Coffee and Crumbs: Poetry and photography

Coffee and Crumbs

After four days without coffee I made three mugs.

Four tablespoons of ground coffee,

six cups of water,

push the button.

Remembering the bag of bird seed bought yesterday

I fill a cup with seed and dried bread crumbs

to sprinkle in the yard.

A raven lands before I sit down inside,

a band of half-wild ducks arrive like a scourge of vacuum cleaners.

The seed and crumbs are gone

before the first mug is poured.

Hurry out with another cup of seed,

pour it in the grass,

hurry in,

fill a mug with coffee,

sit down,

sip carefully,

enjoy the taste with toast and butter,

watch through the window with a smile

as the horde of ducks

make the seed vanish before my eyes.

poetry and photography by David H. Roche

(C) 2018

Go Catch A Mouse: note to the cats on the porch (Poetry)

  

Go Catch A Mouse:
 note to the cats on the porch

All I can say is

"Go catch a mouse"

to the cats peering through the glass door…

The three cats come morning and evening and sit

looking through the glass until

I open the door

and pour food into their bowl 

but tonight I have to say:

"There's more in the morning

but no more tonight…

go catch a mouse.

I managed your food along with mine as good as I could.

It lasted almost until I could buy some more

and if you catch a mouse tonight tomorrow Social Security comes

and I can go to the store

and buy butter and chicken and cat food and bird seed …

I'm out of everything too."

( C)David H. Roche 

Goodbye (poetry)

Goodbye

The driveway packed with cars,

brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews.

Some sit on the steps,

others walk back and forth

taking turns entering the house

and returning to sit on the steps

or pace to and fro

while Jesse lays inside on the last day of his life

saying "goodbye" to everything

but the cancer.

poetry and photography by David H. Roche 

A Big Thank You To U.S. Lawmakers

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.
Forests are the lungs of our land, 
purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.

                                                               F.D.R.

Democracy Now had a report on our nation's relationship with the natural world this morning. Noam Chomsky reveals the peril we have been placed in. 

I am responding to what I heard with the art above.  It should be evident by now that the Republican and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. are responsible for enabling the disabling of the life supporting capabilities of all the eco-systems and the entire bio-system we depend on for our lives, our personal welfare and our health. The Real News provides the information about government decisions to devalue the viability of the living environment. The report is at the highlighted link..

We need to question if the reasons we are being required to relinquish a living breathing earth for the future are good reasons after all.
Do you even know what those reasons are? America’s Lawyer: Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss some of the reason's at the highlighted link. 

If you wonder what kind of environmental blow-back to expect from your lawmakers decisions regarding the environment Stanford University has put together a list of anticipated consequences related to the impending climate debacle. You can read it for yourself at the highlighted link.
Remember all environmental legislation is made by both Republicans and Democrats working together toward a single goal. Do you know what that goal is?

Now, ask yourselves why your lawmakers are preparing this kind of future for you and your family. What answer did you come up with?

News From A Parallel Universe: political satire.

Note to reader. This is not fake news,it is not news at all it is political satire.

News From A Parallel Universe

 In the aftermath of the Trimp - Penis contiguous impeachments a stunned nation began to become introspective. (Link to MSNBC report on similar topic of betrayal of the nation.) The Vice President was also impeached for violating his oath of office and failing to defend the nation by remaining silent in support of President Trimp. 

USA Today has made note of the oath of office that  both the men took while taking up the service of the nation. Following is a quotation from the article. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

When President Trimp was finally called to account for publicly embarrassing the American people and then telling the world that he trusted Russian Intelligence over American Intelligence Vice President Micky Penis said not a word. He was as silent and as expressionless as a moldy potato as if someone had removed his tongue. He was impeached after it was determined he still had a tongue. No one thought his silence was a good faith example of upholding his oath of office.

The amazing thing is the transition was almost unnoticeable. As was expected the populace was stunned in a way they had never imagined was possible.  

The transitional government took one draconian step which most likely saved society from falling into absolute chaos.  The public sale and consumption of alcohol was made illegal. Every liquor store and bar, every supermarket, every place that sold wine or spirits was forced to cease sales of those items.

Then the transitional government did the unexpected. This is the miracle that saved the day. 

Due to an over production of marijuana in marijuana legal states the transitional government bought up the crops and in every location across the land that had sold alcohol marijuana was substituted. The alcohol ban lasted only a month but was largely credited with keeping  the nation from falling into anarchy. 

Inversely the soothing effect of marijuana replaced the expected blow-back from supporters of the corrupted and disgraced pair. Another result was a temporary shortage of snack foods and soda. When the ban was lifted some of the most hardened Trimp supporters were suggesting that the national anthem be changed to Bob Marley's "Redemption Song".

Somehow the nation had run the gauntlet of the Trimp-Penis Administration and survived and we THE PEOPLE  became stronger and wiser.

And we all lived happily ever after.

America At The Crossroads

A fairly significant number of American's are distraught at how their elected representatives have transformed society.  (commentary by Farron Cousins, the Ring of Fire at opening link.) Many feel they are being victimized by their government because of the lack of social services and the lack of employment, the lack of educational opportunities, the lack of healthcare, the lack of a sense of security when walking down the city streets because of police brutality. 

Even overt supporters of the State are alarmed at the beast like approach the Trump gang (Administration) has managed to pull off so far.

The spectacle of the mistreatment of human beings at the border (as this Democracy Now report reveals) makes many of the populace dismayed leading them to ask themselves and others: 'How this can be happening?' 

Some of course are happy with the mistreatment of these human beings and they justify it on the basis of the laws they have had made. "We have a law," send them back the proponents of this activity say.  

However it is not so cut and dry, America is split over this. Imagine the condition of the soul of one who is able to be defend such activity. How is it they are not crucifying Christ again  (article by John Piper at previous link on topic of man made in the Image of God) when God regards those they wish to reject as himself?

The mistreatment of human beings is a crime against God in the western religious tradition of Christianity.

Many do not believe in God but do have concern for unfairness and inhumanity being perpertrated on the helpless. Whether they know it or not they are responding to the voice of the Universe that has woven 'peace on earth, good will toward men' into the fabric of their being by speaking out and saying this is wrong and they do not want to be associated with that kind of behavior. Which side are you on, who do you love?

This is a spiritual as well as a political and social crossroads for America. Today America is deciding what their God is like and what course of action to take. I prefer Jesus and those like him to Trump and those like him.

Which side are you on?

The Oasis Is Off Limits: a poem

I wrote the poem below after hearing the reports of this activity reported by the Intercept and other news outlets.

The Oasis Is Off Limits

The oasis of kindness became a mirage  

in a desert as mean

as the baking sun

on the back of a fleeing refugee.

At the gate the sign blinks a message:

:

"Go away.

this is Uncle Sam's land,

the oasis is off limits,
there's no kindness here

don't you understand?"

Attention Air Breathers: an artist's plea for sanity when the leaders are insane

It is not a secret something has gone haywire and that the RNC and the DNC have betrayed all the air breathing, food eating, medicine taking and water drinking constituents by legislating in favor of corporate interests which CANNOT VOTE but who are in favor of removing pollution safeguards in order to increase their wealth. These corporate interests do not require clean air or water to live, but their customers and employees do require clean air and water to live. I bet you and your kids need those things too! (report by Jordan Charition on poisoning of Flint Michigan's water added)

I watched the June 8th report on the topic of the EPA by Democracy Now.  Immediately I put the video together.  Feel free to share the video if you think free access to clean air and water should be restored as a natural human right.  Birds and butterflies are also on the hit list.

Gaza: brought to you by the corporate media

         Gaza: brought to you by the corporate media

             If you knew you couldn't stand it.

             Problem solved

             I closed your eyes and ears

             you couldn't hear the cries

             you didn't see the tears.

            If you could see and hear,

            if you knew… you would be sick.

            Problem solved

            the Media's here

            closing  your eyes and plugging your ears...

            go back to sleep there's nothing here

            Gaza does not exist.

I wrote the poem above because what is happening in Gaza makes me sick. How ironic that Jesus was a native Palestinian. Think of his fate. Think of the irony of the present Palestinians who are also hated by the present group of the same people who hated Jesus himself.

What does the fate of Palestine mean?  Well, whatever the outcome, it will be a bookmark in human history. It will be the place where we see if the anti-human agencies of the world prevail over the human spirit. Let's start talking about it?

Are You Strange? poetry and reflections

poetry inspired by lectures by Peter Joseph, Tom Campbell and the Gospel of John.

Are You Strange?

         I'm a strange person,

         I like people apart from class and race.

         I don't see terrorists at the gates,

         I hear people crying: "Help me",

         I hear many shout: "Go away".

         I'm a strange person,

         scenes like this make me cry.

        The President says it's not patriotic to feel like I do.

         What does it mean if for once he is right?

         Well I'm a strange person, are you?

Into The Madness: the art of May 2018

I gathered together some of the art I made in the month of May.

I pay attention to the news, and the ways and the whys that make the winds of the status quo blow. 

I respect spirituality and science and find they do agree except when placed against the backdrop of the ordinary Christian explanation of the Christ Event.  Influences such as eco-destruction, a new war every decade and social dysfunction find there way into my art.  

Enjoy and Share

Once Upon A Time: a political fable

Once Upon A Time: a political fable

Almost immediately after the honeymoon of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election was over the nation was ready for a divorce.

At first the Trump supporters of the various Gooberville's in every nook and cranny across the nation responded with unrestrained glee as did the supporters of Trump on Wall Street.  Gooberville is no longer happy but Wall Street is delirious, like a drunken queen hosting a party.

What happened to bring about this cataclysmic change was the waking  up of the electorate concerning the complete sell out of both major political parties to their benefactors in the corporate world. The result left the American people penniless and hopelessly in debt and feeling like they'd been bitch slapped.  Donald Trump and the Republicans and the Democrats joined together to declare the program a success.  But now the people were awake and ready to take charge.

The wake up call came in the spring and summer of 2018 when the electorate gradually became aware that the ideology by which the Republicans and Democrats make decisions with was designed to extinguish the hope and dreams of the common person on Main Street.  This realization was evidenced by the appearance of so called far left ideas, which in common ordinary practice were actually in the dead center.  The dead center being the common areas of human need. Food, housing, employment, and healthcare, just ordinary things people need. Why the Republicans and Democrats have made it so tough on the people is for you to decide. But there is no question the present condition the people find themselves in is due to Republicans and
Democrats making laws.

People did want jobs, did want healthcare, did want college education and most of all they wanted their hope restored and it was plain to all that the Republicans and the Democrats needed to be shown the door in order for hope to peek through the gloom and enter the room.

The flaw that was so carefully disguised in the language of MAGA along with the stoking of the fires of fear with incendiary xenophobic speech suddenly became evident.

It became evident in mass shootings and Nazi Parades and murders by Nazis in the streets of the U.S. many of these incidents done by Donald Trump's followers. Trump's appearance on the world stage has given the nation and the world a big bad bellyache.

  

As it turned out the American people, enough of them anyhow, came to the understanding that the Republicans and Democrats no longer serve the interests or share the same concerns and neither are they possessed by the same desires as the people who vote. In other words the people determined that neither the Republicans or the Democratic parties give a rats ass about Main Street and the families trying to make a living. It is evident in the laws they've made and have refused to make. (added important article by Jordan Chariton exposing conventional political activity taking place in U.S. Evidence of Republican and Democratic party misbehavior.)

The voter wants single payer healthcare.

The voter wants college education provided free.

The voter wants a job to go to which will support his family decently.

The voter is tired of making war.

  

From the way it looked to the people in the Spring and Summer of 2018 it was time for a change and people from the center spoke up. There were oodles of them all making noise and stepping out of line and taking charge of their own destiny. Hearts were aflame with visions of peace and prosperity for them and their children and grandchildren. It was amazing.  It was like seeing Ezekiel's  old dry bones come to life.  Some of them decided to run for office and there were so many of them their voices were like the sound of many rivers rushing together.

It was glorious and when election day came not a single Republican or Democrat was elected, and never again in a future election was a Republican or Democrat put in office and the people lived happily ever after.

The Riverbed Hotel: poetry

The Riverbed Hotel

I've made my reservation

in the Riverbed Hotel. 

My blanket

is the outgoing tide,

my pillow,

the ocean's swell.

I have an appointment

I must not fail to keep. 
I'm tired and weary
my body is aching...

and lodging in the Riverbed Hotel

is renowned for a good night's sleep.

© David H. Roche May 20, 2018

Friends: a poem

Friends

I have holes in my soles

and cardboard in my shoes,

it's not unusual…

just another case

of the existential blues.

I'm happy for friends

for whom I've cared

who now bring me help

in my despair,

returning to me

the love I've shared.

You need friends

and I do too

in a village of friends

there's nothing

friends can't do.

Friends are a lighthouse

in a time of storm.

When you have a friend

you've reached the shore.

Friends (C) 2018 by David H. Roche

The Mind of the Wild Geese

Mr. and Mrs Goose flew over the house this morning honking and set down in the street.  
I arose and went out with a cup of seeds.  

When I spoke to them they literally came running to me... which is where the seeds were.

Mr. Goose approaches me sometimes giving me the impression he knows I have seeds for him and the Mrs.  

I can't help but wonder what his thoughts are. Wouldn't you like to know the thoughts, the mind of the wild goose?  

Oh Dear, Oh My

Oh Dear, Oh My

The years following the 2016 Presidential election have been, to be kind, different from any that have preceded them. The American people, for some reason, elected a jackass of a man to lead them.

The Presidency of Donald Trump has been like being taken to the carnival by an insane caregiver. The people didn't realize what they had bargained for, but now they have an idea.

It isn't only the American people, but the entire world also is aghast at the behavior of the former self-proclaimed peace loving non-interventionist nation which has been at war for nearly fifty years while keeping the peace! Go figure!

Why is this happening?  The answer is simple.  This is happening due to the pursuit of profit. This type of enterprise has been going on for a long time. Two time medal of honor recipient Marine General Smedley Butler knew about this un-spoken government program long ago.  No one who was supposed to care then actually cared and the same is probably true today. Those who are supposed to care simply have not demonstrated they care all that much about war being a racket. Most Republicans and Democrats embrace war as a source of corporate revenue as this report from Global Research reveals.

Those of us who care are those who have to bleed and die, send sons and daughters to die or come home unable to do anything and then the final insult forced to pay for a continuing for profit war enterprise by working night and day at low paying jobs.  We care. We're fed up and there's a lot of us.

We are on the cusp of the most pivotal moment in the history of the U.S. and perhaps the modern industrial world.  In the upcoming election season we can replace those making laws who simply do not care about 'we the people'.  We must do this if the madness of endless for profit war is to ever end.

We as a people have come to the place where if we do not drive the rats out NOW this generation and the next… on into the endless future are forever doomed to this preposterous situation of endless war for profit. We the people could end homelessness, end the lack  of employment, end the lack of education and end the lack of healthcare if we put an end to wars for profit. We could do so much for each and everyone of us if we had an economy based on profits from peace instead of profits from war.

This next election is a do or die election.  If  the philosophy of the Republican and Democratic parties is not kept from influencing lawmakers we are doomed to fail.  It is the for profit war loving Republican and Democratic philosophies which are the cause of the present miseries on the Main Streets of America. They must not be allowed the privilege of making laws in the future. It's up to the people to stand up and throw the bastards out at the ballot box.

We don't need another god damned war Mr. Trump.

What we need is another government.  A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE.  The Republicans and the Democrats are not offering that.  All they are offering is bullshit and endless war and WE THE PEOPLE are sick and tired of that Mr. Trump.

Mr. and Mrs. Goose April 28, 2018

"Mr and Mrs Goose April 28, 2018" Photography of a pair of Canada Geese who show up regularly to be photographed. They have been around for years and do not migrate, they just kind of hang out here. The male had a broken wing several seasons ago and he managed to heal but then he decided to stay around.

I Have An Idea...Organize the Dispossessed

Going down the road feeling bad.

I had an experience with a merchant today that set me off. 

Like many Americans I live hand to mouth after the middle of the month. Returning cans is a necessary part of my household economy.

Today I went to the store I go to almost everyday to buy a six pack of the 2nd lowest priced beer available.

I figured it out. Multiply $6 times  360. 

$2000 dollars a year is approximately what this merchant stands to lose for not taking back my cans. 

I had 50 cans the maximum he and the state allow to be returned. 

One of the cans a neighbor had given me. 

The merchant called me on it because he, the merchant, didn't sell that beer. 

The state law required him to give me the money back. 

It was my right and I did not need to be informed the can had not been bought in his store.

It did not matter.

Possibly I over reacted. 

I said to him. 

"Do you mean your not going to take my cans back?" 

And I left my daily 6 pack on the counter, took my cans and left determining that he would never get another dollar from me.

Problem is I like the people, they're immigrants and hard working people up against the wall trying to stay alive

just like me with all the cards stacked against them...

just like me.

But his willingness to pick out a can not sold in his store was not legal.

He was obligated to give me a refund. 

I'm willing to forgive him. 

I like the guy and his wife.

But this was wrong.

As I think about this I realize it was my economic extremity which provided the impetus for my reaction to someone I liked doing business with.

If the money didn't matter to me I would have shrugged it off and thought nothing of it.

(I need to address this with him which means me eating crow)

But you know it's hard not having a dollar in your pocket

and having to return cans to get a little relief from the reality which society and poverty imposes on ones soul can be humiliating.

This is my experience after having worked my whole life

providing taxes for the continuation of a society

that at the end turned its back on me.

So I'm a little bitter about that.

I'm sure you will be too when you discover

it has happened to you.

Oddly the bible recognizes the necessities

this kind of situation imposes on the victims

and provides a remedy.

The bible prescribes alcohol as a relief from the austerity of poverty. 

Where is that bible thumper Mike Pence arguing loud and long for beer for the poor?

Do you hear him?

My feeling is he has a problem with implementing that part of the bible.

Hanging Gays is OK with Mikey Boy

but beer for the poor, 

no way!

We have lots of beer 

and not so many jobs.

Come on Mike you're making God look bad.

So what am I saying?

I must not be so rash is one thing

because the merchant and I are in a life and death struggle with the same foe.

I must know my rights.

You must know your rights.

I must defend my rights.

You must defend your rights

if you and I wish to have them as rights.

I must be compassionate in the defense of my rights.

If each of us were this way,

forgiving but yet requiring justice,

how would that work out?

Think about compassionate justice.

Suppose we just did for others what others needed

and others did the same for us? 

How would that work out?

I came home with my cans.

A friend bought me a 6 pack after seeing how I had been treated and when I got home I sat down and drank it

and in the process wrote this.

Consider it a howl from the bottom,

but you know, it's not a solitary howl,

it's a chorus

and those singing make up most of the people on the planet.

I have an idea.

   Organize

         the

   Dispossessed