Equality as an actual state of being
Only exists in the mathematical realm
A fact of quantity not quality.
No actual thing can ever equal another,
Simply because they occupy different time
And space, weight, mass and every other condition.
Not even one potato equals another.
So how could different people, sexes, races,
Tribes, nations, religions and cultures be equal?
But equality certainly exists
Outside mathematics,
But only as an ideal.
A god we are told to believe in,
Worship and aspire to become
Not as an is, but simply an ought.
(9/8/26)
Part of being young
Is a belief in the power of hope
Part of growing up
Is the realization that hope
Has nothing to do with actual life.
Like Yoda said, you either do or don’t do
There is no try, as there is no hope.
This is just part of growing up, but
Some of us have been dumbed down
So our growth has been slowed
And so our idealism lasts well into adulthood.
It takes a combination
Of high hope and low IQ
To support communism, you know,
The political and economic philosophy
The depends on other people’s money.
Its supporters are usually divided into two groups;
The poor without much to lose and lots to gain
(Or so they hope)
And the elite who know wealth concentrates at the top
No matter what economic system is followed.
Low IQ is essential,
And sadly also accompanies being poor,
Because the actual result of communism
Is just more poverty and less freedom.
All around the lessons of history are clear
And yet all around its students put on blinders
Hoping, against all odds, with their stunted IQ
That this time they will get it right.
(8/20/26)
(“Utopia and Terror Merit Badge”, 2010, original oil)
Ideal and real exist in opposition
Like two children on a playground teeter-totter
Two children who will grow
To be completely different adults.
Idealism is the default of all infants
And is what all mature humans grow out of
Sooner or later, all too often much later,
Perhaps for some
Not until the moment of death.
It feels good after all to want what you want
And even expect to get it!
But realism sees beyond such wants
To what is.
Realism is the philosophy of accepting
Simply what is.
While idealism wishes for what can be
It may even seem noble
Yet is in-fact the ultimate intolerant view,
And taken to the extreme
Has led to the worst atrocities
In human history.
Does realism sometimes lead to atrocities?
Perhaps, but to the realist
They would just be necessity.
So idealism is the philosophy of infants and tyrants,
While realism makes do
And gets along as best as can be.
But this doesn’t have to be a morose fatalism
As there is always a bright side.
There is always a new day dawning
Somewhere at this very moment.
That isn’t idealism
That’s very real.
(1/30/25)
(“The Mothership”, 2024, computer graphic encaustic collage)
The Age of Abstract
We live in a time defined by ideas and ideals
When concepts and abstracts rule
But what’s needed as a balance and antidote
Is grounding in real life
Relationships with others, real people and animals
The real world, of rock and water, tree and sky
And not an artificial world of AI
Or even naturally human generated intelligence.
We live in an artificial age
When concepts and abstracts rule
As the real world
Waits patiently within us and without us.
(12/30/24)
Are you pure enough?
Do those you support in religion, politics,
Media and entertainment pass
The purity test?
What about your friends, lovers,
Children and parents
Do they pass the test?
What about your pets?
Where does it end
This desire for consistency and purity
Of purpose and effect?
Or perhaps a better question,
Where does it begin?
(11/24/24)
This basic wish
Is the wish of every mother and child
The wish for things to be safe and fun
For everyone to smile
And not push and shove, yell and fight.
It’s the wish that drives them like sheep
Into the beautiful green pastures over there
Just beyond the bounds, always
Just out of reach.
It’s the wish to unite
Form a one world government or religion
Or circle to sing kumbaya
To hold us all together
Keep us safe in the night
And fed in the morning.
It’s also the wishful dream that fades
When Sun rises on another day
And it’s time to once again
Simply care
For all things we need to do
The bitter and the sweet
Made better by the fact
Adversity builds something
Nothing else can.
(11/22/24)
quixotic idealism
face of positivity
not easy to extinguish
beyond what's happening
and far beyond imagining
there is a world of imagery
a boundless sea of fantasy
though some may call it heresy
kindness is the only currency
pure hearts give their song in prayer
it's open season for poets there
beyond hopes forgotten on a shelf
this is a universe onto itself
where laws of physics don't apply
and lofty dreams there never die
AP: 1st place 2024
There is magic in life, but you must let go of anyone,out to destroy your soul.
Of these there are a plethora.
Are they descendants of Sodom and Gemmorah ?
These poets…simply cannot let you joyfully be!
Unless, your ideas match theirs in tandem, in modern poetry, do you see?
Dare you be different, they turn against you, indeed, hastily!
So, you must find other writers of sterling integrity.
If not, you are cursed to ever be a nothing poet.
Sadly doomed, to their odes to mediocrity!
7/25/2023
What do you see in my emaciated emerald eyes?
Idealism or someone lost in love and hatred
Birds eat my meat thrown on the clean floor
A death sentence has passed on my sick neck
Don't grind your teeth as you walk on my rotting body
My blood has become fertilizer for the roads of the raging seas
The breeze plays with our scattered hearts, then the calm of the nights
And your turbulent feelings as material for my disordered heart
The fingers of the gods are pointing at my brain, lying on the table
And the devils enjoy the smell of my guts in the bathtub
And there you see my hopes floating like a pure beast
where am I?
Why do you see me and embrace my soul after all that?
Your eardrum is dull, let's blow it
Or blew my heart after you research its place in the "home"
Going within the shrine of my heart's hidden mind,
In things without, the truth I often do not find;
I dream of greatness. This I expect in others.
As each, in life, have individual druthers...!
The facts of my universe are truly well-known,
I should meditate on my true forms clearly shown;
'Cogito Ergo Sum' - Descartes so proudly said.
Mind and body are not one. Thus, he went ahead...!
I love dear Plato, for his world of ideas.
He gave us Platonic love, highest from above;
No flesh in it; none touches before hearts touch,
Only such love can free me from every grim clutch...!
I do love and respect Aristotle, the great,
Who reduced truths forms to a great idea- bait;
Knowledge comes from within the realism does hold.
To unrealities, often, my conscience is sold...!
Metaphysical epistemological,
Each philosopher, for me, has been logical;
Excellence in beauty and divine perfection,
Is there, to idealism, any exception...?
Socrates accepted the bitter cup offered,
For his idealism he did greatly suffered;
Who he did not ever in his life influence?
Each heart and mind should flow in his great confluence...!!!
19 January 2023
I came across an ancient manuscript
Long languishing in a cluttered drawer
Where hidden memories lay among
The flotsam and jetsam of my life,
And reading it I realized a forgotten time
When idealism was a guiding principle
In my way of life, when in my naivete
I was convinced I could change the world.
I had taken many bits of my life from that chest
From time to time, when frantic searching
For direction caused me to flail about
Too late, I picked up the yellowed pages just now.
written August 8, 2021
IDEALISM
Liberal, Modest, Noble, Open Personality
deserves reverence and adoration,
simultaneous admiration
to be followed by every soul.
Dishonesty, Envy, Falsehood, Greed, Hate
to control, to kill or to drive out.
Revenge in mind, never to sprout.
Peace of human should be the goal.
Abolish Betrayal! Crookedness: Do Explode.
For conspiracy to confront
in social or domestic front
stand straight as stable-rooted bole.
Respect Strong Truth, Universal Values
of morality on journey of life,
whether at ease or at strife.
In drama of life play courageous role.
08/02/21
First Place
Alpha Lines Contest by Joseph May
The fluffy snow melts slowly,
its whiteness is stunning...
and turning into torrents of rain,
it sets grief on people's faces!
Passing sails are a delight to see,
but the anchored gondolas grieve,
they miss lovers who sang arias;
can sunset change the air of sobriety
and offer dreamers some real hope?
No, gladness is not found here!
Smiles are not influenced by emotions,
seeing the gleaming snow becoming slush
and flowing faster than rivers is even sadder;
all roofs drip, no cooing pigeons greet tourists:
Venice itself weeps surrounded by its splendor!
Rising artist artfully
Weaving palette poetry
Crafting beauty brilliantly
Painting living lovingly
Radiating like the sun
Growing, glowing little one
Sharing, caring, never done
Giving love to everyone
Freshening like summer rain
Watering the famished plain
Raising rows of golden grain
Making meadows bloom again
Feeding families facing fear
Helping homeless hasten here
Nursing needy neighbors near
Doing double duty dear
Leaving home when she was young
Grieving those she was among
Flipping on her face she flung
Falling in a ball of dung
Getting up when she was dead
Going home to sleep in bed
Thinking more of food instead
Showering like mother said.
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