Unfettered wind*

1.
We were the dusky maya.
Sometimes we flitted
among the enameled branches
of the hacendado's cage.
We mostly skipped and hopped
with pruned wings.

2.
Then we read:

"Upon freedom
from men administering men
Man will evolve to the next Unity
in the realm of Nature.

"We will be the eagle
over the bluffs
sailing the currents
of the east wind --
our nature unfettered. 

"Our mind and body
uncaged."

3.
Meanwhile
we are growing back
our heart
and our wings.




*Chapter 10, Fractured Memories

Haiku 112909*

a mink stole
a lambskin jacket
thanksgiving guests






_______________
*For One Single Impression, Prompt 92: Migration (From one habitat to another, from one state of being to another...)

Haiku 112709

frosty grass
fellow riders avoid
her cold eyes

God's time*

1.
One was taught to expect as I –

With Alienation firmly grasped
in God’s time the people will meld
their political will into a tight fist.

"Led by their advanced ranks
the people will crush the albatross
on their necks."

2
A cleansing wildfire will rage
and across plantations and factories
and inner cities
will blaze a new world unbridled.

The people’s hearts will burn like the sun
purging historical memories, long glutted
with measured lies and co-opted glories.

3.
In God’s time nothing more will there be
to justify weapons and war
and weeping widows.

As above, so below.



*Chapter 7, Fractured Memories

Haiku 080109

the hikers
walk into pine scent

summer refuge

***************
Recently, we read the following:

San Francisco Chronicle: “U.S. citizens wrongly detained, deported by ICE” by Tyche Hendricks

"The son of a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hector Veloz is a U.S. citizen, but in 2007 immigration officials mistook him for an illegal immigrant and locked him in an Arizona prison for 13 months.

"People charged in the criminal justice system have a range of constitutional rights, including the right to a speedy and public trial before an impartial jury and the right to legal counsel even if they can't afford to hire a lawyer...

“Immigration matters, however, are civil, not criminal, so those protections do not apply. Still, the U.S. Constitution is designed to protect citizens from detention without due process. But citizens in immigration detention are not being afforded that due process, advocates say...

“A bill introduced earlier this year by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Los Angeles, seeks to ensure fair and humane treatment of people in immigration detention...

“It would codify the policies governing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention standards and would encourage the agency to make wider use of alternatives to detention, such as releasing a person on bond or with an electronic ankle bracelet to track his movements...."

***************

And we thought:

… Laws and regulations are not always fair, or vetted well. We often walk into a familiar place and find ourselves pleasantly recalling wonderful times with family and friends. And we feel safe and secure and contented. On occasion, even in a free society like the U. S., some walk into a nightmare due to quirky, Catch 22-type laws and regulations.

With respect to certain laws, some groups are "more equal than others."

Thanks to the likes of Rep. Roybal-Allard for trying to find ways for the ICE to do its job better, relative to citizens who find themselves in immigration detention....

Aberrant yarns*

1.
Nature --
in the pages of history
man’s greatest friend
man's greatest foe.

To survive, our putative mandate has been
to study and shape and harvest Nature --
for the sake of all men at all times.

“From each according to one’s talents
to each initially according to one’s labours
to each ideally according to one’s needs.”

3.
In fact our minds have largely been dulled
by a persistent paradigm of alienation –
about the nature of Nature and the nature of man
about the fruits of Nature and the fruits of man’s labour.

Our social nature has grown aberrant
long hostage to the cultural lies
of the court's weavers of sand.

4.
We have to write our own history
of Nature and man.





*Chapter 5, Fractured Memories

Haiku 070409

he slaps bugs
while mowing grass --
tonight, fireworks!

***************

Recently, we read the following:

Los Angeles Times: "DEA looking for evidence of illegal drug activity in Michael Jackson’s death" by Josh Meyer

“The Los Angeles Police Department’s request for federal drug agents to join the investigation of Michael Jackson's death indicates that illegal activity may be suspected in the dispensing of painkillers, sedatives, antidepressants and other medications to the 50-year-old entertainer, according to a law enforcement official.

“Some of Jackson’s friends, family and confidants have come forward to say that he was abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs over a long period of time, and that perhaps others in his ever-changing entourage kept him supplied, which could be illegal. The Drug Enforcement Agency is investigating various possibly related activities, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing....

" ‘The problem is growing; prescription drug abuse... shady doctors, diversion [of drugs] from overseas, pill mills, online pharmacies, forgery, pharmaceutical theft, multiple prescriptions from doctors to separate pharmacies,’ the official said. ‘Doctors are not the biggest problems, the Internet is No. 1,’ in which people get prescription drugs from fly-by-night companies that operate under, or outside of, the DEA’s radar. “

***************

And we thought:

… Fireworks in the park on the 4th of July. Fireworks in a junkie’s head – on demand….

Haiku 042109

raindrops
ripples on water
unending

***************

Recently, we read the following:

New York Times: “What Are Friends for? A Longer Life” (by Tara Parker-Pope)

“In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging, and prolong life: their friends.

“Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.

“ ‘In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t terribly well appreciated,’ said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro…. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.’

“In a new book, “The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a 40-Year Friendship” (Gotham), Jeffrey Zaslow tells the story of 11 childhood friends who scattered from Iowa to eight different states.... Using scrapbooks, photo albums and the women’s own memories, Mr. Zaslow chronicles how their close friendships have shaped their lives and continue to sustain them. The role of friendship in their health and well-being is evident in almost every chapter….

“ ‘People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,’ said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. ‘Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.’ ”

***************

And we thought:

…. “Man is a social being” – this is one of the things that we learn early enough in life. As social beings, we're sustained in many different ways by a sense of belongingness, by that feeling of being part of a group that we believe appreciates, supports, and protects us – a group we can feel comfortable in. However, this article’s focus on friends and friendships versus family members and family relationships can be misleading. It appears to imply that the family as a group – the nuclear family and the extended family of relatives -- cannot also spawn the friendships and social networks that a circle of friends provides.

One wonders -- can't family members be friends or be like friends? We think they can. The friendships will come as family members increasingly outgrow most, if not all, of the unequal or dependent relationships that naturally form in families -- kids being dependent on parents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents; younger family members dependent on older members; the weaker dependent on the stronger, etc. When family members outgrow these dependencies and become more interdependent, friendships among family members can also be cultivated in the way they are shaped among individuals who become friends. And such friendships can be as profound as any.

Finally, we think that what's really pivotal in providing the sense of well-being the article describes is not “friendship” per se. It is instead that element of “interconnectedness” that profound friendships eventually engender —whether it is friendships among friends or among family members. It’s that feeling of being one with others outside oneself….

spring wind
sparrows huddle above
waving banners