The Torch

 Every day they say they've got him,

but next day he's slipped their grasp.

And you wonder how it happened,

how on earth did he get past?

His hair is like the helmet

some super heroes wore,

and the words escaping from his lips

are thoughts ne'er thought before.

But each night they get together

in their dark and smoky rooms,

and as the night gives way to dawn,

once again they plot his doom.

First there were the Russians-

which somehow didn't pan out-

then they got a stripper

and claimed they'd caught the lout!

Then there was the Playmate-

and there also was a whore-

why, they heaped on so much scandal

that the public soon got bored.

Then they turned upon themselves,

so they'd be squeaky clean.

And even cleaned up Hollywood-

In a rare, accidental scene!

They waited for the Big Blue Wave,

the one which never came.

And then went after his wife and kid-

deeming them to be fair game.

Round and round in circles

the people all were lead.

And slowly, but very surely,

they grew sick of heart and head.

So, the moral of the story,

and this won't take long at all -

The more you try to topple him

the less likely he will fall.

Original Sin and the US Constitution?

Nothing rankles me more than the Original Sin argument about the United States and the Constitution. That we were founded upon Slavery. Quite the opposite is true. We were founded as a nation based on the stated notion that protection for slavery would only last until 1807, and further, that there could be no Amendment to change that date or goal. Read it. Article 1 Section 9.

So, in the very first Article of the US Constitution there is not only an acknowledgment of the evils of slavery, which was part of the system handed down to us by Britain, there is also a stated date for the cessation of importation of more slaves. This was the only way to get the 13 colonies to agree on the Constitution. And, yes, after 1807 we did have the misguided Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. I say misguided because attempting to compromise with something like slavery is just that; at the very least.

But by 1861 it all came to a head, as it was bound to, and 685,000 Americans, North and South, died to finally end slavery. Was it instantaneously successful? Of course not. But, the point is that we kept hammering it until it took proper shape and today we live in a world which has more slaves than we, as a nation, ever held in bondage.

Is there still work to do? "In order to form a more perfect Union" there always will be. But Original Sin? Sorry, you'll have to peddle that line elsewhere.....

The Birds at River Oaks Drive

The birds here at my new house at first might look the same,

rats with wings, fleeting things, although not quite so tame.

They may fly, sing, soar and squawk and even sound the same,

But the birds back at the old place, put these new ones to shame.

Yes, they may be more colorful, plentiful and varied.

But I'd trade these yellow finches for the way the robin carried

her dignity, her poise, her noise, the way she never tarried;

building a nest on my back porch for the lover she had married.    

These new birds live in the woods and come soaring down for seed.

They play and fuss and sometimes fight, all to feed their greed.

The blue birds chase the cardinals who have gathered here to feed,

They chase them off but can't eat now, with the finches filling their needs.

They remind me of corporate raiders, and the plots they often hatch,

But instead of penthouse suites they make their plans from a nest of thatch. 

So I really miss the old birds, the ones I used to watch. 

Though the new ones might be colorful, they're simply not a match....

Every Day with Sue

Every evening when day is done

your eyes are as the setting sun;
soothing, cooling; but still afire,
with a blazing flame I still admire.

Happy Anniversary, Sue.
33 years and counting....