Author: lou sight

Joint Aches

(The joint “I” and “you” of any relationship–even societal.)

I ache

Knowing

You hurt.

Inflamed

Connective tissue

Limits

The ability

To move

Or be moved.

Feeling Inflexible,

Even rigid,

No longer

Able to 

Support

The unbearable

Load,

Desperate

For remedying,

Pain becomes

All encompassing—

Now constraining

And depleting

Capacity,

Fueling

Bitterness.

They say 

That pain

Is inevitable

But suffering

Is a choice.

Among

Your strengths

Is your

Capacity

For learning,

Allowing

New possibility

To take 

Hold.

What is this pain

Teaching?

What happens

To us when

We become

Oppressed

By agony;

Stuck under

The weight

That is 

Too much?

What kind 

Of school

Is this?

Our muscles

Memorize

Habits,

But let us know when

We have 

Overused

Or become

Out of alignment.

Maybe we can

Just observe

Right now

And acknowledge

The fact 

Of the strain.

Maybe we 

Just get

To learn

Our tendencies

And capacities;

Our habits

That may no longer

Serve to strengthen

Us.

Unfortunately or Fortunately

Unfortunately,

CNN hosted

A Trump Town Hall

Where the haul

Was his.

He steered the show

With audience

Applause

And laughter

With him,

Not at him.

It was 

Trump shtick

That sticks,

Unfortunately.

Fortunately,

Despite what he

Spews,

E. Jean won her

Suit

And proved the power

Of Truth

Can still exist

And enlighten.

The female inner

Life is fortunately

Becoming realized

As valid

And worth

A fortune.

Unfortunately,

It is terrifyingly clear

That the bullying

And lying

And obfuscating

And grifting

Are disregarded

And even

Cheered as

Smart tactics

Regardless of 

Consequences. 

Fortunately,

The DOJ has

Increasing evidence

That we can 

Only hope

Makes its

Way to a

Courtroom

SOON.

Unfortunately,

The shamelessness

And immorality

And assaults

Continue full force

And we are 

Captive.

Fortunately,

Santos was arrested

As the House

Is tested

Negotiating

The debt ceiling

Sealing

Their brand

As unfortunately

Cynical 

And unserious

About bipartisanship.

Fortunately,

The Summer

Of Indictments

Is not 

Far away,

And I believe 

There are 

More of us

Who grieve

For the USA

Than for our

Individual

Selves.

Spoiler Alert

You already know

What will happen.

It’s more 

Like a rerun 

Than a new

Show

Of thoughts

And prayers

After 

Each Episode.

Now every day

Is spoiled

By mass murders

En masse.

Families forever

Ruined.

Communities shattered.

And those 

Who relish

Spoiling

The possibility

Of success

Of an opponent

Will stand by

Horror,

And allow

Us

To be terrorized

By the tyranny

Of the crazed

With weapons

Of war

In anywhere,

USA

Any time

Because 

Freedom

To terrorize,

Maim,

And brutally

Murder

Innocent

Actual children

And their friends,

And teachers,

And preachers,

And relatives

Is freedom 

Of their

Sort.

Demand action

From every

Leader

And

Neighbor

And

Person

You know.

Spoiler alert:

For Mothers’ Day

I honored

My mother

With Contributions

To Moms Demand Action

For Gun Safety

And to the

Brigid Alliance.

Moms are being attacked,

And dare I say

Tortured 

Daily,

By fear

And actual assault

On bodily autonomy

Of themselves

And of their living

Kin.

My mother and father

Taught their children

To participate

And contribute

And improve 

Our communities.

I relish the gifts

My mother

Continues

To share with me

That inspire me

Each day.

You don’t need

Me to alert you

To those who

Would rather

Spoil our capacity

To live safely

Than limit

The possibility of 

One less

Shooting.

Demand better.

Do something.

Anything.

Don’t expect

Someone else

To contribute

Or sign

Or call

Or protest

So it’s done.

Sorry to spoil

It for you,

But your inaction

Is complicity.

Just like 

Thoughts

And

Prayers. 

At least 

For Mothers’ Day

Please do something

To contribute

To stopping

The current

Insanity

Killing us

Daily

While expressing

Condolences.

Don’t Mention It

There was no 

“High tech lynching”;

Just inching

Toward

The untoward

Without flinching.

Staying silent

For decades

While taking

And taking

And taking

And taking

Not talking

And making

A very

Magnanimous

Friend.

The lives

Of the wives

Are consequential

When their

Careers

Impact

What the Court

Hears. 

They ginned up

Schemes

To not mention

GInni

Or her intention

To lead

From behind

The bench.

And Jane Roberts’

Commissions

Were convenient

Omissions

While law firms

She serviced

Went before

The Supreme

Court.

Gorsuch’s

Real Estate

Is among the spate

Of  incidents

Undisclosed

By those gents

In robes

Appointed 

To serve

The country

For life.

Their thirst

For money 

And power

Can’t be

Quenched

And leaves

A fetid

Stench.

Just

Don’t mention

It. 

Scream Too

Why didn’t you scream?

(Subtext: 

If you were really

Raped,

You would have

Screamed.)

For help…

From Pain…

It’s 2023

I want 

To scream,

At the persistence

Of the insistence

Of blaming

Actual

Victims

While Claiming

To be the one

Attacked.

Of all the ways

To cross

Examine,

Why didn’t you scream?

Exposes the truth:

Not everyone is

A screamer.

I want 

To scream too

When the dignity

Of human

Life

Is ascribed to

A fetus

And not to

The woman

Or girl

Who is pregnant.

Ignoring

Medical realities,

Much less care

For women and girls

Or really anyone

After being born,

Is inhumane.

The guy 

Who just 

Walks up to

Women 

After a tic tac

And kisses

Them,

And says

He justs

Grabs them

By the pussy,

Probably did

Not have

A traumatic 

Experience 

That defined

The rest of

Life

From that

Time in

The dressing 

Room.

Women’s experiences

Have too long

Been silenced

Or taught

To be silent.

The courageous

Women

Who 

This week

Stepped forward

Not to scream

But to tell

Of the inhumanity

Of being denied

Speaks volumes

About those who

Minimize what women

And girls continue

To endure,

And ensure

That women

And girls

Have little to no

Say.

Why don’t

We scream!

The Late, Late Show

Savor the moment

That feels like

The right decision

After much 

Too much

Right Derision,

Fission,

And downright

Foolery.

When cable

TV guides,

As radio

Has shown,

Stars align

With 

Whatever

Indignation

Attracts 

Monetization.

Podcasters

Reach their

Niche

On demand,

While broadcasters

Still instill

By the

Old time

Schedule.

When the so

Called talent

Is repeatedly

Offensive,

They remain

On air

Until too

Expensive.

Late in the game

Feels better

Than nothing,

But no-one

Is irreplaceable.

How different

Is the landscape

Today ?

Two guys 

Were fired,

While  another

Two guys

Want to be

Rehired

For another

Four years,

Seemingly

Irreplaceable

No matter

How late

In life.

What does

It show?

Off Spring

This Spring feels way, way off.


Weather aside, 

this season of renewal 

has been one 

of oppression,

even for what has been

a years-long pattern.

The blooming of authoritarianism

and the reemergence

of overt and repressive

racism and misogyny

seems to have started

with the former

guy.

But of course, 

we know,

that like Fox,

the crazy

needs the audience.

And the audience

has been around

for a long time.

The former guy

became known for

Birtherism,

spreading lies 

for the sake

of stirring up

not merely

opposition,

but

racism

and all manners of hate,

against 

President Barak Obama. 

Trump didn’t invent

Birtherism. 

He saturated the media

with false claims

and false questions.

He wanted to be

the guy 

who wrestled

in the ring 

of public discourse,

coarsening 

the conversations

for everyone.

And this birthed

a candidate

which birthed 

a movement 

front and center

of grievance,

lies, oppression,

even violence,

while raising money

and hoarding

and never-ending

shamelessness

(and crimes)

upending 

and threatening

until….

This climate change

has already devastated,

and the pandemic virus

of authoritarianism

is spreading

around the globe. 

Forget 

RINOs,

now there are 

dinos—

democracies

in name

only.

Well, we see

crocuses of justice

beginning to blossom,

but fear

an off-season

frost

may impede 

healthy blooms

of justice

(despite Thomas, et al).

We thought

a Garland

would braid so much

evidence together

after Trump was

leaving such

an obvious mess,

but the pathetic

and yet 

successful

power grabs 

and conspicuous

cruelty 

and despotism

from every level

of government

flagrantly unleashed

upon the 

innocent,

makes me want

to stay

in the fetal position.

But birth

takes labor.

A LOT of labor.

And pushing.

This Spring

feels off, 

and I want

more than 

a break.

The push

toward justice

and accountability

will require

our insistence,

not merely 

watching or

scrolling

news with nausea.

Do something

to let your reps

know that

American democracy,

racism,

misogyny,

violence,

gun safety,

healthcare

(especially for women),

ethics,

justice,

and more,

matter.

This is Spring

training. 

It’s past

time

to get in the game.

First of All

The first

former POTUS

to be indicted

after being

the first

POTUS 

to be impeached

twice,

will begin

to face

consequences

for the 

first time.

Who knows 

how this

will go?

The precedent

for the President

is being set

and it feels

like the first

reckoning

with American

ideals,

especially regarding

“and justice

for all”.

At first,

the fear 

of violence

seemed to 

make too

many people

reticent about

any indictment.

Will it be bad

for the country?

No justice

has been

bad 

for the country.

(And the world.)

And this 

is likely

to be 

the first

of more

cases

against

the guy

who first

tried

to subvert 

the 2016 

election

with a 

$130k

check,

then tried 

to subvert

the 2020

election

with the call

to Georgia 

that everyone

heard,

and then

he tried

to subvert

the Electoral

College

with fake

electors,

and then

he invited

armed protestors

to march

to  The Capitol,

offering to 

accompany

them,

and watched 

while

they stormed

and desecrated

the building,

threatening our

lawmakers

and the VEEP

and massacring

police.

Meanwhile,

he hoarded

classified

documents

and stored

them at 

his property

in Mar a Lago.

But first

things

first.

All the rest 

will be 

firsts

for a former

POTUS,

and for 

all of us

who dare

to care

about 

the rule

of law

for everyone.

Morning Starts in Darkness

Dreaming in the dark,

our minds create,

shape,

fashion,

sculpt,

construct,

and produce

stories.

We are artists

in the dark

where all

around us 

is nothing.

Nothing

needs  cleaning

or fixing

or starting

or stopping.

Darkness does not

demand.

The lightbulb

is in our 

minds

illuminating 

ideas

unrequested.

Living by light

is living in 

necessity,

navigating

the world 

outlined for us.

We dream in

darkness

insisting

that anything 

is possible

from our own

minds. 

In darkness,

each of us

creates

from our

own hopes,

fears,

and visions.

We collide 

in light

and also

meet.

Darkness 

is the

best time 

to be

creative 

without

the world

flaunting its

unreasonableness

upon us.

Dusting With Pledge

The  Promised Land

is  broken

beyond recognition

except

to those who broke it. 

The Land of Opportunity

and Promise

is stuck in an

American nightmare

that feels 

Un-American.

Potential

gets thwarted

by  grievance

and History’s

scar tissue

that  causes

pain cycles

inflicting

injury  again

and again.

Human nature

spirals,

spinning,

repeatedly;

twisting

ourselves

in retrograde motions

trying to make 

progress

that feels like

power. 

Promises 

will always

yield

consequences,

intended or  not. 

Abusers know

that  we’re suckers

for promises;

that  intentions

are spoken

or tweeted

like incantations.

Words

create possibilities.

not probabilities,

and we tend

to forget

that words

require

meeting with

reality.

We seek 

promise

and promises.

And  we 

demand 

consequences

when we

become 

broken.

Then the dust

will settle

for a bit.

I promise.