Month: February 2020

Frustration is a great word
People in love with the evil ones
Can’t patronize them enough
They are total frauds
Now they want exoneration
Because they were snookered
 
Suddenly snookering is not okay
They have been doing it to their audiences
Day after week after month after decades
Graft, cheating, loss of life, and promises
Denied, covered, nothing to it and why keep them
Impressing a small but steady group of sycophants
 
People wear their labels, boldly and proudly
Make it difficult to return politics to normal
They think the swamp is a reference to them
But the swamp is full of phony-baloney
Plastic-banana, good time rock and rollers
From both sides of the aisle
 
It is not Democrat versus Republican
It is the Swamp versus the deplorable
Money beyond our ability to comprehend
Is at play in all the decisions made by
Our elected officials and representatives
It leaves many feeling powerless
 
People work hard and more are working
Than ever before in our country
There is a modicum of hope
That things will keep getting better
We need manufacturing to return to this country
This thing called cheap is going to cost us
 
Do we want drugs made in China?
How about food or anything when
Slave labor make it possible
There is no liberty in China
People are oppressed and eliminated
Are we willing to pay this price for cheap?
 
Stanski
February 17, 2020 ^

The evergreens are spectacular
Sunshine is breaking through the clouds
Shadows are long as the hour reaches noon
 
Deer are roaming in groups
Looking for food is an ongoing necessity
They look healthy, but forlorn
 
Their instincts for survival are uncanny
I wonder about cognition and compassion
They lean into survival of the fittest
 
I look at verdant shrubs
They have been whittled by deer
Bitter is better than nothing
 
It is cold and people feel subdued
Things needing to be done will wait
This is a normal pattern for winter
 
Squirrels are not scampering
No birds are in sight
The sun is not warming
 
There are people in need
How do they feel as part of
A universal situation
 
Their survival brings silent joy
Our joy, brought by success, is muted
Because of conditions we abhor
 
Tomorrow will come as always
We cannot predict condition
Can only take steps we know we must
 
People get in the way of others
Good solutions are trampled
Ego supersedes the need to act
 
Accountability belongs to us all
A reminder which is unsettling
What shall we do?

Where are the leaders?
Who will follow?
Questions must be answered
 
Stanski
February 17, 2020 ^
 

I toss and turn; go in and out of sleep
Have a lot of crazy dreams but
I know everything is going to be alright
Just need to stretch my legs
Drink a little water and realize how lucky I am

There are many things to do
They all take time so need to rush
It is easy to walk away but
I avoid the temptation and
Once started it is hard to stop

Everybody goes through this
We complain about luxury
Everything is so real to me, but
I cannot forget there are many who need help
That keeps me going without frustration

Everyone does not have their hand out, but
Helping them means everything to me

I think every now and then if I would like
To go back and start all over again
It sometimes sounds pretty exciting, but
When reality sets in I come to my senses

There are enough problems to contend with
No need to go back to find them
Even a fool can see in the light and right now it’s bright

I think I’ll be alright just carrying on the way I do
My regimen may be different but I get a lot done
I never have to say what more do you want from me

Sometime I feel like it’s time to quit
Then I feel like going on
It is all a little crazy like tossing and turning

Just a part of life that is fun to deal with
I’m not planning on going away
Just want to bring a little sunshine right here

Well, I’ve laid out my feelings for you
Hope you can gather that I’m doing pretty well
 
Stanski
February 17, 2020 ^
 

I’m in a funky get down mood
Everything I read is negative
Coronavirus going wild
People contagious on cruise ships

China making most of our drugs
Where have we been?
Who has been watching out for us?
Certainly not the Swamp
Too much money in it for them

Where is our hope?
Can’t have a block party
Can’t shake hands

Why do people go to church 
when they have a cough that 
comes from the bottom 
          of their lungs?

Stay home brother
Call it a peace maker interlude
Do your part
Wear a mask

Everyone is having the blues
Sharing germs in the vestibule
Let’s close things down
Even San Quentin closed to contain a virus

Pass me not
The Lord will make a way
But I am not ready for the Highway to Heaven

So we shall endure
This too shall pass
I can feel it

I’m getting a positive mood
Can’t harvest it
But it is there

Sure feels good
It’s been a long time coming
Everything’s going to be alright

If you know and I know
Then you have a friend
Just don’t shake my hand
Or even look like you are going to cough
 
Stanski
February 16, 2020 ^
 

I wake up and look out to see a calm winter morning
The blizzard is over
I see a pink tinge on the southern horizon

It is Sunday
A day of peace
Although there is anything but peace
in the greater picture
 
People going after each other
Groups at odds
Political opponents fighting for the top stop
while criticizing the man in office
overlooking all of his accomplishments
in spite oF the opposition from the swamp
 
I see countries suppressing their people and neighboring countries 
I see that people are dying of a Coronavirus
especially in China and then realize that
China makes many of our medications
because they make them cheap
even though the prices we pay are very high
 
I realize that the cost of cheap is going to be very high
 
I have music going,
a small glass of grapefruit juice and
a cup of coffee 
My computer is on and I am typing away like a mad man
 
Eva Cassidy is singing “Wade in the Water”
I think that may be the solution but the lake water is frozen over
I will go to church instead
 
Will try to be the peace to others
There are many besides myself who need it
The morning is very cold and our souls need warmth
They need healing as do our bodies
Age has a way of diminishing the body

The mind is in constant battle,  
wanting to give up and refusing to give up

There is much to do
We must not quit
We must overcome
 
Stanski
February 16, 2020 ^

The function of education is
To teach one to think intensively
And to think critically
Intelligence plus character-
That is the goal of true education
These words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ring true today as they did when he spoke them first
 
We have lunatics in this country
Trying to take us over the cliff as
Though we were sheep and have
No mind of our own
 
There would be an outcry of denial
If presented to the Board of Education
But the breakdown in morality
The avocation of choosing your gender
The failure to teach history and the constitution
Failure to discipline misbehavior in a proper way
Teaching to the tests, leaving no child behind
 
Some say nonsense; why wouldn’t they?
They are the problem not just part of it
Dr. King sensed this as he spoke
He knew what denial of education could lead to
 
We hear of good teachers being ostracized
They are doing too good of a job
Their students want more; do not want to go home
Instead of imitation we see harassment
Washington closes down a successful charter school
Students, finally succeeding, were
Thrown back into the failing heap of public schools
 
These statements are easy to deny
There are good teachers in public schools, but
Not enough to make Dr. King’s dream come true
That is the teaching to think intensively and critically
 
Intelligence plus character or
Sheep running over the cliff
 
Stanski
February 15, 2020 ^
 
 

I listen to Grover Washington, Jr. and am
lifted from the sadness I feel caused by
all the evil that exists around the world. 
 
I know I can find peace if I concentrate on
the sacred teachings, but meanwhile
this evil exists and blaming does no good
and observing others ignorance on
the whys and wherefores of its existence
just deepens my sorrow.
 
I wonder if life is to be this way. 
A solution is met with an objection
and nothing moves forward. 
Accusations without action
leave things at a standstill. 
 
What is the true King of us all going to do? 
We have been told all that is necessary
and it is up to us to solve these problems. 
Doing nothing is not an answer
Pointing fingers does no good. 
 
We look in the mirror and may see
the cause of some misery or
the answer if action can take place. 
 
The wind is blowing and 
a blizzard is in the making. 
Who will be affected and 
what message will be delivered?
How will its manifestation affect us?
 
We each own a piece of what is and
have a duty to act accordingly. 
Failure leads to self-doubt and depression. 
Will we learn?
Will we act? 
Only time will tell.
 
Meanwhile Grover keeps me in 
a wonderful state of mind
 
Stanski
February 15, 2020 ^

It is hard to think that
politicians, including
a past president and others
who are admired by many,
could cast a vote to allow
the death by murder of
infants who have survived abortion.
 
Roe v Wade is controversial
enough, but when a botched
late term abortion results in
a human alive and breathing
it goes beyond normal instincts
to put the infant to death
When does the sanctity
of life begin and if
murder at birth is okay
how about murder at 15 months
if the child does not seem
to fit into convenient plans
 
Heroes of the Pro-Choice movement
had in mind the eradication of
black babies through abortion but
disguised this as women’s choice 
Few gave much thought to this and
went along with the program
Abortion became birth control
It was honored and liberated women
 
Have you ever talked to a survivor of
a botched abortion and told this person
that they do not deserve to be alive
Life is one of our inalienable rights
The rights to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness
 
We are a sick society when we fail
to speak out for the rights of the helpless
and those on the fringes
 
Stanski
February 15, 2020 ^
 
 
 

Tonight the wind is hollowing
Truly a part of winter
It gives us all a reason to succeed or
stay quiet and be anything we wish to be
 
Who is to question our decision?
Choices are unlimited and only we know
what we will be planning tomorrow and
much of that will unfold beyond our expectations 
 
We make plans and carry them out and
in the process interface with others and
routines get disrupted, maybe for the good
or possibly to our regret 
 
It seems we always have time to recover
until the time comes when we don’t. 
I look at the local funeral home activities
See that an old friend has died 
I had coffee with him a couple of months ago 
His time is gone but reading about him,
I see that he had a full life and a life of giving to others 
 
The hollowing wind does not let up 
It sounds so good, almost giving affirmation to my feelings 
There is no magic. This is a place where you do it or you don’t. 
Snake eyes is a possibility and no one wants that,
but numbers are numbers and life is life. 
 
Now is wine-light and the wine is gone 
There are memories and come morning I’ll be looking back 
I can’t help it. I always do and there will be no tears
I will reach out during the night and then remember
It is a beautiful exercise that I like to repeat
 
I wonder as I listen to Grover Washington, Jr.
What are the nocturnal animals up to right now?
The wind prompts them to find safe shelter
Are they ever safe?  Are we?
I can dig this contemplation.  Can you?
 
Stanski
February 15, 2020 ^

It is so beautiful
The sky is blue
Gray-white clouds
Floating in the south
There is a gentle breeze
Not enough to move the chimes
Shadows of trees on the snow
Just add to the amazing glow

Squirrels are chasing
Wanting the same thing
Enough to go around
That does not matter
A lot like our world
Must have power and control
This will never happen
Everything will spiral downward
Then the survival of the fittest

People listening to politicians
Politicians lie to them
Telling them what they want to hear
Free food, housing, school, and healthcare
It sounds as marvelous as the day is beautiful
The day will end, but be repeated
The promises, so wonderful, forgotten

We have our part to play
Tolerance and respect essential
We do not have to like everyone
But must be ready to offer a hand
An upward lift is what we desire
Frustration may cause our effort to expire
Freedom is very tenuous
It is a safeguard, but is not free

I look out at many trees
Standing beside each other peacefully
See cattle grazing their feed
Side by side and of every color
There is enough for every one
Still, as humans, we fight for more
Instead of offering love to each other
I stand in wonder
I wonder why
 
Stanski
February 14, 2020 ^