Happy Christmas Why

Twas a week before Christmas, when all through the why

The answer was Santa, I’d better not cry;

No room to be sad, be angry or pout,

Santa is coming, I’d better watch out;

.

Be me nestled in bed or here-there wide awake,

My visions are his to define to remake;

So I in my naughty, and mamma in her nice,

Are both on his list at least twice or thrice,

.

Then up in my head there arose such a clatter,

I sprang to my thoughts to see what was the matter.

My mind was a'chuggin', my brain cells were tootin',

I think Santa Claus, is Vladimir Putin

.

Impugn the oppressed and their crestfallen woe,

Bark-and-bluster, and display, your faux-bravado,

And what to my wondering eyes doth appear,

But the good and the bad neatly packaged in fear,

.

With your brittle old power, so wealthy and slick,

And your good-bad-nice-naughty you must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles your coursers they come,

And you whistle, and shout out, and we call them dumb;

.

Now, Jinping! Narendra! now, Donald J Trump!

Word Vomit on Stupid to sway the Mugwump!

To the top of the Twitter! To the top of Fox News!

Now list away! Grist away! Twist and confuse!

.

As sly thieves that before beguiled acumen fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, surmount and lie,

So up to the world-top the coursers they flew,

With their populist boys and St. Nickputin too.

.

And then in a slinkling, I heard on Fox News

Bromancing and jawing and fascist-pop views.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the drainpipe went more rights with nary a sound.

.

Once again I'm addressed, and told to watch out,

Or Nickputin will tarnish with thrashes of doubt;

His populist boys he has flung to his whim,

And again he is courtin', that guy North K Kim.

.

His lies – how they wrinkle! His scruples contrary!

He sneaks and imposes! He knows to be wary!

His standards are doubled, drawn up from the lore,

Thus gifting the wealthy and gapping the poor;

.

I am stumped by the hype that is swathed in belief,

That's supposed to evoke, bestir, give relief;

From Frosty and Rudolph and nation and flag,

To learning that Santa's a damn scalawag.

.

We see chubby and plump, in the throes of our youth,

And I've laughed when I've seen him, in spite of the truth;

Tis a wink of the eye and a trick of the brain,

That's bolstered this myth and created this pain;

.

So you'd better watch out, and you'd better not cry,

And you'd better not pout, I am telling you why,

He is making a list and he's checking it twice,

And he'll always know who is naughty and nice;

.

He knows when you're sleeping and he sees you awake,

So you'd better be good for your own flippin' sake.

This year it's Nickputin, who should give us pause,

But next year who knows, who will play Santa Claus.

.

Be it ever so proper, and still yet not quite,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

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Happy Christmas Benaught

Twas two warps benaught Christmas, when all through the when

Not a creature was stirring; they'd already been;

The Earth was at peace, laid back taking care,

Healing from reeling from Human despair.

.

The moments not counted, the memories unsaid,

No visions, no pretense, no dancing with dread;

No mamma in her ‘kerchief, no I in my cap,

Our Earth in rebirth in a long winter's nap,

.

ThenWhen and LornPast there came such a clatter,

The planet awoke and took hand of the matter,

Away to extremes, to ice and to ash.

Now mending, attending and recycling trash.

.

Now strewn in the quest of this new-fallen globe

Is this cluster of words that have come back to probe,

When then do time-traveling missives appear,

But to reach to beseech, to warn, to be clear,

.

“Too late is too late, and then I'll be quick.”

Thus spoke the Truth in the guise of St. Nick.

“More rapid than eagles my coursers will tame,”

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

.

“Now, Flash Floods! now, Warming! now, Swarming and Fire!

On, Vomit! on, Stupid! on, Wetter and Drier!

To the melting ice caps! To the nuclear squall!

Your Slapdash and Backlash becomes your downfall!”

.

As beliefs that before our extinction won't die,

When they meet with resolve to discount and defy,

So all 'round the Earth-globe the coursers they flew,

To visit destruction on me and on you.

.

And then in a thinkling, this warning arrives

Foretelling a future where no one survives.

As I draw my conclusions from pro- to con-found,

From the heart and the soul to the penny and pound.

.

To be dressed all in furs, with three cars and some land,

To believe in great wealth, to control and command;

A bundle of toys thus flung on my back,

I'm not but a peddler just opening my pack.

.

My eyes -- how they twinkle! my dimples how merry!

My cheeks are like roses, my nose like a cherry!

My droll little mouth is drawn up like a bow,

Whispering the words, “You don't know what I know.”

.

“The stump of your gripe you hold tight in your teeth;

The fact of my wealth permits me to bequeath;

This broad little system all tricksy and smelly,

That will shake and soon slump like a mound of cooked jelly.”

.

Today chubby and plump, not a thing-in-itself,

Man-made and perceived and propped up on a shelf;

A wink of the eye and a fist to the head,

Bureaucracy's safe and the wealth gap's widespread.

.

Thus trapped in the word, there is nothing but work,

Must fill all the stockings, unthinking knee-jerk,

Cannot raise a finger to shape or compose,

Cannot save the world, for fear of who knows;

.

So we bask in our comfort, respond when they whistle,

And our future is gone like the down of a thistle.

Yet this warning is clear and should set us to right,

Or Christmas falls into that gentle good-night.

.

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Happiness; dancing with

I want to make a difference! Until I can. Then I find that the power is comfortable and I discover that change is not, and I decide it is better to maintain; sit tight; take into account all possible consequences. Consider potential snapback. After all, because I am better, improved, (more powerful, more comfortable), everyone is better. Right? Maybe I will make some small, carefully-considered changes here and there. Changes that will ensure my power-and-comfort is maintained and/or elevated, because my power-and-comfort is the universal standard by which the well-being of the entire world is measured.

I can see reality. I can make judgements and I can express opinions. But I am hesitant to act too drastically for fear of upsetting my apple cart. Instinctively I tend to be afraid that another's gains may result in losses by me and conversely when my life takes a downturn I look for someone to blame; and who better to blame than those who believe and behave (and look and talk) differently than me. So when I attain even a minimal degree of power-and-comfort, I become very cautious and protective and very suspicious of change; which only serves to serve those who have even more power and comfort, and does not in the slightest punish those different than me who of course in actuality have nothing to do with my bad fortune anyway. Yet I believe if we do not choose drastic change, soon, drastic change will continue to choose more and more of us until we, as a universal whole, have no choice.

Walking to work, an hour in the dark, early this morning I saw two things of note:

  1. A dead bunny.
  2. A dancing woman.

Sadness and Joy. A bunny on its side, a rabbit in repose, still seemingly bleeding from underneath, yet perfect from above. And this beautiful woman, jazz blaring from her car speakers, 25 degrees outside, in the middle of an empty stadium parking lot, moving, flowing with a rhythmic reckless abandon I could never duplicate, I could only hope to imitate in my mind. And doing so, imagining that joy, that freedom, nearly brought tears. Perhaps the wave of emotion was from the proximal juxtaposition. Sadness and Joy.

For many, I believe probably for most, dancing joyously alone in the dark, cold, early morning hours, in an expanse of empty parking lot, would be thought extreme, radical, crazy, wacky, drastic. But I believe it is exactly what more of us should be doing. And the more I dance, in the cold, in the dark, in a parking lot, in my mind, in my heart, in my soul, the more likely I am to find others also inclined to dance. And perhaps one day the power of individual dance together and/or (imagine it!) the power of one massive reciprocal dance, will overpower the power of power-and-comfort.

THE DANCE

Eloquent relevant frightful Fraught-full and thoughtful, insightful

Muscular ponderous power Creviced, a crinkled-some glower

It shows up when thoughts are directed To wrinkled abstractions reflected

Consider beauty, truth, and death The height, the width, the depth, the breadth

And then there’s anger, love, and strength The volume-scope, the mass, the length

Note wisdom, fear, courage, and hate Lyrical hefty epic weight

Gaze into sadness, peace, and joy Lofty, lusty, fervently coy

How can one ponder, then claim to explain Using mere words as song-chorus-refrain

Circumlocution will always conceal Brooding aloofness will never reveal

True meaning will float, glide, and flutter Thoughts as soft as daffodil butter

Melting through the colloquy net Spoken true, but inadequate

Cannot transform the thoughts into thoughts Cannot reform and untie the knots

The journey from soul to mind to tongue Leaves some chords flat and some song unsung

So bypass your tongue; why take that chance Sing with your heart and let your soul dance

Let your soul dance and let your soul dance Sing with your heart and let your soul dance

With wild abandon, let your soul dance Sing with your heart and let your soul dance

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Happiness, recently

In recent weeks I have felt less and less inspired. For years, for pretty much my entire life, I have worked very hard to believe that there is meaning, purpose, a reason. And I have worked very hard to contribute to that end; even though I am not sure I have ever understood exactly what that end is. But of late…

From dictionary.com there are three parts to the definition for discouraged:

  1. Deprived of or lacking in courage, hope, or confidence.
  2. Dissuaded or obstructed from doing something.
  3. Disapproved of.

And there are three parts to the definition for encouraged:

  1. To inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
  2. To stimulate by assistance, approval, etc.
  3. To promote, advance, or foster.

The following factors serve to discourage:

  • Growing wealth gap.
  • Growing divisiveness / animosity.
  • Growing certainty.
  • Shrinking opportunity.

To encourage, as a culture / society / community / state / nation, we must decide to…

…give not take

…allow not obstruct

…question not insist

…assist not oppress.

I don’t see this happening in my lifetime. And if/when it does happen, I believe it very well may be too late.

Today I am the definition of discouraged.

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Happiness piggybacked

This is installment #18 of a sci-fi serial. Installment #1 was posted 1/23/21; appropriately a numerically-ordered palindrome. Follow the links forward from the last sentence and backward from the first sentence of each post.

It is both better and worse than we thought.

“To know better is to know nothing.” Those were Toby's first words to The Council of Six in our meeting yesterday. Tim piggybacked Toby at the very beginning of our counsel and the only other statement from Toby (before he made a hurried exit) was, “Tim can answer many of your questions and what he cannot answer you are not meant to know.”

We had a lot of questions; here is what we found out from and through Tim:

  • Tim only heard from Toby after he (Tim) recently came out from under the kill switch.
  • Toby has had a back door into Tim, (that Tim has felt as an annoying itch) for some time, allowing Toby access to our thoughts and plans.
  • Because Toby is parked in an inaccessible niche of Tim, (Toby claims) the kill switch used on Tim does have a mild sedative effect on Toby and a negative impact on the je ne sais quoi on 2275 Earth.
  • Our theories surrounding a primary and a secondary reality are largely correct.
  • There are still a few handfuls of 100% Human “miscreants” free and mobile in some pockets of primary reality on 2275 Earth.
  • There are tens of thousands of colonies of hybrid nano-humans assisting Toby and the Conglomerate in restoring Earth.
  • In our recent landing we were within a few miles of one colony, (unable to be seen from above), and we were being followed by a rogue band of 35 Humans. These ‘outcasts' (as Tim referred to them) considered approaching us but were turned back by the debilitating oculaural intorsion that also hit us. Apparently Toby uses the frequency entanglement to manage and manipulate, and adds the pyrotechnics as is necessary for control.
  • According to Toby, the foggy banks of secondary reality move, but are somewhat slow-moving and somewhat predictable, with exceptions.
  • Toby has very little contact with the nomadic Humans, both adopting a ‘live and let live' existence.
  • Toby (as we surmised) is exploring the secondary reality and Toby was responsible for guiding the message sent from one of our lost ships.
  • According to Toby (via Tim) our three lost ships and crews are salvageable but extraction will be somewhere between difficult and impossible.
  • According to Toby (via Tim) we will not be allowed to return to the primary reality on 2275 Earth (or attempt to rescue our lost ships) until we agree to modification and colonization; in that order. Tim will serve as intermediary for negotiations and arrangements.

What we don't know:

  • Just how much (if any) 2275 Earth's habitability regresses when we use the kill switch.
  • Pocket locations of primary reality vs the (according to Toby) more prevalent amorphous swaths of secondary reality.
  • Where Toby is housed.
  • If there is a way past Toby's vigilance.
  • If we will let go of our Humanity to survive.

Much to consider.

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