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See Worthy

Seeing 

sounds

like looking,

but looking

more closely,

supposedly

what we see-

though we may

disagree-

is processed

internally;

while looking

outwardly

is the action

that allows

us to see.

We look 

good

when we

appear

sincere

and cohere

to a point

of view.

What others

see 

is not

necessarily

our intention

but a form

of convention

even 

if unconventional.

Signaling status

or virtue

or aspiration,

our communication

is mostly

visible.

Yet we are

miserable

when 

misperceived

as unachieved

as per 

our intentions.

Seeing connections

requires 

looking

and thinking;

linking 

between

what may

be seen

and what

is shown,

making itself

known

as related.

Making contact,

in fact,

creates 

continuity

and unity

in thought,

action,

and relation.

This creation

is what

we look for

and endure

when we 

see

love.

But do we

actually 

see

need?

Or greed?

Or just

agreement?

Or disagreement

cemented,

keeping

us tormented

still wanting

to be right?

Sight

acknowledges

with understanding

that compatibility

is different

from uniformity

and the enormity

of possibility

requires

looking for 

rapport

and seeing

humanity

in all its

incongruity.

Father-Love

Father

love:

not above

the scatological,

the probable

jokes,

evokes

rolls of eyes

and sighs-

no other

replies,

yet

tends

to 

repeat

each

generation.

And still

your

skill

at dadding,

adding

to what you

knew,

grew.

Fathering

adults

results

in being

jazzed

by what

has

and hasn’t

changed

in your

grown

children’s

own

lives

you recognize

as their’s

now.

A brief

visit

will elicit

an easy

joy.

They 

are now

the providers:

earning

trust,

discerning,

yearning

to build

what must

seem 

like 

a dream

they know

as home

because

of you,

their Dad.

Triage

No more

space

in the emergency

room

filled

with demanding

needs

commanding

immediate

attention.

Rarely a mention

of the ailing

failing,

yet still

magnificent

grande

dame,

mother

to all,

left

aside

hiding 

in plain 

sight,

frighteningly

sick

but still

looks good

until

she storms

away

flooding

us 

with concern.

Whose

turn

is first

when systems

that nurture

require

sutures,

and fractures

compound

all around

us?

Stabbed

in the heart,

we realize

we must

prioritize

this immediate

wound

stat.

Inside 

this ER

that we 

now are,

we mostly

just take

in 

information.

I see you

already

know

the urgency

each

emergency

requires.

But mired

in crisis

since 

the time

of Isis

is narrowing

our arteries

and capacities

for healing.

We can’t

simply

be 

angry,

fearful,

and depressed.

Nor 

can we

ignore

what’s in store

with more

of the same.

Crises

of democracies

and the climate

across

the earth

are worth

your efforts

beyond

news intake.

What’s 

at stake

demands

urgent

care-

a bit

here 

and there

in addition

to the 

momentous.

What

are you

doing—

not just

reviewing—

in order

to make us

better?

Separation Anxiety

Wait…

Are we

breaking

up?

or down?

I thought

you taught

me 

everything

I knew

without

knowing.

I threw

myself

into 

you,

believing

the conceiving

was a

how-to

create

fulfilling

life.

Strife 

is inevitable,

but this

is incredible

in the worst

way.

Our 

ancestors

split

into the pit

of war

and tore

themselves

apart.

The scars

inflamed

but were

tamed

until

recently.

The cult 

of personality

of indecency

is claiming

it’s all 

about

policy.

You want

to be

free 

from 

Me?

You,

who insist

on Christ

first

as a

gun toting

misogynist

and homophobe

in a judge’s

robe,

without

limit

to prohibit

that which

you deem

oppressive.

You

are

overtaxed?

It’s impressive

how simple

minded

people

like

to be

told

day and night

that they

are right

to be

aggrieved

and wanting

to be

free.

A civil 

war?

A cold

war?

A revolution?

It feels

like dissolution

of the evolution

of what could

be 

a better

future;

a more

perfect

union.

I see

the enemy

of the good.

We should

be able

to reconcile,

but the infantile

bile

has been

weaponized

to legitimize

some fantasized

perversion,

while an infantilized

conversion

has materialized

before

my eyes. 

I’m still surprised

by this uprising,

making

it seem

like our thing

was a long

fling.

But truth

is enduring

despite

luring

attempts

to 

undo

US.

We have

much

work

to do;

not just

to protect

and defend,

but mend.

I can’t 

pretend

it’s just

one

election

to be

won.

But it 

could be

the last

of the past

248 years.

Border Crossings

Imagine 

a climate

scientist

as president

who is

a woman

and is

Jewish.

Mexico,

you know….

the place

that sends

its worst

first

across

our border

in order

to rape

and murder

before 

taking

all 

the beautiful

jobs here

nobody

here

wants,

has elected

a she/her

who practices

science

and governance

more than

religious 

observance.

We 

have done

none

of the above.

We are

exceptional

in our

deception

of greatness

again

and again

as we profess

with success

a succession

of limited

qualities.

No question

the exception

of America

has been

our freedom,

once 

unparalleled

and profound.

But the grave

wave

of regression

in freedom’s

name

feels 

insane,

not to mention

the election

that has 

2 very old

white men

running

again

and again.

The possibility

of American

democracy

has never 

been more

clear.

And yet

Mexico’s

new president

is a precedent

we have not

yet set. 

In fact,

we are

the exception—

the odd one—

with the highest

glass ceiling.

It’s revealing.

An anti-

science,

anti-

climate change,

anti-

woman,

anti-

Semitic

sizable

demographic

is anti-

democratic

in this country

that gave

the world

democracy.

It’s crazy.

And will

ultimately

be 

an uncomfortable

chapter

of our

history;

not merely

a record

of what 

was,

but 

of what

could be

again.

Speaker of the House?

How 

shall

we address

signs 

of distress

right in

our own

front

yards?

Everyone’s

stressed

and pressed

to express

themselves.

Being a part

of the conversation

yet apart

from the realization

that we

are self

destructing,

is instructing.

As a spouse,

one shares

a house,

and the 

responsibilities.

I can’t

imagine

being

sanguine

about 

my spouse’s

tantrums

and visible

displays

that might

convey

some overt

conflict.

Justice Alito

purports

to support

his wife’s 

autonomy 

but no other

woman’s.

His refusing

to recusing 

himself

from 

cases 

related to

the ones

created

by 

the Former

Guy

imply 

that he 

is not

only

a louse

of a spouse

but supremely

unfit

to sit

on the bench.

America, Pure and Simple

We tell

our early

history

like the purity

of Eden,

as though we

began

in the 50s.

Our garden

was victorious,

and thus,

we were born

as us

in the glorious

nation

of Perry Mason.

The wrongly

accused

used 

the best 

defense

to reveal

the pretense

of the guilty.

Mid Century

Modern

beyond the 

aesthetic,

was the 

Cold War

ethic,

pure,

and 

simple.

The 60s revolt

was jolt

after jolt

to the preceding

calm

and conformity.

The enormity

of change

and a lost

war

tore

us apart.

The politics

of identity

was the new

purity

test,

while testing

nukes

against

or from

Soviets

remained

the most 

deadly threats.

After the fall

of the wall,

our Eden

seemed 

on the verge

of restoration

until 

the devastation

of 2001

took us on

an odyssey

of 

and against

hate

and crazy.

We have 

an affinity

for purity

despite

reality.

It’s practically

our DNA

to this day,

whether

individually

or societally.

It’s how we

see,

unless

we profess

to look

beyond

or respond

with inquiry.

It’s messy,

and unsatisfying

to have what

you don’t 

want

or like.

Evil

exists

just

as gravity

persists,

even though

we can

go to 

the moon

or across

the earth

through

the sky.

Our history

of purity

did not

make

America

great.

Like too much

Purell,

we lose

our ability

to quell

super 

contagions.

Our actual

history-

factual

and blistery-

is a longing

for purity

while

being

very messy.

Long before

the 50s

and the trials

that we’ve

endured,

we’ve been

lured

by purity

as morality.

Confronting

evil,

pure 

and simple,

is maybe

the purest

thing 

we can do.

No need

for perfection

or purity

test

to vociferously

and actively

object

to those who

detest

democracy,

diversity,

and the reality

that makes

America

great.

It’s not

a unified

reich.

Family Ties

The red

ties

were read

as ties

to the defendant,

attendent

to his messaging

and cause:

to bend

the laws,

(if not,

just 

ignore them).

The red

states,

“I’m with 

him”.

We’re

tied to

each other,

like brothers

from another

mother.

That long

red tie,

so iconic

and symbolic

of fiery

loyalty

to wanna-be

royalty,

is the sartorial

symbol

of The Bully.

The refrain

they maintain

is the stain

on the judge

for his daughter’s

occupation.

A conflict of 

interest

is interesting,

except

when 

the spouse

of a justice

had a sign

at their house

that read

“Stop the Steal”.

Or the spouse

of another

one

on 

the high court

resorted

to texting

the Chief

of Staff

on behalf

of the president’s

grift

on the 6th

of January, 

2021.

The separation

of powers

of family

is tricky.

But separating 

families

is kind of

on brand

for the head

of that family 

business.

While his

kin

are not

seen,

the scene

at the courthouse

from members

of The House

auditioning

for Veep

has them

petitioning

against

family ties 

creating

an unfair

trial.

An error

apparent

criticizing 

the parent

who is,

in this case,

the judge,

is the predictable

flipped

script

of the hypocrite,

projected

by the guys

in the long

read

ties.

A Chorus Line

One

singular 

sensation.

Every 

little step

he takes….

to cover 

mistakes

or fakes

or just

makes

a new

story

to obscure

the gory 

details

of some

deal

he must

conceal

because

in the real

world

it’s a problem.

Auditioning

for the 

west wing

or whatever

he

can bring

to their

careers,

the chorus

from

Congress

lined up

to speak

up,

a political

gag

bound

to please

the gagged

sleaze bag.

This stunt

is new,

yet grew

from

the same

transaction

faction

as every

other.

The classless

class 

of 24

tried

to score

points

by shaming

the shamed

who were on

the stand

claiming

the truth

about

the one

who insisted

on the Catch

and Kill

and the phony

bill

for legal

services

not rendered.

The chorus

line

is fine

with all 

the cheating

while

competing

for a place

in the space

toward 

the top

of the 

MAGA world.

The prosecution’s

cast

of once 

bottom feeders

are the redeemers,

while defending

the indefensible

the should-be

respectable

are despicable

all the way

down the

line. 

Constant Refrain

Nudging

the judge;

tempting

contempt;

fines

that are

just fine

with him.

A law

designed

without

the super

rich

in mind,

reveals

how we

think

about 

criminality.

The banality

of evil

knows 

a cross

section

of people,

place,

and time.

The rhyme

of history

is not

really

a mystery,

and maybe

that’s the 

key.

The symmetry

and poetry

of now

is the story

of how

we adapt

to humans

being:

aggressive

transgressive

obsessive

excessive

impressive

offensive

counteroffensive

expensive

reflexive

apprehensive

depressive

possessive

expressive

festive

suggestive

regressive

successive

progressive.

What

will it take

to hush

the guy

who paid

to have

the porn star

hushed?

The Hush

Money

trial,

unprecedented

for a 

president—

former

and possibly

future—

exposes

so much

that is

right

and wrong,

playing

a new song

along

with 

familiar

riffs

we’ve

heard

progress

before.