When the strikers struck

and no one seemed to notice,

what will be freedom’s next move?

~

We must wait and see.

Freedom’s work is incomplete

but its workers do not rest.

When improvements don’t

improve and enhancements don’t

enhance, what are we up to?

~

Perhaps replacements

will replace when enticements

fail to entice change agents.

Ignorant actors

fumble across the world stage

resembling circus clowns…

~

On our own small stage

may we perform wise acts of

kindness, reason, and constraint.

In difficult times,

how is it that some folks

are still able to find joy?

~

Schadenfreude works

but at a steep moral price;

better to seek other ways.

On this day of love,

Can we hope to find some peace

from this angry vitriol?

~

We must not only

hope, we must do all we can

to bring peace into being.

Can we find peaceful

solutions when our hearts

and minds are at war?

~

If we drop our guard

in the face of tyranny 

we’ll find the peace of the grave.

Comet and eclipse:

are these dire auguries

inscribed upon the heavens?

~

We read into things

heavenly what often lies

within our own souls.

What is this hot air

that blows across our nation,

stifling our every breath?

~

Perhaps it’s because

Presidential odium

is causing global warming.

“Separate but Equal”,

more than just a catchy phrase;

how could they have forgotten?

~

The problem is those

who push that phrase have never

forgotten their ill intent.

Is what we’re seeing

civilization’s fall or

the privileged’s last gasp?

~

Privilege may survive

when the revolution comes,

but many will surely fall.

When a liar says

the media lies instead,

will fools trust their hearts or heads?

~

Fools trust neither hearts

nor heads. They place their trust in

those who lie instead.

What helps us see the

common humanity of

those with whom we disagree?

~

It’s easy to see

another’s humanity

if we share reality.

Why should we truckle

before the irrational

bluster of a narcissist?

~

It would be best to

 stand by our deep values and

keep an open heart. 

Sometimes “Follow the

Leader” can take a nation

right over the cliff.

~

Following leaders

will never lead you astray;

just don’t follow this lemming.

Must we daily wait

in dreadful fascination

for his next vile dictum?

~

Let’s turn our sights toward

those who are profiles in

courage and reason instead.

When we justify

the unjustifiable

what have we become?

~

Tools of the machine?

Unwitting accomplices?

Lamb’s being led to slaughter?

Thus it is revealed,

the consequence of honor,

in a soulless madman’s world.

~

It’s better to be

banished from such a world than

to fuse with its soullessness. 

Dissidents must craft

songs of compassion and hope

blazing the path to progress.

~

It’s been songs sung in

fields and on the road that have

helped us overcome.

No room at the inn.

The stable doors are slammed shut.

What have we become?

~

Simple primatives 

cowering in baseless fear

craving potent guardians?

Not all nausea

can be blamed on the White House,

but who else shares the burden?

~

We also find it

hard to stomach the support

 big donors give to small minds.

What part of “Love thy

neighbor” do Trump-supporting

fundamentalists not get?

~

Either there’s no love

in their hardened hateful hearts

or they ken zero neighbors.

Perhaps doomsday prep,

long a practice of the right,

is finding new adherents?

~

Doomsday prevention

is what pink hatters seek. They’ve

had enough of doomsday speak.

.

What helps us see past

thoughts, feelings, and memories

to present reality?

~

Non-duality

teaches us that things just are;

neither good nor bad.

Flying in the face

of all historic wisdom:

how does it profit a man?

~

When economic

profit is the main motive

we lose wisdom and our souls.

When lies are renamed

alternative facts are we

in Orwell’s reality?

~

This tornado spins

logic and reason away:

far from Kansas are we, friends.

Would you not prefer

a conditionless embrace

to tirades and punishment?

~

The best would be to

be held in abiding love

and unconditional truth.

If they wrap themselves

in red, white, and blue, will folks

ignore what they actually do?

~

Unfortunately,

wrapping an ass in glory

will lead some to snap salutes.

Thus a new day dawns;

an iridescent morning

rife with scarlet sailor’s skies.

~

“Red sky at morning,

sailor take warning” – even

nature says beware.