Month: April 2021

I like Bukowski
He wrote from life
Knew it top to bottom
Inside out and outside in
He has been down
Has been up
Liquor and women
Were always a part of
His amazing existence
He had a God
Whom he never mocked
Understood depression
Wrote every noun
Verb and adjective
Also throw in adverb

Respected the losers
He had been one himself
Received notes from those
Who read his stuff
Their compliments were good
But his chest didn’t puff
He knew the way down
Was faster than the way up
He typed at night
When booze had effect
Loved his women
Until they made him sick
Or the wine was gone

He had his way
Wrote every day
He grew older
But critics still raved
Because of a simple thing
He was better than ever

Stanski
April 28, 2021 ^

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A Man Who Found His Peace

Su Shi was one of China’s greatest renaissance men, known for his poems, essays, art, calligraphy, public policy, and recipes, among other things. 
 
He was also famously exiled twice for his opposition to the Wang Anshi faction in the Song Dynasty court, spending many of his prime years in China’s hinterlands as a result. 
 
Once, Su was visiting one of his good friends and fellow court official, Wang Gong. Wang had been banished to the remote region of Lingnan (present-day Guangdong and Guangxi) and had only recently returned to the North. 
 
While there, Su was chatting with one of the songstresses in Wang’s employ, Rounu, who had made the trip down to Lingnan with Wang’s entourage. 
 
 
“The climate in Lingnan is rather unpleasant, isn’t it?” he asked her. 
 
Calmly, she replied, “As long as my heart is at peace, I am home.” 
 
Rounu’s offhand remark had impressed Su Shi with its profundity, so much so that he recorded the encounter in one of his poems. Much of his own thinking in his later years included aspects of learning to make peace in this way. 
 
He is remembered not just for his great talent, but for his acceptance of all the challenges that life threw at him—and his persistence in continuing to do the work that he ought to do. 
 
This acceptance of his wasn’t a resigned passivity, but a quiet realism that kept him moving in the right direction. (It also armed him with a nice sense of humor.) 
 
In fact, Su passed away en route to Chengdu after receiving orders to return from his second exile. So even when he passed away, he was still marching along his path—setting an example for generations upon generations of Chinese people to come.

The child sings
Barely out of diapers
Knows the cruelties
Of the world
Belts out feelings
Oh!  The oppressed
Is there any hope?
The melody slows
Goes into the blues
Will we survive?
Does anyone know?
We all have dreams
Can see through clouds
But don’t want to look
And then cry out loud

Who is to blame?
We all look away
These problems we have
Will wait another day
Wake up from your dreams
It is a new day
Take another look
There’s a flag on the moon
And here I am crying
With a mop in my hands
I’ll be dancing at midnight
In my field of dreams
There will be reconciliation
Beautiful acts of love
It’s not that bad
Farmers plough
The child sings

Stanski
April 27, 2021 ^

People I used to know
So stoic in their way
Continue with their philosophy 
Regardless if it means decay

Corruption is not an excuse
Decadence is not an answer
Smiles while addressing the questions
Please!  Where is the lancer

The media asks the softball questions
Easy interviews; hold back the dam
No confrontation against the obvious
Just propaganda they wish to cram

I don’t want to abandon you
So listen carefully to what I say
This liberalism stuffing is of no value
They repeat and repeat to get their way

Truth is a word rejected
But truth will not be denied
I pray these treasures will recognize, then
There would be a chance we survive

Stanski
April 27, 2021 ^

From the ashes of what seems inevitable 
In our world full of chaos
We will conceive of a way to rise up
Like the Phoenix using God’s amazing ways
We know our history and what we can do
With an array of talents put to good use
Reestablish ourselves; reach our potential
And save our country from further abuse

One will wonder how we arrived here
How did we fall from the top of the heap?
Turn our heads away not wanting to see
How liberalism into our entity did seep
We always felt that there was time, and
Paying attention was something that could wait
But evil forces have no time table
They relied on us to lock our own gate

A chance remains to escape from failure
Think of what is good for our country
Is it a liberal act or rather conservatism?
One or the other will provide our bounty
So many new terms and ideologies 
Release prisoners; then abolish the police
Gender identification, Woke, BLM, and Antifa
Removal of Christianity; let’s end this, please

Close the border; finish the fence
Enforce the laws we have on the books
No packing the court or adding states
Treating good citizens as a bunch of kooks
We must follow procedures honest and fair
No special contracts to relatives and friends
If we cannot come to grips with reality, then
I’m sorry this “Experiment” will come to an end

Stanski
April 26, 2021 ^

Let’s hear some music
I know a few chords
I am a sinner
Oh, oh, oh

I look ahead to that
Which is before me
Better love my neighbor
Help those in need
Oh, oh, oh

We all make mistakes
Can’t help ourselves
Then feel upset
Fall into depression
Oh, oh, oh

Ignore those we hurt
As though they had no feelings
Is their sky blue or do
They look at the stars
Oh, oh, oh

I have seen the moon
Rise up in the east
A gift given with no cost
Only to appreciate
Oh, oh, oh

I am a sinner
Saved by the One
He carried my cross
Oh, oh, oh

I am sorry
I did not mean to offend
I meant to serve
Hope you can handle that
Oh, oh, oh

Stanski
April 25, 2021 ^

Why is the establishment pushing so hard
To bring this country, the greatest ever, to its knees?
Unimaginable sacrifice was made to allow us
To reach the position in the world which
We are now, although precariously, holding

It is inconceivable that our own people
Want us to fail and become a third world country
Where everyone, like in Cuba or Venezuela, lives
In an equal state of misery and any outcry 
Results in elimination.
 
Most are aware to some degree of American history
Everything was not perfect and evil men
Did exist who were unmerciful to our perceived enemies
Many more civil people led us – not without casualties -
To the successful Manifest Destiny 

There is always politics and ill-conceived methods
Involved in reaching our goals.  I think of
The Oregon Trail, which finally made it
To Oregon and this summer the “Peaceful Protests”
In Portland impacted a beautiful city in a negative way
We wonder who was culpable in this violence

We look back harshly on those who fought fiercely
On those who were involved in making the trail a reality
But look away with disinterest in locating the ones
Funding the disastrous destruction, looting and injuries,
As well as death that was happening in Portland

Too many citizens of this country especially
The woke left watch the media that presents
One side to what is going on in the country
They ignore and do not report on realities
That do not fit their narrative.  They ignore
The power of Big Tech and the negative
Influence and control which they possess

We need a new trail – one that leads to rights of expression
Rather than the road to crisis and misery

Stanski
April 24, 2021 ^

There is so much to say and
So many who do not want to listen

We were on the verge of euphoria
But a corrupt election left us out in the cold
The present occupant has no cognition.  Others 
Are pulling strings as though he were a puppet

He is outlandish in his executive orders
Going against everything he has supported
He has made millions from his China affairs
We cannot rely on anything he says or does

Just as we were on the verge of peaceful coexistence 
The policies bringing us here were totally disregarded
In his opinion we are supremacists and have no feeling
For those violating our laws on the southern border

I have a feeling – their countries should be turned
Into Democracies and the dictators should be thrown out
Then everyone give a chance to succeed and 
No longer be oppressed.  Those beautiful countries 
Should be a magnet for tourism resulting ultimately 
In the lack of desire by its citizens to escape

This would be utopia – regardless we have laws
Which are being broken in record numbers to
The delight of Joe-Joe and the leftists
It fits their narrative which is to turn our country
Into a Marxist socialist state.  The sad part is that
Those who think they are experts in history think 
The occupant is to be respected for his ill-fated decisions

We cannot signal – for others to come here – 
And promise housing, food, education and healthcare 
Who would not be enticed to make the journey?

Meanwhile we have thousands of homeless doing without
We have soldiers in this category who are committing 
Suicide at the rate of twenty-two each day

In the meantime the Mexican cartels are making millions
Exploiting their opportunity to bring deadly drugs,
Sex slaves and other criminals into our country

The left cheer.  This is their plan.  What do they want for us?
Misery for all within our borders except, of course, themselves
They wish to be the ones in control

Stanski
April 23, 2021 ^

We are systemic racists
Also white supremacists 
These statements are uttered
Believed by those hungry for 
Support of their causes

The Reverend Al Sharpton is their hero
He is anti-Asian, antisemitic and
Anti-paying his own taxes
He is pro-making money off the backs of others
Corrupt political influence dominates

All of the ethnic divides are incidental
They have nothing to do to 
Our collective identification
We are all one, although there are differences
These differences are exploited by the leftists

Certain groups are held down so others may succeed
The choice of our education has been suppressed
Those most in need are instructed to say no
The ones deprived are left deprived
And then the curse of false labels

Education has been replaced with indoctrination
Victims are stunned and inclined to believe
The bells are pealing and time does not stop
Dis-information is prevalent 
How do we lead people to believe in the truth?

The misrepresentations are unbelievable
The occupant with the Japanese minister
Receive softball questions and Joe-Joe
Answers a part of a three part question
He turns the floor over to the Minister from Japan

Failure once more to confront reality
No acknowledgement of Russian disinformation 
The occupant boldly speaks of murders on the street
I pray for their eternal rest
Most are black on black murders

Still the police remain the underdogs
Until we need them to rescue us
Then they are our best friends
We are a misled people, unfortunately 
Indoctrination by the left must be canceled

Let us enlist the beliefs of 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stanski
April 22, 2021 ^

We have all seen the bullies
(They cower when outnumbered)
Taking control when in power
Nothing else seem to matter 

Routine stops turn violent
And then all hell breaks loose
If a black person is involved
The degree of escalation rises

Due process must not be set aside
Most blacks unfortunately are
Murdered by other blacks

The number killed by police
Is almost negligible, but when
It happens it is a sad situation
Because every life regardless of color matters

The politicians and the left use
Every tragedy to their advantage
They use the race card every time
Make promises they never keep

Every case is different
There is nothing routine
Except for the playing of the race card

When a black cop is killed it is ignored
Because it doesn’t fit the narrative
There are no “peaceful” protests for them

The liberals have an agenda, but
Destroying the police is not an option
One hundred have been killed this year alone

Blacks by the hundreds have been killed 
By other blacks in Baltimore, Chicago, and
Many other major cities
It is no longer news because it is
Basically accepted as normal

Where are the pastors and parents?
We have already weakened the police
May God help us come to our senses
And get Maxine Waters off the streets
She is no Mother Therese 

Stanski
April 21, 2021 ^