We’ve deceived
    Innumerable millions, brought them to
    The point where kicking over all the traces
    A counterfeit Altruism now prevails:
    Zig zags must be viewed as straight, so races
    Ill-informed may proudly fill their sails ––
    Reject all hope of Mental Elevation ––
    Enjoy, instead, White Perquisites unearned ––
    Given –– by “The Rich,” whose education,
    Goading them to see all Privilege spurned,
    Informed them they should not be what they are.
    Now, Prehistoric Depths loom not so far.


    ~ FreeThinke

    And that, my friend, is the main reason why your precious Baltimore has been in severe decline for decades. Another is the rise to dominance of Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll, and all that has followed in its wake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The secret to combatting ADD
    
Lies in taking one thing you think great
    
Into splendid isolation where no sounds

    Or sights assault the senses with distractions
    
Concentrate on learning to ignore

    Stray thoughts and wayward influences crude
    
Self-discipline becomes its own reward
    
Examine only one thing at a time

    Pop Culture we must come to recognize

    As the enemy of Reason and good work.

    Learn to cherish silence so you can

    Listen to your heart and see within.

    Monasticism may seem too austere,

    But retreating from the world pays dividends

    It deepens your perceptions as it hones
    
Improvement in your character and views,

    And aids in helping you learn to eschew
    
The tawdriness that saps your strength, and then

    Impoverishes every part of you.


    ~! FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete

  3. ___ TO PROMOTE INNER PEACE ___

    Divorce yourself from everything that's "pop"
    Visualize a cabin in the pines
    Close by a silver lake or sparkling stream
    Detached from every aspect of the grid.
    Chop wood, fetch water so you may survive
    Eating fresh caught fish or game you kill
    Along with berries, nuts, and tasty leaves.
    Carry with you a supply of books
    Writing paper and a clutch of pens
    Allow yourself an oil lamp for the night
    Embrace austerity, and get to know
    Yourself, and only what may be essential
    To survival in the coming winter months.
    Emulating Thoreau may provide
    The antidote to hellish modern life.


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  4. _______+ DEFEANING DECAY ________

    Delight to some, to others desecration
    Eradicating every single chance
    At peaceful, soul-enriching contemplation
    Fostering the hope for sweet romance.
    Ears and mind, instead, sit stunned –– assaulted.
    Noxious noise befouls the atmosphere
    In throbbing pseudo-ecstasy exalted
    Neutralizing all that’s clean and clear.
    Ground out tones smacking of self-pity
    Degrade the mise en scene where they appear,
    Erasing what’s not grubby, gross or gritty
    Catering, instead, to our worst fears.
    Aggravation never ceasing breeds
    Yammering lemmings aping Satan’s leads.


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  5. ___________ MUSICAL TOILETS ___________

    Mistaken notions in the world abound ––
    Unheard of at the time when I was born.
    Surrounded –– soaked –– in crass, unwanted sound
    I’m buried –– suffocated –– and forlorn.
    Consciousness invaded by loud static ––
    Ambushed –– conquered –– isolated –– snuffed ––
    Languishes while Coarseness brays ecstatic.
    The mind can’t thrive when with distractions stuffed ––
    Over-filled –– with poisonous temptations
    Instigating sullenness engaged
    In assertive, mulish non-participation
    Erupting just when pointlessly enraged.
    The times have changed; they have become deranged.
    Silence, from our world’s become estranged.


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  6. _________ OCTOBER _________

    Scratching –– astringent!
    the brilliant sky assaults the eye
    While wads of cloud, though blinding white
    soften the blows of stinging light.

    Summer’s splendor
    claws at the commanding blue
    hating –– supplicating ––
    Submitting at last in a fiery blast ––
    a scornful array –– deceptively gay
    of every vigorous hue.

    Walls made of stone crack and groan
    at the coming of frost ––
    Flowers die beneath the sky ––
    Pods of seed split open and bleed ––
    scattering –– Hope ––
    on earth –– in air ––

    Riding on wind that sounds like Despair,
    But sings in harsh voice ––
    as it stiffens the frost ––
    Nothing is lost!
    Nothing is lost!


    ~ FreeThinke

    ReplyDelete
  7. Life is to be lived. There is time for serious work and time for frivolity and playing. It can't all be the former.

    ReplyDelete