.
Steady is the hand
keeping balance in the land
as it measures the cost
of freedom on demand
.
A hero’s song unsung
off the tip of a silent tongue
reminds us of the place where
only the good die young!
.
With red roses near
blue skies that stretch for years
those broad stripes and bright stars
prepare our youth for tears
.
“Left, right, left…” we stride
to breach the great divide
We must march together
or risk this nation’s pride
.
If In God We Trust
but for more loot we lust
the Golden Calf we’ll praise
half buried in the dust
.
About face!
.
As one united nation
let us move in the same direction –>
towards a day worth remembering
and a history worth repeating
.
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the U.S. is a strange person.
sorry uncle, it all that came to my mind. i enjoy reading it, and as always i like your point of view and love the way you put it down…
Beautiful poem uncle, its amazing I never read something from you I did not
like.
“freedom on demand”? what do you mean by that?
sorry can not figure it out, I understand that is obviously not good.
Nice what you say about marching together, but at the same time
I think about it as being almost impossible to happen,
but I do not want to be hopeless
I want to think things will be all right.
We have already experienced with the calf
but it seems one time might have not been experience enough.
that episode does not worth repeating
as you say we need to be headed towards a history that does.
I think your last to sentences are more than great,
I love them. I want to use one of them in my page
can I?
Do you think there Is something you
would like to repeat over and over again?
Hugz
Uncle Sam is a purusha, Dhyan.
Given a little more time, he may yet fully mature.
“When you’re strange…” The Doors open ever so slowly.
If I ever come to see you in Germany, how loud should I knock?
Good to see you again, D! I did finish up “The Glass Bead Game” finally.
If you remember, “The Rainmaker” was the first short story at the end.
That’s what inspired me to write “Lunar Nutheads” the way I did.
I was hoping you’d comment on it…wondering if it comes even close.
If I write something you don’t like, Mariana,
I really doubt you’d tell me. Or wood you?
Nutheads was an exception. That’s about the worst
of names my father ever called me. Maybe you’d never heard the word?
Freedom “On Demand”…is like Movies On Demand on your cable/satellite.
We even have vending machines now to quickly obtain the latest flicks.
Instant gratification, without putting in the necessary work for better
long-term results, is another way to put it.
Remember the Crosby, Stills & Nash song, “The Cost Of Freedom”?
I sang it for about two days straight as I wrote this. I know
you don’t like hopeless endings, so I tried to fix that with this.
Feel free to spread my words, sweet niece. I wood be honored.
What do I wish to repeat personally? The great feeling of a
hard-earned accomplishment coming to complete fruition.
You are a beautiful person, and I’d bet you feel the same way.
Thank you for lifting my sprites once again! Luv ya, Unca Amca
We know the direction
we need to be headed
.
towards a day worth remembering
and a history worth repeating
Yeah man this is a step i can unmarch with and a tune I can stroll along to.
Historically speaking, TWM, the last two lines may be
the best possible ending thoughts I have ever produced.
Easier said than done, unfortunately,
especially for this country as a whole.
Happy to hear you liked it. Hoorah!
I was leery about sounding too nationalistic.
Have a great 4th! I’ll be at the lake…
camping, fishing, and bombing the sky.
uncle, why to knock when you can shout!!!
i will have to look at it again (hopefully i can remember that :D)when i will finish (or start) the glass bead game again. i would have just look at it but as i moved here as i am i do not have it around.
now you made me go and look up Purusha, that is good. my command of basic hindi and my little sanskrit is leaving me as the years of no use pass….
Back in the day when women and symbolism ruled the tribe,
before concepts, before ambiguous meanings and free associations,
men were subversive, and subject to the whims of a multitude of gods.
Objects stood for themselves, and ancient rites of passage kept the
seasons in line for these nomadic peoples who had to fight, struggle,
and persevere from one generation to the next.
Shouting out, D! That was the setting for The Rainmaker, by H. Hesse.
One of his short stories is Robert Aghion, and is set in India. Hesse’s
parents were missionaries there, and that’s what this story is about.
I wonder how much has changed there in these last 100 years. A lot,
but for some, very little or so it seems. Have you been or lived there, Dhyan?
(I know, I’m way off the subject here, folks. Please excuse us.)
Had to do the Coup-plait!!!!!!!!!
Didn’t ya?
hehehehe
Great piece, just vague enough to make one(think) about what you are writing..
last two lines???
Brilliant!!
Is that how you spell that, Bindo?
Phonetically, I think I was close enough.
Plaits are tough on the thighs. That I know.
Don’t ask me how I know. Okay…Jazzercise.
But that was a long time ago. No lie.
It’s not very often that I come off as brilliant.
If you really mean that, I thank you kindly!
It’s too bad it comes down to that, because
many famous authors are only remembered
for their very best line ever, or best couplet
ever, as wood certainly be my case, if ever…
Have a great 4th! And be careful, of course.
I know how reckless you can be. Ha! See ya!
Glorious epic – a vision of noble honour that should be in everyone’s heart. I am a peacemaker by nature and war does not make my chords sing, but I praise the ideal, the flag and what it represents. I guess no-one can understand the great gift of freedom, unless they lived in a country where there isn’t.
Bless you.
Hey, Silvia! I confess…there is much I do not understand. A ton.
Maybe it’s better to leave well enough alone, than to try to ‘get it’
but fail, and then end up with a totally wrong misunderstanding.
Sometimes we think, “If I just had more information…”, but that
doesn’t always do the trick either. There is no substitute for the
one thing that helps put us on the right track, experience.
My experience is limited, and the times I have felt free are few and
far between. My parents were strict, so when I turned 18, and they
finally backed off, I felt a bit freer, but that’s a personal freedom.
Same thing goes for when I graduated from high school. “I’m free!”
The other two times were when I got divorced. I count them, too.
The next one’s will be when the last kid leaves home, and when I
retire. I left out what I would call religious freedom. Long story…
Political and social freedom’s are completely different, I believe.
At 18, I was free to vote, and I was free to join the armed services.
At 21, I was free to drink. I knew my rights. I claimed them as such.
Americans take a lot for granted, but one can’t really fault us for
doing so. It comes with the territory. A territory I have never left.
You have a much different perspective, and all the words in the world
wouldn’t change the fact that I can’t see what you have known,
and lived. That’s okay. I can still gain a better understanding, just
not a full one, unless I were to live under those kinds of conditions.
We’re going camping today, and the storms are free to ruin our good
times. Wish I had a camper, but we’ll deal with it, one way or another.
Hope you have a great weekend! Feel free to do so, and be safe.
Thanks for listening! For me, conversation is enjoyable, but I talk a lot.
Bye now! Bless you, too! UT
nice! i like it 🙂
uncle, india is the one place i would recommend any one to visit. but it is not a place, i think and feel, for a vaction, it needs time, to stay in each place as long as needed, free from cares of time. when i first came there, all the old travlers around said india never change, but that was in 2000 before they open it up to the west (letting forgeiner companies a step in), it is now changing rapidly, though, as you say, not for everyone (in some way) yet, to westerner mind it is a great blow, a great mixture of tastes and smells, and life which seem to be found only in hesse and kipling (and of course many more).
i am happy for every minute i spend there with the big highs and big downs. more the 2 years in total, not enough, there is no day i do not crave to go back.. but it is getting long… forgive me for the rush of my words (and the spelling mistakes, it have been long day, it’s late and i am tired) but you qustion have took me there at no time………
blessings uncle, for your being and words makes me happy and thoughful..
D!
Thanks, Monster Picture Man!
Thanks for the background information, Dhyan!
I don’t know exactly why India is so intriguing to me. When I was
reading and comparing religions, it kept coming up as a place that
held spirituality in such high esteem that I had to learn more. Books
can only take us so far though, and until I meet a full-fledged guru,
or mastermind, I will not be able to feel that presence that I’ve
heard so much about. I remain skeptical until that day, which may
never come, unfortunately.
I do not, and never have meditated. Hatha Yoga was how I got
started. That was in 1979, I believe. No classes per se, more like
self taught, and the stretching (creating space in the body) I did
obsessively for a long time. I became very flexible, though not a
contortionist in the weird sense. I’m still pretty loose, and I still
extend myself every day, although I use no set routine. It really
does work in the long run, and I remain supple and well developed.
My being is back after a short vacation, but I have no words to add
to Uncle Tree’s blog at this time. I do not know what I’ll do next,
or if I’ve finished what I started out to do here in the first place.
It was really nice to be able to fit in, and to meet people like you
from all over the world. There’s a lot of talent at wordpress, and
I am impressed. It is a humbling experience, and I believe I know
my place, my station, and my standing in this glorious mix.
I hope you are able to return once more to India, and I hope you
have had some luck finding employment. Thanks for being friendly!
For now, reading and commenting on other peoples work will fill
my spare time. It is how I entertain myself, which is really all this is
about, right? I have no aspirations, I’ve relegated my ambitions to
the closet, and I’ve relinquished all the fuzzy notions that come along
to one whose dreams are unattainable. I will not allow them to
get the best of me. I wish you the best, D! See you around!
Ahhh.. I really, really, try not to comment on a long comment list as most people hit the things I like… but this I simply must say. The Goden Calf. Wow. I need to become more creative! Yours is poetry I need to tey to write ‘up’ to! cindy
Hi, Cindy! If you think my poetry is worthy enough to be held
in high esteem, I love you. I simply love you. I love you to death.
Yeah, I thought about using Mammon as a target to preach against,
but he comes off as being harsh and ruthless, whereas a little calf
seems less intrusive, and more innocently dumb, making it an easier
idol to tame, perhaps. He has grown into the bull market we now see.
Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for commenting on a whim!
can’t add much to this great conversation–but wanted to let you know I read and that your reference to the Doors–when you’re strange…. made me grin.
greetings all
and oh the calf–yep.
I referenced Morrison? OMG!!!
Tell me everything! Well,
everything else. I already know
I’m strange. “Alright, ye-uh!”
aren’t we all ‘strange’?
huh..I always thought strange was normal…
—geese honking in the distance…mmm
—got tea? have a cup…enjoy
Speaking of that devilish word,
my fave in that category is
“Isn’t Life Strange”
Moody Blues
Sentimental-case,
Uncle Willow
Got hugz?
Wow! I love this one Kieth! It marched right into my heart! “If in God we trust but for more loot we lust”…so powerful and sadly true …for many.
Hope you survived your heat wave!! Lorrie
Ha! Barely…
This one is appropriate to the times, I agree, Lorrie.
War is old hat, ya know? Will we ever grow up? Geez…
Well, thank you, honey child! This is as political as I get, and even here, I wish to play the bridge, instead of taking sides. 2014 now, and ISIS brings a different side out of me, and I hope we bomb the fuck out of those bastards who have absolutely no conscience, and I mean ZERO. On another note, I’ve never owned a gun. They scare me. I used to fish, but never hunted. In other words, I’m not a “man’s man” in that sense. Graduating H.S. in ’76, we were the first class in years, who did not even have to register for the draft. Just fyi’s…
Thank you for the sweet compliments! 🙂 And the smooch! XXOO UT