Let’s bring all the light

we can to these dark times – each

of our lamps is needed now.

~

Evil flourishes

in all the ill-lit places;

let’s illuminate them all!

The die has been cast.

The Rubicon has been crossed.

History will reveal the cost.

~

We’ve paid in the past,

we’re paying now, we’ll keep on

paying ’til enough VOTE  NO!

When ambition flees

from a search for facts, avoids

 fairness, there are those who cheer.

~

“This is how freedom

dies; to thunderous applause’,

Padmé Amidala said.

His vainglorious

longing for recognition

blinds him to his impotence.

~

 Bound by self-interest,

hungry for praise, he attracts

lost, recognition-starved souls.

What will October

leave behind – a memory

of dark days or bright sunshine?

~

Both are possible,

but October’s one sure gift

is always a big surprise.

Adapting to change;

an indispensable skill

in this chaotic era.

~

Change is a constant.

There are positive ways to

adapt and negative ones.

Public displays of

 unrighteous indignation –

“You don’t count” from those that count.

~

Count on self-righteous

indignant public figures

to minimize people’s pain.

Lamenting the loss

of a moral compass by

various high officials.

~

Seems High officials

are the only kind we get

since DC legalized weed.

In whose addled mind

is a week’s delay a sham

but 10 months is a-OK?

~

We’re not talking mind;

we’re talking never mind and

look the other way.

Defining moments:

you never know when they will

come. May we meet them with grace.

~

Especially when

those moments are defined by

humiliation and shame.

The Rolling Stones said

“can’t always get what you want”;

but will we get what we need?

~

“What the world needs now

is love, sweet love” –  as true now

as in 1965.

Intimidator

won’t be intimidated –

supreme injustice

~

How can they support

a judge whose very judgement

is outweighed by arrogance?

Blindness trumps mere pain

When it comes to late night drives.

‘Bout now, I’d prefer blindness.

~

If only thinking

could be trumped by not seeing –

oh wait, it already has.

I wish I could say

I’d live to see the day he’d

lead with reason and fair play.

~

In this troubled age,

roiled masses vent their rage

by maligning every sage.

Measures of success

often, inadvertently,

speak volumes of our failures.

~

Each accomplishment

carries with it the burden

of relinquishment.

School’s back in session.

Learning resumes – except in

certain Washington quarters.

~

Some folk still belong

in remedial classrooms,

study halls, and detention.

Outrageous orange,

salmon, scarlet, and sanguine:

this post-storm palette on high.

~

Aftermath beauty

a natural solace for our

exhausted, storm-weary souls.

Even the weather

is teasing us – one minute

the sun, the next, a downpour.

~

This twisted weather,

so, so unpredictable,

No global warming! Trust me!

Cloudbursts and lightning,

gales and inundation; just

more adolescent weather.

~

It sounds like you’ve been

reading some of the latest

presidential tweets.

If it’s wisdom we’re

after, where do you suggest

we begin to look?

~

Start by looking back

at the bitter lessons learned

from our myriad failures.

Why must some feel robbed

of the chance to battle nature

when fate’s winds grant a reprieve?

~

They may not realize

 we may win a battle, but

we will always lose the war.

Why rush around in

circles, chasing our own tales

when we could just pen them in?

~

Penning our own tales

sure takes way less energy

than dashing ’round living them.

Uncertainty cones

and spaghetti model plots;

upon what may we rely?

~

Ah, sweet paradox –

the only thing upon which

to rely -uncertainty.

About the time we’ve

weathered one storm, another

appears on the horizon.

~

In this changed climate,

weathering storms has become

the quintessential life skill.

With an iron clang,

for better or for worse, all

doorways to her past slam shut. 

~

The irony of

doorways that clang shut is they

can be portals to new life.

Who’s looking and who’s

seen when we pause and take time

to gaze into our own eyes?

~

With lengthy regard,

common meaning becomes lost;

inner mysteries revealed.

” One of these things is

not like the others. One of

these… doesn’t belong.” Which one?

~

All of them belong

beneath a tent, big enough,

if our narrow minds allow.

Why manage crises?

Another just arises

like a phoenix from the ash.

~

Though we can manage

 crises as they arise, joy

may need some cultivation.

 Those wild golden

 blooms and the rising sun erased

morning blues today.

~

That same golden orb,

in its blazing mid-day glare,

bleached the blue from the sky too.

A quiet repast;

near perfect punctuation

for momentous decisions.

~

Having dashed around

filled with exclamation points,

quiet periods refresh.