The Dead Guy Song

Soon you'll hear these words from a friend that you never knew.
I know you from her grief, I wish it was from her peace.

I want to dance with you,
I want to sing with you,
I want to laugh with you.

Your life was hard, your life was so filled with pain
But your love was the laughter, that taught her how to laugh and love.

I want to dance with you,
I want to sing with you,
I want to laugh with you.

She cries from her heart, she cries through the night for you.
Oh to be there just to see her eyes when she sees your face.

I want to dance with you,
I want to sing with you,
I want to laugh with you.

Angels Unawares

Anyone who has ever taken a walk through the University District of Seattle, or down along the water has met these people. The locals will tell you to walk faster and to never join them in conversation.

They are in sales. They must be in sales because many of them are so good at it. I have often wondered why they are not working. You find yourself slipping easily into comfortable conversation and realize that you have a new walking companion who is very interested in how you are doing, if your family is well, where you bought that shirt, could you help out with a cup of coffee, maybe breakfast because they haven't eaten in a while. Or they have run out of gas and need to get to the eastern side of the state in time for their daughter's surgery. They have children in the car not three blocks away and they need food.

But mostly their stories have numerous aspects, any one of which would be quite believable on its own. Confused, cold, hungry and probably chemically altered in one way or another, their pitch pours forth with all of their best efforts jumbled together in a plea for help that pours forth as common conversation; no more than their daily duty.

The locals are correct. If you answer even one quick question, the hook is set and fight as you might to free yourself, you will only cut this line with cash. Then as quickly as your new best friend found you, she is gone with a "God bless you Sir," off to plead for help from the next soft hearted Christian visitor to the city. Playing on their dim witted sense of charity and personal piety.

I wondered, one day as I was being fleeced, how many of them are exactly what they seem to be and how many are visitors from far away. You see, I also engage in a fair amount of dim witted superstition. When do I allow myself to be taken, scammed and conned and how many times, by doing so, have I given a quick cup to Jesus or one of His companions. Maybe never, probably never. . . never. Would it make any difference? Is that why I do it? Would Jesus Himself accept help from me if He knew that I knew it was Him? Wouldn't such discrimination actually make the act null and void? It wouldn't count would it?

Maybe I need to not know so it will count. But wait a minute, why would it have to count? And count for what? So it counts and I have kept perfect score. Jesus comes and I proudly proclaim, "Lord Lord! Look at all the good I did for these street people. Ain't I great?" I'd smile as I polish up my pretentious piety.

But Jesus looks rather disgusted, almost ill.

I know how I feel in the presence of self righteous bastards, would he feel any less put off?

Maybe one day I will stop trying to figure it all out from my stupid, selfish, superstitious perspective. Maybe someone just needs a cup of coffee after a normally hard night. Maybe it's enough that they are just people. Oh sure, probably lazy, alcoholic, drug addicted people but maybe these need a little food too. Maybe making points with Jesus hasn't got much of anything to do with it.

Maybe I'm not the great man that I pretend to be. Maybe it just doesn't matter. Here's a ten.

Good morning Sir, that's a very fine coat and you're a very handsome man.
Do you live 'round here, do you live in town or have you come from far away?
The morning sun really hurts my eyes do you mind if I don't look up?
I will sing my songs I will sing for you, only pay for the ones you like.

I'm feeling so old and ugly
Afraid nobody's gonna love me
Feelin' so old and ugly
Afraid nobody's gonna want me

A friend of a friend told man who's a friend that I'm sure to get my break.
Gonna sing for him at the deli shop do you think I could get ten bucks?
I'll lift up my shirt and I'll show you what I've got, that's the Virgin Mary right there.
I pierced this one so's to tell them apart, you don't mind me showing you?

I'm feeling so old and ugly
Afraid nobody's gonna love me
Feelin' so old and ugly
Afraid nobody's gonna want me

You're looking rather distant like my heart's not really in it, I'm not from 'round here myself.
I'll read your cards, maybe listen to your troubles, I sleep sometimes at Gwen's.
Long journey from Seattle all the way on down to LA caught a ride about half way back
My feet are kinda tired, your eyes are really nice, could we sit down here and rest?

Feel'n so old and ugly
Afraid nobody's gonna love me
Feelin' so old and ugly
Afraid no body's gonna want me

You walk on the wrong side, walk right here, don't believe me ask my dad.
But that's OK have a very nice day, you don't know how much this helps.

Lady From Last Winter

I ran across a line in a book the other day that stated a fact that I think rarely receives much thought. "More write poetry than read poetry." It is probably true. While going through my mother's belongings a few weeks ago I learned that, not only did she read a considerable quantity of literature, she composed volumes of poetry and opinion.
I wonder how many of us are closet poets. I think most of us probably attempted feebly in our youth when hormones focused our attention on that certain someone. But inevitably the inability to iron out clunky prose, the refocus of life brought on by embarrassment at our inability, and a certain coping mentality which caused us to put away the writing as being something silly or immature, turned us away from something that opened doors in our psyche that nothing else has been able to match. At times a song or a reading comes close to reopening that area of the heart but with instant resolve it is quickly dismissed.
So, I am going out on a limb here and will publish original works that have been used as lyric to original musical attempts.
Enjoy them if you are able.
This mornings piece is called "Lady From Last Winter"

Good morning,
Who are you?
I don't recognize your number and it's three AM.
Good morning,
You're texting,
A dream so full of color that you can't pretend.

Maybe it's the Lady from last winter.
I drove so many miles just to say hello.
Maybe it's the Lady from last winter.
I had a certain feeling, now I just don't know.

Good morning,
I need coffee.
I need to find my glasses to read these lines from you.
Good morning,
I'm with you.
I'm here all by myself and I've been dreaming too.

Maybe it's the Lady from last winter.
I thought I'd like to know her but she had a friend.
Maybe it's the Lady from last winter.
I really think I love her should I try again?

Ground Zero

Recent polls show that 70% of Americans oppose the building of a Muslim mosque two blocks from ground zero in New York City.
This is beyond disturbing, it is frightening.
I recently engaged in a heated Facebook debate with a man who forwarded the "sensitivity" and "caring" defense for disallowing the project to continue. The position states, that placing a mosque in such close proximity to ground zero would be  insensitive to the families of the victims of 9/11. I on the other hand pressed the need to defend our Constitution. He was un-moved and stated vehemently that it had nothing to do with rule of law or the constitution. I quit the debate.
When we as American citizens can so easily surrender our hard fought for freedoms based on "sensitivity and caring," we lose everything. If our rule of law is thus subjective, then it cannot stand on any point.
I have been waiting for our President to weigh in. He did so today and he did the nation proud.
I read many comments that followed some of the news stories this morning. If they are indicative of public opinion, then people feel that the Mosque would better be built in a Muslim country where Christianity is forbidden. The sentiment seems to be that if the Muslim world is insensitive to Christianity, then the Christian world should not allow Islam.
If this argument were to be realized, Christian values would bow to Islam. Islam would become the arbiter of truth and the world would simply respond in kind.
I do not question individual faith, I merely point out the pitfall of such a stance that a majority of my fellow Americans seem to be taking.
But this is not a question of religion, but rather a question of constitutional law; freedom of religion. Our President took the oath of office to defend the Constitution and this morning he has done just that.
I take exception with Mr. Obama on only one phrase, and it is an important point, that ground zero is somehow "Hallowed Ground." This dangerously places the argument back into the realm of religion. The ground where the towers once stood is in no way "hallowed." The synonym is "sanctified" which means, "to set apart for holy use." If the government has set this ground apart for holy use, thus hallowing it, then we are also in violation of our constitution. This is not the business of the US government, and for Mr. Obama to declare it such muddies the waters considerably.
It makes the position of constitutionality all the harder to implement when such terms are used to describe ground zero.
This is just ground, albeit ground where a terrible attack against the American people occurred. This in and of itself does not hallow the ground.
If we believe ground zero to be hallowed, it is a simple step to use it as a symbol of religious division and thus grant credence to the emotional appeal to suspend Constitutional rights.
The building of the Muslim mosque some two blocks from ground zero and the terrorist attacks of Sept 11 are mutually exclusive, and must remain so.
I find it interesting that the religious right of this country is using frothy emotionalism to press its point in this debate. Isn't this method traditionally an accusation leveled against the left?
I guess all's fair in love and war, and religious intolerance.

Right Wing Fwds

Hello,
Welcome to Opinari.
I was reading through my emails today and opened an attachment forwarded by a friend from the next state to the west of us. She and I had gone to church together in the 90s when I lived over there.
She is a retired woman and I remember her to be quite intelligent. I have received a few of this type of forward from her before which really surprises me. I wouldn't have thought her to be the kind of woman who would send such things.
These emails are the kind that inform us of the secret things at work in our nations capital. This particular email is being sent around to alert us of the covert plan in Washington to separate us from our firearms. Now I myself do not own a firearm of any kind, but I do have a great appreciation for those who defend our constitutional rights. And I might add, I support the folks who put this email together to warn us.
The problem that I have is this; the information in the email is not correct. The way it opens is a clue to me that I should be wary of its contents.
Like most dictatorial communications, it began by telling me that we were all dupes. It said it nicer than that, but still . . . It was something about the nation being distracted by news events such as the Gulf spill and the World Cup. We were looking the other way as The dictator Hillary, upon her dictator boss's direction, was secretly conspiring with the world's leaders to take away our guns.
The first thing that must happen, with any mind control technique, is for the controller to get me to take notice of something that I had missed. And it must be very important. He must create a premise from which to build an agenda.
Then he must inform me of that which has supposedly been denied me.
These emails do this at every posting. And why not? It works. Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck use this technique every day. They come to us incredulous over some point and press upon us how important it is that they inform us. God knows we won't be told the truth from the real press of this nation.
I grow so tired of it all.
In the case of Hillary sneaking around behind the back of our constitution to make treaties with foreign governments in order take away our firearms, I call "bunk."
To begin with, this story was provided to us through our very functional press. All the wire services carried it. Furthermore, Obama and Clinton are not trying to trick us out of our guns. They both took oaths of office to uphold our constitution, not to tear it down.
What has happened, if anyone cares to actually Google the story, is that we have flipped the Bush era's stance on the international talks on arms sales. Folks, this is concerning the talks nation to nation. It isn't some ploy to get the UN to pass laws about your personal firearms.
But the Obama administration has required something that protects us and our Constitution. That is the clause concerning consensus. It means that we will enter into talks with the world about arms dealing, (We are the largest supplier of arms to the world.) and we have a clause that allows us to basically veto anything in any treaty that is a threat to our own constitution.
Now please listen to me carefully those of you on the religious right; we supply the weapons that are used in countless murders around the world. The big ten urge us to not commit murder. Yet you would have us follow the Bush policies that aid this abomination. Now back to my original point; these emails that are forwarded around the would, disseminating half truth and complete fabrication are equal to bearing false witness. Isn't there a commandment against this? I put it to you; are you not violating the very commandments that you claim to hold dear every time you send these vile emails on to the next right leaning citizen?
I am not calling for anyone to join the dems over the repubs. I am asking us all to do a simple thing. Check the facts and follow the truth. Think independently and respond with love. I realize that the left is equally guilty in certain areas, but our great land is not going to be brought down by covert operations in high places, if it falls, it will be because we loved untruth and lies more than what was noble and true.
Well, that's my two cents. In closing I want to tell what I personally do; when sent something that tells me to send it along if I love Jesus or the Republican party, I can pretty much rest assured that the philosophy of the email doesn't adequately represent the true values of either and I simply delete it.