AD.

WALKING ON THIN ICE

3 of Cleveland 5


Sitting Duck – foto Smith

We drove down to the Akron court house today to see three of the five Ohio would-be bridge bombers get sentenced. One received 11.5 years, the second 9.75 years, the third 8 — plus life-time supervision once they’re released. A 4th defendant is being evaluated, while the 5th testified against the others and brokered his own as-yet unspecified deal.

We knew them from meeting and feeding Occupy Cleveland.

The Judge seemed disturbed he had to sentence them under the government’s terrorism guidelines and gave as short of sentence as he could, about one-third what the government wanted.

The defendants’ lawyers seemed to care for their clients and appeared uncomfortable with the FBI’s CHS (confidential human source) devising the plot and giving drugs, alcohol, money, shelter, jobs and faux-C4 explosives to the five homeless anarchists he’d culled from the Occupy Cleveland movement and talked into trying to blow up a bridge.

Interesting day, partial closure to our Occupy Cleveland experience which began with their birth in the Free Stamp park October 6, 2011. The next day Lady began feeding the downtown occupiers breakfast-for-four every morning for seven months, from day one through May 1st when the city shut them down just days before the new downtown casino opened two blocks away, one day after the FBI busted the anarchists.


Complicated – foto Smith

Lost & Foundry


Life explorer- foto Smith

Lost & Foundry

Fired from the foundry
I work at the lostry
finding unfairness
the best of the batch
bad choice mentations
and tool-minded actions
trounce most prevention
and right-minded factions
finding failure for future
in crap from the past
presenting a present
in need of re-suture
a thorn in the side of this sayer
just looking for neighbor and way
but pleasure for players
negating nay

— Smith, 11.19.2012


Explorer of life – foto Smith

Ill Licit


Love me tender – foto Smith

Ill Licit

When young I’d read or watch or hear
the female or male protagonist
wreck all around them for illicit love and think
“How strong and powerful and true their passion
to suffer much for love”

But with life and love and win and loss
and years and heres and tears crossed
these reads and sees and hears become
“How senseless, shallow, thoughtless
to destroy such for selfishness”

— Smith, 11.16.2012


No soliciting – foto Smith

An Alysis


Intermission – foto Smith

An Alysis

There’s a gulf between
the here and there
the in and out
the up and down
the back and forth
the is and is
so where don’t cure
and who don’t care
cuz what you is
is why you are
so best prepare
for well fair fare
this loop de loop
from birth to stoop

— Smith, 11.15.2012


Outermission – foto Smith

Wail Song


I & Eye – foto Smith

Wail Song

The lone train wail going somewhere whistle call
once filled my want with anywhere but here
anyone but me

This was in my youth
before military
before marriage
before prison
before divorce
before death and death and death
before sobriety and travel
and Lady and marriage
and bright sun adventure in far shadowed land
filled me with fuel and fed me with fine
made me meld me mold me mine

So now rail wail six decade down the line
no call of yearning but passing hail
from one going to done been gone

— Smith, 11.14.2012


Further down the line – foto Smith

Asking for Compassion, Common Ground

Sometimes I make deals with God/Goddess, and then I think, “well, that deal isn’t necessarily mine to make, but if You feel this is a good proposal, please run with it as best You can.”

And I look for other people to make concessions. I look for them to make concessions, to give ground, so we can move forward.

I make concessions in the way I live to better match my point of view, to lay the groundwork to help my ideals become reality, hopefully insofar that they are wise. I shop union stores as much as I can muster, I bike as much as I can muster, I reduce my driving and I handle multiple chores at once when I do drive as much as I can muster. And there are other things.

There’s still room for improvement–I can still bike more; I can eat less sugar. But I do what I can with a healthy dose of pushing myself beyond obsolete boundaries.

I guess the question becomes: what happens if a significant portion of the population holds a different point of view than I do–that their ideals don’t match mine significantly? Then in that case where can we at least find as much common ground as possible?

You see, I have a big favor I am asking of reality. And that favor is to see things from my point of view when it comes to the sentencing of the Cleveland 5 (some say the “Cleveland 4” because one of the people is testifying against the others, but even so, I believe in compassion for all, am not judging, am not judging).

I do not wish for these young men to be sentenced the extreme amount that some in our government have been asking: life sentences. That would be very very sad because some in the government actually created the plot and facilitated and pushed the carrying out of the plot for which the young men are being sentenced. If that is not entrapment in a bad sense, what is?

The sentence one of their lawyers is asking for is much more reasonable: 5 years.

So I’ve been wondering what can I do to give ground on my point of view about some issues so that other people will give ground on their issues? What can we do to be less extreme?

I’ve always considered myself pro-choice for the most part, but I’ve noticed that conversation about the details of what that means tends to be heated, so much so that I’ve just kind of held the issue at arm’s length and not engaged in discussion. Interestingly enough, I’ve experience far more anger from the “pro-choice” side of the issue than from the “pro-life” side, but this is probably because I tend to talk more relaxedly with people who tend to be “pro-choice” and tend to have more of them around me.

I am willing to make a concession, and that is that I can see that it is reasonable for people of sound mind and capabilities who are over 18 years of age to do better to prevent themselves from getting pregnant (except in the case of rape), and that these people should act more responsibly–and possibly that the right to an abortion regardless of circumstance might be something that we can reconsider.

(And yet I adamantly believe that children (people 18 years old and younger) do not have any obligation to carry pregnancies to term, and people who have been raped.)

Since I make this concession to seeing the “other” party’s point of view on abortion, will the “other” party see my point of view? And where can we find common ground on the anti-war issue and being pro-life?

~ Lady

All Aboard


Moving picture – foto Smith

All Aboard

Though I’ve yet to reach the station
I don’t know my ticket goes that far
or the ride is worth the trip.

But at least I lost my bags.

— Smith, 11.13.2012


Eye’ll b c-ing u – foto Smith

Lies, lying, liars – a truth-filled blog


The truth is out there somewhere – foto Smith

Character is who you are in the dark.” – Dwight L. Moody, 1837-1899

They
wing word round
in classic clown
till dry discourse
rues rule.
Courts gesture
recourse
of course.
Lambs lame lions
and liars lie down
in one main line
of fool.

— Smith, 2005

This is a shallow summary of Pamela Meyers’ TED talk about her book *Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception* 2010.

— Lying is a cooperative act; we agree to be lied to
— Any given day we’re lied to 10-200 times
— Strangers lie 3 times within 1st 10 minutes of meeting
— We lie more to strangers than we lie to coworkers
— Extroverts lie more than introverts
— Men lie 8 times more about themselves than they do other people
— Women lie more to protect other people
— Married couples lie to one another in 1 out of 10 interactions
— Unmarried couples lie to each other in 1 out of 3 interactions
— The more intelligent the species, the more disposed to deception
— Babies lie with fake cries
— One-year olds learn concealment
— Two-year olds bluff
— Five-year olds lie outright
— Nine-year olds are the master of the cover-up
— College-age lie to their moms in 1 out of 5 interactions
— The work force is essentially a post-truth society

Speaking of which, I just finished an excellent, truth-filled, very funny book titled *Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell them, A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right* by Al Franken, 2003.

Lie Now, Pay Later

You pay for what you get
You get for what you do
All part of karmic net
All ripples on one pool

If you do what would be don’t
If you don’t that which you should
Your will will turn to won’t
Your won’t will wreck your would

Your bill might be delayed
Your fate may look okay
Eventually dismayed
Your soul will have to pay

Look deep in looking glass
Turn in and weigh your heart
Your ass will be bit by past
Your spirit lose its spark

What goes does come back round
Your lies will one day surface
And you won’t feel so proud
Exposed before your purpose

Your greed just leads to dark
Your fear weaves more worry
Keeping yourself apart
Will only lead to sorry

We’re all one giant web
Connected by each move
None of the lies you’ve said
Will single sin remove

Act now or pay more later
Be good before you’re gone
Karma’s an alligator
Which feeds on what you spawn

— Smith, 2011


Lies – foto Smith

Score Chord


Rocky road – foto Smith

Score Chord

It’s been a fair where
and I’ve had a few was
sparks still arc
life’s a fair lair

Art, poems and friends
all over the place
even made amends
for much of my pace

My here to where
is to steer clear of fear
no goal but to be
see what I see

Try to be fair
keep my step smart
my head in the air
start from the heart

Of course I’ll fail
but what a fun trip
seems I’m but blip
a bump on the trail

So that’s my tale
since losing my tail
stopping the ale
accepting my flail

My story plot line
has more ups and downs
and surreal clowns
than most ever find

Went the wrong way
yet ended up right
what can I say
I’m blessed with the light

— Smith, 11.11.2012


2 dozen Smiths – foto Smith

Cat Walk


Serve me, human – foto Smith

Cat Walk

Checking her humans
for fresh food and affection
making sure we’re here

cuz when she wants fed
it’s always now not later
and she keeps pushing

crying, meowing
howling like some sad banshee
until we buckle

the squeaky wheel
screeching until we give up
give in to her plead

imposing her will
her now need, her time table
she wants what she wants

now when she wants it
crying continuously
wearing us down

and yet even so
she’s our sweet bundle of joy
our purr fur employ

gives more than she takes
especially held to my ear
breathing in her purr

— Smith, 11.10.2012


master of Apartment 3 – foto Smith