Scribbles and Poems

From one of my beloved TAB's recently found notebooks.
 
Mantra or Things to Keep in Mind:

1. Nothing ventured, nothing lost.
2. Everything changes and ends.
3. Things do not always go according to plan.
4. Life is not always fair.
5. Pain is part of life.
6. People are not loving and loyal all the time.
7. Some days are better than others.

~~~~~
Business managers understand the stick but not the carrot.
~~~~~
At nine thirty on a July evening
I’m sitting in my sweaty white cotton shirt
In front of a window exhaust fan
Trying not to drip sweat on this page.
Perhaps if I use the word sweat a lot
You will remember what it was like.
Flare jeans and peace symbols.
Candles, incense and hash pipes.
A throaty rumble of dissatisfaction,
Irritation and righteous anger
At those who were more comfortable
Killing
Than loving
Crushing
Than creating.
I went to a rally at a park
On a night like this.
I heard a politician mouthing
The tired old cliches
And shouted “Give it up, Old Man.”
Some local Marxists disapproved.
I tossed my fruit salad
Into a makeshift coffin
They sent back to Washington.
Then I left,
Still sweating
But a little bit cleaner.
~~~~~

Last week NASA launched a probe destined for the surface of Mars. The second of the pair will be launched tomorrow. The two payloads will arrive on opposite sides of Mars’ equator.

But here on Earth’s surface, we have nations, tribes, clans and cults at war with each other. As if that weren’t enough, we have a rich idiot for president (Ed. note: this was written during Bush the Bonehead's reign of error)

My wife is preparing (toughening) herself (her psyche) for a third brain surgery (acoustic neuromas) later this year.

Tell me more about this thing you call God.

I am no longer part of the labor force, no longer gainfully employed; I have entered the inter-zone between lay-off and early retirement.

How do I redefine myself?
                                           6/30/02
                                           East Cambridge
That last sentence is particularly resonant for me right now.