HUMANITY

Ensconced in mall recliner - Demo, Dane Designs - I watch.
High-heeled woman struts in red, seeking to be chic.
Well-dressed man, with grey goatee, descends on escalator,
His noble demeanor slips as he carries sacks of food.
Many older, waddling women bear similar, plain descriptions.
Young, perky mothers carry babies.
With solicitude and care, an elderly woman, in red-plaid slacks, seats her feeble husband in nearby chair and heads off on mission.
Punked-up adolescent looking "cool" and shouting, "Who am I?"
Refreshingly wholesome, teenage girl pens job application.
Men, women and children walk to and fro.
Some erect, with strong strides, seemingly confident in their worldly niche.
Others, lost in life's maze, slouch in body and soul.
Most are in between, with glimpses of peace and clarity,
But more often than not, they put one foot in front of the other,
Hoping it treads on solid ground.

Upon rising, I join the walk.
To and fro we go, marching humanity.

YOUTH

Runway model in red,
Girl child masquerading as woman,
Eyes brightly painted,
Face powdered and rouged

What can she sell me at 64?

Do I desire her youth?
No.
I have done my work.
She has yet to do hers.

Do I want her face?
It took me these many years to love my own.
Why change now.

Do I envy her figure?
God, no.
I rejoice being without bra or bikini.
She remains hostage to womanhood's illusions.
Having shed those many barnacles,
I am free to be.
And, hopefully, someday, so shall she.

PHYSICIANS

Many begin with altruistic motives,
Others with dollar signs,
After long years of training,
Bloodied and beaten,
They arrive on the shores of doctordom,
Feeling entitled to a piece of the American
dream of more, more, more,
They build their practices.
But, as the years go by,
Their dream fades,
Their possessions own them.
Some realize,
"Less is more," and
"Enough is Enough."
Yes, they have helped people and
Loved and cried with many.
As retirement approaches,
Many ask themselves,
"What do I really want to be."

PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

Drug dealers,
Sell,
Sell,
Sell,
New names with
SR, XR, LR,
Generic drugs repackaged,
With new patents,
New products with spurious results,
Feed on fear and suffering,
Like your neighborhood crack house

UNITED STATES

"United" States,
An oxymoron,
Richest nation on earth,
Higher death rate than Canada, France, Denmark ...
Fancier medicines,
With bigger price tags,
Machines with pretty pictures that
Sing,
Dance,
Tell jokes,
Their construction resembles penile fixation,
The biggest and the best,
Where is the Health Care?
Where is the human touch?
In the unemployment lines

EASTER EGGS

Children in their Easter finery,
Carrying baskets,
Hunting colored orbs,
Three-thousand years of patriarchy,
Horrified parents,
Would hustle them inside,
If they knew,
For thirty-thousand years prior,
Eggs symbolized the Divine Feminine,
The Goddess,
Rebirth,
Regeneration,
Instead of a dead man resurrected from a cross

EASTER SUNDAY

In his seventies,
Cruising in a snazzy, black Corvette,
Top off,
Silver mane blowing,
Christ has risen.

THE SUIT

Stuffed in suit,
Driving fast,
Looking tense,
In his sixties,
Sporty, red BMW,
Bought the illusion

CIVILIZATION

Cross-country drive,
Giant billboards screaming
XXX Adult Store,
Ethanol tainted petrol,
Hearts over signs selling sandwiches,
Roadside crosses named Billy, Bob and Charlotte.
Scenic route,
One-hundred miles of hell,
Traffic lights galore,
Road lined by chain food, gas, you name it.
"America the Beautiful"

SHEEP

The United States Government is not about democracy. It is about the financial "elite" increasing their wealth and controlling what goes on in our country and the world at large.

In the waning days of 2010, the Republican Party threatened to grind the U.S.Government to a halt unless the wealthiest of our nation received a two year extension of the Bush tax cuts, which decreased federal tax revenues by $130 billion a year. And, estate taxes were held to 0% for the first $5 million inherited and to 35% thereafter. Do you know how many Americans will benefit by that move? I am sure it won't be those of us who work for a living.

Now, the Republicans are performing high drama around decreasing the federal budget and the federal deficit by cutting spending on education, health, Social Security, Medicare and hungry children. These budget cuts will constitute a huge loss for working people but will have a negligible impact on the wealthy.

Meanwhile, the sacred cow of the defense budget goes unscathed. The U.S. spends 6 times more for "defense" than China and almost more than the rest of the world, combined. Cut this budget by half and there would be plenty of money to fund desperately needed social programs at home. But of course, the military-industrial complex would lose revenue, which means financial loss to the wealthiest 1-2%.

To add insult to injury, where the Pentagon spends its budget, about $700 billion a year, cannot
be audited or explained. So, we taxpayers don't know where or for what the government spends these unaccounted for billions. That kind of accounting system for me or you wouldn't fly when the IRS comes to call.

Then, we look at foreign aid. How many billions does the U.S. annually spend on despots in power, all in the name of "stability?" Please note, stability is not defined as democracy, equality or freedom for the country's citizens.

"Stability" in Egypt and Bahrain translated into protecting U.S. oil interests, maintaining control of the Suez Canal and paying rent for the "home" of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Visible to the public eye, Egypt receives $1.5 billion in foreign aid a year, with Bahrain receiving $1.3 billion.

Wake up Americans. Turn off your televisions, video games, cell phones and any other electronic gadget you're plugged into. Get your brains out of hock. In the names of "national security" and "defense," a large % of our tax dollars disappear abroad and into the pockets of the wealthy. We're being fleeced.

EMBARRASSED AND DISAPPOINTED

I am embarrassed and disappointed by many of the citizens of my home state, Oklahoma. They continue to wrap themselves in the American flag and spout "American values," along with God, mom and apple pie. Of course those values do not include "freedom of religion," "liberty and justice for all" and "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Unfortunately, I recall, all too vividly, the recent presidential campaign's red-meat slinging, Christian right-winged speeches of Sarah Palin. To add insult to injury, 65 percent of our state voted for her and her side-kick, McCain. At least there was the 35 percent, myself included, who cast their votes for our intelligent, forward-thinking, current president, Barack Obama.

To top it off, our state's primary newspaper is a Republican propaganda rag, in all its ignorant and rabid glory. It rarely contains anything of positive merit on our current administration and its heroic efforts to retrieve our nation from the brink of economic disaster.

Instead, I was horrified to see on yesterday morning's front page that a city in our state is proudly hosting a visit by the disgraced, former president, George W. Bush. God help us. Send him back to Texas, with his chain saw in tow, and leave us alone. In eight years, he managed to dismantle our nation and drain its wealth into his and his cronies' pockets, that 0.1-to-1.0 percent of our nation's populace.

You might note, I did not say our "nation's elite." There is nothing elite about greed, corruption and theft. Those behaviors issue from the lowest of the low, the ever-present Robber Barons. Unlike Madoff, they have yet to receive their somewhat just due. (Madoff got off easy.) However, they have polluted and drained their pond so sufficiently that they are beginning to be exposed in all their devious machinations.

Despite my disappointment and embarrassment with the persistent behaviors and attitudes of many in my home state, I am now very proud to be an American. For the first time in my life, 62 years worth, I see hope for health, harmony, prosperity and peace for all the world's beautifully diverse peoples.

So, I will continue to recycle our state's newspaper, which I only receive for news of local events, and read more enlightened national publications, which I will also recycle. I will also work at changing my attitude toward my state's 65 percent. Because, bless their hearts, they don't know any better.