Pinch Me

If I should wake,
Tomorrow;
discovering,
That while I slept,
(if only for an hour),
everything changed,
in the instant that I woke up,
there was no famine, sword or fire,
The Hounds of War,
Leashed in,
(Just barely),
tenuously hanging on,
As we embrace each other,
For the first time,
As Brother and Sisters,
Humanity,
At peace,
If I should wake in that world,
(PLEASE)
Pinch me!

Comandante SDM

The March...

Do you hear the drum beating loudly on the screen of our TV’s?
Just as they have before, well, sort of, and as they surely will again.
The pervasive beat of one mans cadence, in a two man stand off.
To be sure, more is at stake than just the lives of Bush and Saddam,
they are not facing off in a boxing ring, no matter how much we’d prefer it.

Stand up and be counted, though both sides will discount it –
This beat getting stronger needs the healing power of peace
before this becomes something longer.
Can you hear the beat as sure as that of your heart?
Place your hand there, feel it, I assure you, an Iraqi’s beats the same,
he bleeds too, blood, not oil,
though sometimes our leaders make it seem that way.
Behind the scorching rhetoric of this economic war machine –
How many will die?
How many will die?

The beat goes on, as the expression states,
I can hear it, feel it at the very core of my being,
my retinas permanently damaged by the rape of the planet,
of each and every one of us by mad men –
Smoke billowing into the sky like skid marks, devastating,
carried away to return as God’s tears,
what goes up must and will come down.
Where do we go from here?
Where does this beat take us,
Where will we all be?
Will we again see the night sky lit up? –
Stars drowned out by mans fire flies,
trying to take down the screaming eagles, an ominous sight –
Day at night –
Who really wins?
Who has nothing to lose?
How do you know what to believe when greed so often dictates,
unopposed,
what truth is?

How many times,
how many must we plot this course?
How long before we realize the road less traveled while difficult
has a lot less dead bodies strewn across it.
That road,
a path to peace through dialogue.

SDM

CNN (State Department)

I’m scared that if I go for coffee I might miss that gong,
by implication Dan Rather saying that the prospect for peace is dim,
war is on the horizon,
brought to us by Larry King, Live,
just like this war,
live,
as assuredly the ammunition will be –
How many will die?
Iraqi?
American –
Men, plural,
women, plural,
children, plural?
One thing for certain –
ALL DEAD
and for who –
Saddam,
Damn is right for what,
oil and economies of scale.
Sport Utilities, trickle down economics and television,
ah, Ding, Ding, Ding,
N, B, C –
Home of the NBA,
Olympics and
Saturday night!

SDM

Fog

War,
Populations silence,
Warriors win,
Populations struggle,
Questions,
No answers,
Less information,
As secrecy codes expand,
At this moment
Paratroopers land,
Questions,
Can war really go as planned? Can it?
Answers,
None;
Just smoke and mirrors,
CNN,
A better street magician,
Than Davids Blaine and Copperfield combined,
CBS, NBC, CBC and ABC no better,
Smoke and mirrors,
Except that eventually smoke clears,
And mirrors break,
Seven years bad luck,
No answers,
Fog of war!

SDM

Irony

Struck by the irony of sitting in a rail yard
while half a world away many national populations are hunkered down,
some with gas masks,
some with prayer.
Under these lights I can imagine the extreme discomfort of those people,
while all around me people complain of the temperature,
or the rain,
or their clothes
or lack of food,
it is strangely unsettling how relativity changes perception
as people seem too obtusely go through the motions
oblivious to the horror in someone else’s backyard.
Back though to the point, sitting here, in the oil stench filled room,
I know blood is being shed so this aroma will not subside,
at least until all the dinosaur bones have dried –
Fossil fuels for fossil fools,
tonight I pray for the world.

SDM

Networked Fear

Ominous –
Looming –
Impending War –
Are you frightened?

Has CNN
or NBC
or CBC
or BBC convinced you of the need to go to war –
To shatter a nation already in shambles –
Incidentally one of the wealthiest Oil nations in the world.
Did I mention with a leader (whom no one really chose except for the United States),
sounds eerily familiar,
especially to the people who elected Gore
and ended up with Bush.

We’re hearing about drones and no fly zones,
seeing controlled and contrived images
as approved by the very real censors of Iraqi’s,
just like you or I digging trenches outside their homes,
on their streets –
Can you imagine that?

And I don’t mean city workers –
I mean can you imagine digging a trench in Toronto,
Ottawa or
Montreal,
New York,
Los Angeles or
Washington.

Trenches!
We’re hearing again,
about blanket bombers from another war –
Sorry conflict, not so long ago –

What do you think the Vietnamese are thinking of the B – 52’s active use again?
We’re hearing of B2B’s and I don’t mean business to business –
F – 117’s, Apaches and lest we forget batteries of Patriots –
Untold (literally untold for the cost of War is never as neat as Balance Sheets and Profit Loss statements)
Billions will be spent fighting to depose one man –
One man and a few of his cronies, is anyone else afraid,
what happens when the dog scratches –
your bound to come up with fleas –
Believe me – No amount of duct tape is going to keep a determined flea out!

These are but a few thoughts on a senseless war which could be but one mans blood –

SDM

Knife to a Gun Fight

There is a guerilla war underway,
a massive struggle of planetary proportions,
there are quite clearly two sides in this struggle
and unfortunately both believe they are right.
We operate inside the well established rules of international law,
you,
you operate by the rules of a street thug,
a common criminal,
a school yard bully.
This ongoing battle illustrates clearly the newly shaping face of war.
No longer it seems at least at this moment in history,
a convention between two or more states,
it is now a struggle between all well meaning people represented by international instruments which yes must include national militaries and UN Peacekeepers.
The other side of this dynamic uses irrational logic
and those willing to give up their lives to engage in an illegitimate war of terror.
The present looks on you with disgust.
The future will look on you as thieves of the grandest level;
Criminals who steal our most cherished right –
Life!

SDM

Politics Practiced

We practice the politics of discontent,
Our leaders,
No longer statesman,
In any sense of the word,
Draw power from perceived inadequacies,
Of their design,
Of their competition,
Giving no credit to accomplishment,
And relishing in the failure of others,
These actions by our leaders,
Stunt our democracy,
Taking it from our hands,
The MAJORITY,
And placing it in their own,
The SELECT minority.

These politics are a direct assault,
On you and I,
Though we’ve been duped into believing differently,
These politics,
And their strategists,
Are waging a full out war,
With corporate donors,
And wealthy elites,
Against our sensibilities,
Numbing us to the horrible point,
Of not even voting,
APATHY their best friend,
And voter.

We must reenter our political arena,
Before we’re left as nothing more than spectators,
By men and women no wiser than WE,
THE people!

SDM

War!

War!
Such an easy word to say, three letters, so easy it is almost shameful.
But the real shame is in the way that we seem so oblivious to what’s going on.
The war for the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens well under way as the crushing of a tyrants regime takes its unnatural course.
But here at home, in North America, a different kind of war is being waged.
A war to win the hearts and minds of the people being asked to foot the bill for the Iraqi peoples liberation.
However, it seems to me, that in this war dissent is not being well received, to voice an opinion contrary to that of histories only court appointed President makes you unpatriotic and disloyal to his worthwhile efforts.
Any dissent, any at all seems to put you in the black book that we all know exists.

The Dixie Chicks and Martin Sheen, The Pope and Jean Chretien and the list goes on...

SDM

My African Brother( or sister you didn't say)... A response to your comment...

"I am surrounded by poverty all around me here in Africa. Bono often refers to this as "stupid poverty". We will have the poor with us ALWAYS."

My friend, poverty is the result of benign neglect, rampant greed and the ability of the west to impose the idea of scarcity on the world. There is no scarcity of the things required to live a life outside of the bonds of poverty. As such, poverty does NOT ALWAYS need to be with us. We merely need to find a way to change attitudes not only in the west but also in those countries of Africa with unscrupulous leaders who rape their own economies for momentary gains.

"However, as a person raised in the West perhaps our responsibility to an impoverished world is to teach our fellow pilgrims on this planet how to fish."

I could not agree with you more. My mother is currently on the ground in Malawi doing just that. In fact she has used those same words as have I on numerous occasions. Her husband (my step father) is also working for one of if not the largest medical provider in that country. A point of which I beam with pride for they are not only teaching how to fish, but how to be families, build communities, love and hope.

"We see the big bucks come and leave this part of the world quicker than you can scratch an itch. Corruption is rampant, lies are the game of the day, and stealing is a lifestyle. Where is God in all this? Is there any hope? How do we reconcile the "professional-style" greed of the West and the greed and envy that is prevelant in Africa? Both are wrong. However, we in the West have a responsibility and the privilege of sharing our blessings with that part of the world that is not as privileged."

I agree with you that big bucks come and go every day. I also believe that the systemic greed that capitalism produces as an ancillary effect is what causes the rampant corruption and lies. All in the name of the almighty dollar (soon to be transplanted by a currency in the east, certainly in our lifetimes, care to hazard a guess which one?)

WHERE IS GOD in all this? I wish I knew! I can tell you that I was raised a catholic (now fallen), have experienced each of the monotheistic religions (a point which is clear if you read all of my work posted here_) I believe fully that one day everyone will be held to account for their actions here on spaceship earth. As to your other point, I try to impart what I know upon the world every day, I speak out against greed, lies, etc. I bemoan the failings of Adam Smith and the resultant economies that were devised from his brain. I KNOW THERE IS A BETTER WAY and one day IF MY VOICE BECOMES LOUD ENOUGH I will be able to aid in getting us to a better system. A fair system. A just system. A system which values individuality over conformity, truth over lies, knowledge over supposition, empowerment over oligarchy. In the absence of that maybe if I can convince one person a year and they in turn convince one person, so on and so forth many moons from today that seed which was planted will reap the rewards of the tree of knowledge of that better system.

"The spirit of helping must be of the mindset that we are giving a hand up and not a hand out. This is not a license to encourage freebies and a welfare system. For this type of thinking the white man is at fault. When will the African be liberated from the ties that currently bind him?"

It is an important point that you've made here. I can give money to anyone and watch it fly out the window. But if I can train someone to enable them to provide for their families (regardless of the currency) that is the result. A HAND UP not out. Although it will be forever reaching to aid the next one up (at least in my case). This reminds me of a quote by Frederick Douglas (Do you know him?) ; "Never let any man pull you so low as to hate him." With that in mind, I don't hate the west, or capitalism or the current structures of power that keep the world running the way it is. I do however live each day with the lofty hope that one day the iniquity that these systems have produced can be replaced with something better. I do agree that the white man is at fault for much of the ills not just in Africa but all over the world. However, we must MOVE BEYOND assessing blame, WE MUST RISE UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TOI BE HUMAN and that is to lift up those that we can EVERYDAY.

To answer the last question Bob Marley (a prophet is ever there was one) once said;

"Until the philosophy which hold one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes
Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
Dis a war

That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion
To be persued, but never attained
Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique,
South Africa sub-human bondage
Have been toppled, utterly destroyed
Well, everywhere is war, me say war

War in the east, war in the west
War up north, war down south
War, war, rumours of war

And until that day, the African continent
Will not know peace, we Africans will fight
We find it necessary and we know we shall win
As we are confident in the victory

Of good over evil, good over evil, good over evil
Good over evil, good over evil, good over evil"

I hope you read this and understand that I agree WE CAN make a difference with GODs help. It starts with you. My Brother,

SDM

A Whore for an Uncle

Uncle Sam wants you! Believe that is true. From his lofty position of relatively unopposed stately greatness Uncle Sam wants you – Absolutely –

He wants your hearts and minds so that he can effect regime change for the will of his nations is a power unimaginable. He wants your sons and daughters to raise up in his arms so he can teach them how to kill in the name of peace to once again make the world safe for democracy. He wants you to drive your SUV to work taking the long way home. He wants you to live like normal with out truly knowing what normal is. He wants you to write a check or pay in cash your taxes so that your sons and daughters can have a potentially lethal one way ticket to a desert graveyard half a world away – So that he can send through the air like an eagle stalking its prey, B – 52’s, F – 16’s and A – 10’s while his mechanized tigers draw ever nearer to a foreign capital.

He wants you to walk proudly with your head held high, he wants you to watch CNN while your sons and daughters ride highway nine towards an intelligence reported red line. A red line indeed, red like blood, soon to flow most assuredly as do the Tigris and the Euphrates. But in his zealousness he’ll be hasty in sanitizing the message even more, no matter what station you turn to he’ll ensure that from under his thumb you won’t see your sons and daughters slaughtered, but you’ll see Iraq’s sons and daughters. You’d think Uncle Sam got the point when Uncle Ho and company experientially showed him and his generals the power of people fighting for their own homeland rather than foreign policy and national interest.

No matter the talking head or the slight difference in the message Uncle Sam wants to make sure its his message complete with new video and damage assessments. At home, Uncle Sam’s wants you to support the troops. He wants you to allow the erosion of tradition even in the 7th inning stretch so that the enemy feels the might of his will, with God bless America each and every night.

He wants you to buy duct tape, plastic sheeting, gas masks, chemical suits and terror alerts because Uncle Sam knows the repose to his war will be felt close to home and it already has – Sons and daughters dying while Snickers we consume; While we should be paying attention to the snickers of the globe – But don’t.

Uncle Sam wants you to buy, then buy some more, consumers all missing the score: Good guys 1, bad guys 1 – Its all the same in this age old game.

Uncle Sam’s your friend, he’ll shelter you, don’t worry my friends, he knows what to do – Doesn’t he? So Uncle Same should know September 11th was just for show. To let the world know that the ivory tower you used to sit, no matter how large your arsenal can always be hit and will.

He wants us to consume, to buy and sell, he wants our sons and daughters to pay the price, he wants us to believe he’s nice, but come now, this seems so much, lets call a spade a spade – Uncle Sam is a greedy bastard and more like the drunk uncle bob we all know and have except he’s drunk on consumption and power while your sons and daughters die by the hour.

Uncle Sam, you greedy self serving prick and our collective conscience is so very sick and we’re tired of the lies, personally I’m not buying anymore, so away from me: Uncle Whore!

SDM

If you want it...

Through relativity we understand all things.
But, certain things we still have little or no possible conception of.
For example, the earth is absolutely huge yet in the scope of the universe, it, like us is a speck of sand on a massive beach. We are free to roam this earth and now so too do we roam through space, trying to understand just how big this beach is.

Think of the universe as a city, a really big city. In that context think of the planet earth as one little block, an expansive block of six billion interrelated yet practically unknown neighbors. Wouldn’t it be nice if somehow, someway, each of us specks of sand on our block in our cosmic beach could somehow understand the message of history learning the pressing lessons before the deadline called extinction hits us with a tone of finality?

It seems clear that in this age of half truths and fear mongering that there is an absolute assault on the collective morale of our species. As the corporate chieftains of the industrialized world are detailing the newest car or shoe or television or Big Mac they are willingly transforming through corruption and greed the course that this planet will take. Yet perhaps in the exposure of the hidden lies that dramatically affect each of our connected lives we can seek and discover new systems. From the promise of a new day and the safety of our desire to improve the human condition perhaps we can tear down our past failures creating a new enclosure which promises to deliver on age old hopes. Clearly, while we are dangling on a very thin thread it might, might be possible through graphic truth to undo the collective littering on our block.

With this in mind and in your heart, in this movement to a better world I hope that I may recruit you to change the course that we are taking by opening, completely and fully access to truth rather than the lay away installments that our current system allows.

By common agreement we can change the world. By common agreement we can right the future by paying close attention to the many lies of history. Our tactic; freedom of conscience, all you have to do is as Lennon and Ono suggested;

War is Over

(If you want it)

Lets give this world a chance.

SDM

"Liberators?"

You have to admit that in this age of information we seem to be getting short changed. Propaganda and rhetoric in this time of war seem to have taken the place of information. For example, the well crafted, public relations, “Code Name” for this ongoing coalition of the willing action is “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. For months leading up to this war, Rumsfeld, Bush, Powell, Cheney and Rice told the world that Iraqi military would roll over and play dead. It hasn’t. We were told that the people of Iraq would welcome the coalition as liberators. As yet, that remains to be seen, perhaps when the regime has truly folded that will be the case? Perhaps! At this moment Rumsfeld is on the screen, on the street in DC, asked about the progress of the coalition the first words he said of coalition success; “We’ve secured the southern oil fields.”

I’ve tried hard not to be cynical, tried hard not to buy the conspiracy theory line. Unfortunately, its beginning to seem as if we’ve been witnessing and buying, hook, “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Line; “Coalition of the Willing” and the unfortunate sinker; “We are liberators.”

Its quite sad for me to say as a lifelong friend of the United States of America, the land of liberty, the center of the free world, democracies great proponent, that it appears this mission should be called;

“Operation Earthen Prize.”

I hope history reflects on the aftermath of this war; I pray for us all!

SDM

_________

context - written just after America invaded

Choose - Live or Die

10 minutes to midnight,
what will happen when the clock strikes twelve,
will Saddam’s maniacal Cinderella tale come to an end,
on the screen I just saw,
the B – 52’s getting ready,
on the runway,
fueled,
Is it time to go?
8 minutes to midnight,
is it time for blanket bombing to begin?
7 minutes to midnight,
at least in Baghdad;
the coalition of the willing,
about to drop bombs,
defense contractors pockets filling,
6 minutes now,
what are we to think?
5 minutes,
I’d really like a drink,
My mind wandering,
I’d really like to know,
Are the B – 52’s just for show,
Ask the Vietnamese,
They’ll tell us true,
4 minutes now,
oil fires in Basra await,
3 minutes,
surrender or fight,
2 minutes,
expedition in Iraq two hours ago,
12 hours early,
1 minute:
Choose –
Live or die?

SDM

______________________________

Context: Written the night the US invaded Iraq

This is the WORLD WE LIVE IN

This world,
the times we live in,
are like times we’ve known before,
not personally as we haven’t figured out space and time.
Today is the greatest day and ever more it will be as today is here NOW –
Today!
We have at our disposal all the collected knowledge of our species
and while we may not yet know how to use it someday we will.
As such,
with the gift of time we must be cautious in the use of the many gifts we have.
In spite of a unifying sagacity we must always embrace the pursuit of more.
Accept that the struggle for understanding will eventually lead to an inner peace
that will manifest itself outwardly
instantly creating in that realization
the world that dreamers have long dreamt of.
In that moment,
the rhyme and reason,
rhythm, harmony and melody of greatly admired musical movements
will take on new meaning as we celebrate our spiritual rebirth.
Nothing, save the eventual success of a true and lasting peace will ever exonerate our historical failures:
Death,
destruction,
terror and war.

Yet should we find that higher state of being,
the relative awareness of a new reality shaped by the horrors of history,
we will discover the divine plan!
Looking to the sky of blue learning about ourselves
and our place in this universe everything takes on new meaning
through the acquisition of self.
Our past replete with invisible scars
from the extensive beating of our ancestors
with the leather whips of Christian, Jew and Muslim conquerors
and our acceptance of it will remove the cuffs,
histories shackles as we seek truth.
We are not chained to our past by necessity
and we are not doomed to repeat it.
Yet the future is tempered by it
and as long as we unmask our veiled attempts at sugar coating our past failures
in the search for a better world we will ultimately succeed in healing age old wounds.
Yet that path is the road less taken.
Accept truth,
the lessons of history and that we create our future
and instantly the course of history blazes a heretofore unseen trail.

In our efforts to reveal honestly our failures
we no longer need to be concealing the very real feelings we are feeling.
Read more;
Listen more,
help an old lady cross the street.
Smile often and brightly and allow your soul to shine.
Be real,
first to yourself, then to those around you,
act accordingly as that is what true freedom is –
Being real!
The strength and promise of our species,
all one humanity,
lay in rediscovering the value and benefit of positive self love
which will rear its head in every moment
incredibly changing the scope of our history:
Permanently promising peace.

SDM