The day starts gray and cold Few deer along my path I make it into town Attend the morning adoration and mass Return home Cross railroad tracks Men working to install warning lights Arrive home safely Still gray and cloudy Think of work to do Not overly excited Listen to Ray Price’s “Final Sessions” He fills me up with his singing The sun comes through the clouds Snow covered ground lightens I feel inspired Decide to write So easy The decision So difficult The writing I wish to uplift people Spiritually and intellectually All things are not easy Everyone reacts differently Then the question Who am I To strive to implore improvement? Just a follower, Who is aware of the Word I know my pledge Am aware of my duty So I may say Life, easy or difficult, has its purpose We will never know for sure what it is We do know what goodness and kindness are These are great starting points, and There is nothing wrong with Hope, love, and understanding I remember the warning lights I know what they mean Life is full of them Stanski January 31, 2020 ^
Month: January 2020
WE ARE CALLED
Life is great A precious gift We succeed Propel ourselves forward We are ready when Opportunity comes our way Mostly surround ourselves With like thinking individuals Are content and make progress Time passes and we flow Then comes a change A new environment New people to work with Those who cannot comprehend Our past means nothing to them A war-chest of medals meaningless All of our facade useless Naked, as could be said, and Back to square one A new trial A challenge that overwhelms We think of the Cross The One who fell Had to get up and continue Bearing the heavy load He was carrying us, our sins Now we must rise Understand our mission Reacquaint with our true selves Know our strengths Our weakness and energy We must not linger This is life, we remember A precious gift This thought stays with us We have work to do There will be no bravos The measure of success Will be ours We draw up our game plan We begin This is truly our life, our gift Stanski January 31, 2020 ^
RED SKIES AND SUNSETS
We love the color red It comes in many shades I think tomato, fire truck Lighthouse and suspenders There are many more examples But those came to mind quickly My mind does not filter out The non-essential but Comes to grip with reality The flag red could be thrown in Respectfully, or course Fire hydrants or fire trucks Both touch us the same Red buffalo plaid conjures Up bygone days Red sails in the sunset Really are a canvas white My mind spins Little Red Riding Hood Wasn’t a hood, but Wore a red garment Many flowers are red Many shades just like Fifty shades of gray Santa Claus just came to town His outfit is red With trim of assorted colors Now he is for sale Fifty percent off Valentine’s Day is close Red, heart shaped boxes of candy Will be looked for and sought after Red is an interesting color Many things to be considered My favorite of all is Red skies and sunsets How about you? Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
WAY UP NORTH
Winter will surprise Way up north It may be mild In a relative way The sun rises late Casts long shadows Tall trees cooperate The visuals provoke thinking Do we cast shadows? How long and for how long? Something to think about When the sun goes down The shadows disappear When we go Our shadows remain If we made any in the first place Did we impact in some way? Were we aware? Is ignorance a viable excuse? We must participate If life is to have value The uphill path is lonely Not many are willing to travel Too difficult Downhill is popular It leads to nowhere, but You arrive quickly Patterns in life are common Shadows will vary as The sun rises higher Efforts bring mixed results Many factors involved Beauty is consistent When the sun Lights up the forest When clouds create cover The temperature drops Beauty remains Shadows change Will the darkness remember? Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
BEWARE OF FALSE GODS
The uninformed Pass on their gossip Feel good about themselves Like finding blame Never look in the mirror Fact checking is a strange phenomena Keep regurgitating Truth be damned Their claim looks good Even sounds good But most often Remains a lie Point only to the ones hated Neglect the obvious Praise the oppressors The midnight stars Are outnumbered By the lies told No shame exists For they are right In their own minds Which are left Offer no valid solutions Ignore obvious problems Even add to them They are heroes To their followers If wishes come true Their house of cards Will come tumbling down Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN GREATNESS AND ABSURDITY
We are international in many ways Very worldly and diversified We drink mountain water Inhale the nectar from Whatever air we breathe Eat grains and fruit From around the world We love a variety of food And so experience Mexican, Indian, Italian, Thai, French, Chinese, Lebanese And other cuisines Drink wines from Around the world Some of us are polyglots Others speak and understand At least two languages We help people around the World as a country and Especially individually We welcome legal immigrants Travel abroad for education Share our farming technology In areas where nothing grew Send our soldiers around the globe We celebrate religious freedom Have love, honor and respect For all moral people and Even love the sinners We seek an even playing field for all We believe in sharing the costs We respond first in every world crisis We have much to be proud of Still there are doubters who Deny our greatness Defy laws of natural order Refuse to accept the right to life Prefer open borders and Illegal immigrants Have stolen our rainbow Love sociopaths and Respect members of the swamp Stanski January 29, 2020 ^
APPREHENSION ABOUT WHAT IS
I wait for yesterday Knowing it will not return But I want it back To rethink and react differently It will not return, but My mind has it sequestered And my camera has evidence That it did exist and was amazing I will have today What will it present and How will I act differently? I am wise, but grasp for the complex Even though I may be subdued But living with a failure Is more alluring than hiding So many things not understood A world I never made, but a Place in which I now exist Bewildering, only to the extent That it is difficult to observe Technology present and functioning That could not have been a decade ago I will take pictures Point my camera in all directions Look for light to capture Subdue the preposterous with An even older piece of mystery (My camera) People gaze at me, I am sure Thinking, we have all been there, man The lights, the action and Brilliant billboards flashing Little markets; people passing by Looking, touching and purchasing Merchants with ancient carts Still functioning, beholding and Wondering about tomorrow Stanski January 29, 2020 ^
A LOOK AT ANCIENT RUINS
To see the relics of early civilizations Is to be in awe of man’s capabilities Cities no longer inhabited still Possess the results of builders' Fascinating minds and attention to detail I imagine walking through the wooden gates Over a stone walkway, narrow but wide enough Arrive on the far side of the bridge Begin wandering, where allowed From place to place and wondering How can this be man, meaning Capable of building such beauty then How can this be man, meaning Why was this beauty abandoned? Who were the makers? Who did the terrifying? Were there survivors? I wonder about the Kings, The armies, and the battles The mothers and the children Peace transforming to misery And for what reasons other than power Or the knowledge that they could Mysteries of history And before them, who? What was their agony and ecstasy? Beautiful ruins left behind For future mortals to contemplate Stanski January 29, 2020 ^
A PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
I see sand and hills Mountains and sky What is below? And below that? How many years Decades and centuries Thousands and millions Time immeasurable Archeologists scrap The surface gives way There is no time To arrive at the bottom We will be gone Generations will pass What will we know? Just what we know Man exists Builds Engages in war Destroys Rebuilds Suffers the seasons Reaches for power Dies Buried with the indispensables Is replaced The cycle repeats Hopelessness Civilizations lie below The elements rule The sun, wind, and sand Water The lack of water Man’s intellectual weakness Failure to act Refusal to listen Or acquiesce Belief in consensus Ignorance of fact Nature will rule Under God Forever Stanski January 29, 2020
LIFE GOES ON
I head to town After a quarter-mile Two deer trot the road Feeling independent One goes north One goes south No coordination A small grouse lifts Settles at once on a snowbank I continue Four more deer Like the horsemen They are together Turn south and Leap over snow-pile Heading for water or food The sky is gray Weather is damp and cold What else lies before us? I cross the railroad tracks Look both ways Deer in each direction The road is slippery Must be careful I get to highway It is clear and dry My car vibrates Snow build up in tire wells I get to town Stop at thrift store Find a wooden carved moose The size of a basketball Feel like the King of Sweden Find a lovely cross-stitched chicken Made by someone in Paraguay I love chickens And moose Then find a tall clear blown glass vase This day is good Life goes on Stanski January 29, 2020 ^
Steve Haarman 