Steve Haarman

How was it when there was nothing?
Willingness was having a tough time
Meeting up with opportunity
Things will get better
They always do, but for now
We are doing without
 
Heartfelt feelings will be hurt
You sense abandonment
No love offered or received
Worry has replaced every emotion
Subdue all expectations
Gather all the wood you can
It will be a long winter
 
The cold that causes bones to ache
Will work on the spirit
In an effort to break
The treasury was lost and won’t be found
No matter how you look
 
We have done this before
Animals have to be saved
Who of us will keep the score?
Who will keep the pump primed?
We never know for sure
 
Days will pass, then weeks and
Promise for early spring, but
Fool’s gold is cheap and
Anyway, we’re not buying
No one ever has or will see us crying
 
As the waiting nears an end
We hope we can, in our hearts, have love again
Yes, we hope we can
These wretched cold winters are never grand
We are cautious; don't want the wrong people
seeing us waving to a friend
 
Stanski
February 18, 2020
 
 

The wind had died down
My blood pressure kicked up
So hard to deal with uninformed people
Who operate on their feelings
They want to be liked and
Make room for others to adore them
They wish to be recognized as
The ones to go to for answers and action
 
They work on projects like getting
A real caboose for their school playground
Then someone gets hurt; the caboose is removed
The plans for a 747 are cancelled
Undeterred they go for a Father-Daughter dance
That is a wonderful idea except for
Those who will not be able to attend and
The fathers who do not wish to attend
 
Then the politics that come up and positions taken
One is either right or wrong; no middle ground
If you are not for me then you are against me
It doesn’t matter if the person is lacking information
Critical thinkers stand back quietly and wait
Feel bad as they see the lambs running over the cliff
Watch the goats pat each other on the back
And chuckle because they think they won
 
Come on man, we eat their lunch!  No, sorry Joe
If anything they are eating our lunch along with the
Stealing of our intellectual property and if we were
Eating their lunch, would that be a nice thing to do
They are a corrupt regime; beating us at every turn
We give them access, they eat the whole meal
Their sick, ruined people have no way out, except death
and death is provided to any and all dissidents 
 
Leaders operate on feelings also and they better have
The feeling that drug manufacturing better return to
Our country and beware of the cheating when it comes
To specifications and tolerances.  We do not need them
We do not need playground trains and planes
We need discipline and the study of the constitution
Then we will be back on track and able to think as individuals
There will be no need to rely on the really fake news 
 
Stanski
February 18, 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 ^