Don’t Pretend

POEM: Lesson Learned
If I’ve learned anything,
if the years of schooling and the degrees have done me any good,
if the stacks of books that have passed before my eyes shed any light,
it’s the recognition of the ubiquity of darkness,
&
of the fact
that it’s better to learn to cautiously navigate the cave
than to pretend there’s no darkness.
[This poem is from one of the blogs / sites I follow which is titled:  the !n(tro)verted yogi
The site can be found at:  https://berniegourley.com/
The specific post is:  https://berniegourley.com/2020/12/07/poem-lesson-learned/
Please visit the original site if you have some spare time.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Don’t Pretend
2021	I Like Curves More, Too
	I Don’t Know What I’d Do
2020	Pay It Forward
2019	From My Sullied Prison
2018	In My Room (2)
2017	Pretending
2016	And Songs Too…
2015	On The Road To Failure
2014	Each Moment
2013	Conversation
2012	4 Down, 11 Done (At Last)
	I’m Not Afraid
2011	Who’s Risk Is It, Anyway?

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A Little…

A little more kindness,
A little less speed,
A little more giving,
A little less greed,
A little more smile,
A little less frown,
A little less kicking,
A man while he’s down,
A little more “We”,
A little less “I”,
A little more laugh,
A little less cry,
A little more flowers,
On the pathway of life,
And fewer on graves,
At the end of the strife.
—    Mark Twain
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On This Day In:
2022	Laying A Sound Foundation
2021	A Little…
	Bringing Back Memories
	Think Global – Act Local
2020	Was #IncompenentDonald Born To Be A Diplomat?
2019	Have You Planted Lately?
2018	Something / Nothing
2017	Kindness
2016	Dealing With It
2015	Too Many Choices!
2014	Vini, Vidi, Vici
2013	Heroes
	Education, n.
2012	Who I Want To Be
2011	Mythic Forgetfulness

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Shining In The Dark

Good friends are like stars……..
You don’t always see them,
But you know they are always there.
—    William Blake
[Even when hidden behind the clouds…   —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Table Talk
	No One Left To Blame
2020	Plant Roots For A Hundred Years
	That Seat Is Taken
2019	Shining In The Dark
2018	Sometimes Wisdom, Too
2017	What Do I Know…
	Not Much Magic Here
2016	Rare Competition
2015	Now Where Did I Put That Thing?
2014	Reckoning
	Orange October (VIII) – Giants Win Game 1 Of 2014 World Series!!
2013	Trying To Capture Serenity
2012	Above The Vaulted Sky
2011	Active Learning

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Define Your Life…

Your “vision” defines your life
by Jyoti Meena
One can focus on the thorns and feel the tingling sensation..
Or one can converge all the thoughts and vision on the petals and gratify the beautiful colours and patterns of the petals..
One can choose to heed on the leaves which are drying and defoliating..
Or one can look at the newbie bud which is yet to bloom and spread it’s soothing fragrance..
It’s all about how you see things through “YOUR EYES”…
Following the world blindly won’t make you wise…
So believe in your vision because “your vision defines your life”
From the site:  Jyotichamp
Located at:  https://championchinti.wordpress.com/
The specific post is at:  https://championchinti.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/your-vision-defines-your-life/
[Please visit the original site if you have a spare moment.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2018	It Is No Secret
	Day 25: When 4 or 5 equals 2
2017	Cowardly Defamation
2016	With No Allowance For Chance?
2015	Details
2014	Here’s One…
2013	Non-Fungible Commodities
2012	Hope And Tears
2011	Just Long Enough
	Meaningful Thoughts

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And I’m Not Letting Go

A Place We Knew
I can picture you now,
taking your makeup off
You come into my room
and you kiss my lips
But this hotel life,
I’m not used to it
And you wear your heart
right on your sleeve
But it took you a while
to open up to me
I still love the way
that you smile when you leave,
mm
And I know you get scared
when I’m away
But I think about you
almost all the day, yeah
And I promised you that I’d
be back again
Just can you remember?
Oh can you remember when we were
Dancing in hotel rooms
It was just me and you
And we wouldn’t sleep all night
With you sitting by my side
And every moment
we had stolen was a feeling
‘Cause it never mattered
Where we were,
’cause we were falling in love
‘Cause your heart is my home,
your heart is my home
Your heart is my home,
and I’m not letting go
When I was feeling down,
you always picked me up
It didn’t matter what
I was doing wrong
’cause
I’ve lived my life without you
for too long
But when I walked in the door
and I saw your face
Ooh, I knew in that moment,
that my world had changed
How can I live my life
since you’ve been and gone?
But can you remember?
Just try to remember when we were
Dancing in hotel rooms
It was just me and you
And we wouldn’t sleep all night
With you sitting by my side
And every moment
we had stolen was a feeling
‘Cause it never mattered
Where we were,
’cause we were falling in love
‘Cause your heart is my home,
your heart is my home
Your heart is my home,
and I’m not letting go
But in any single moment you can change
‘Cause I’ve been gone so long and I can feel you slip away
but I’m getting closer and closer
Can you remember?
Just try to remember when we were
Dancing in hotel rooms
It was just me and you
We wouldn’t sleep all night
With you sitting by my side
And every moment
we had stolen was a feeling
‘Cause it never mattered
Where we were,
’cause we were falling in love
‘Cause your heart is my home,
your heart is my home
Your heart is my home,
and I’m not letting go
‘Cause your heart is my home,
and your heart is my home
Your heart is my home,
and I’m not letting go
‘Cause your heart is my home,
and your heart is my home
Oh, your heart is my home,
and I’m never letting go
Performed by:  Dean Lewis
Songwriters:  Dean Lewis, Grant Loaney
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On This Day In:
2018	The Continuing Failure Of Speaker Paul Ryan
	Day 3: Approaching The Half Way Point
2017	Orange Comb-Overs Unite!
2016	Speaking Of Which
2015	Complexity Has A Strict Architecture
2014	Just Support
2013	Wandering Free
2012	Contribute = Paying Taxes
2011	How Will You Be Judged?

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The Mark Against Your Name

Alumnus Football
Bill Jones had been the shining star upon his college team.
His tackling was ferocious and his bucking was a dream.
When husky William took the ball beneath his brawny arm
They had two extra men to ring the ambulance alarm.
Bill hit the line and ran the ends like some mad bull amuck.
The other team would shiver when they saw him start to buck.
And when some rival tackler tried to block his dashing pace,
On waking up, he’d ask, “Who drove that truck across my face?”
Bill had the speed-Bill had the weight-Bill never bucked in vain;
From goal to goal he whizzed along while fragments, strewed the plain,
And there had been a standing bet, which no one tried to call,
That he could make his distance through a ten-foot granite wall.
When he wound up his college course each student’s heart was sore.
They wept to think bull-throated Bill would sock the line no more.
Not so with William – in his dreams he saw the Field of Fame,
Where he would buck to glory in the swirl of Life’s big game.
Sweet are the dreams of college life, before our faith is nicked-
The world is but a cherry tree that’s waiting to be picked;
The world is but an open road-until we find, one day,
How far away the goal posts are that called us to the play.
So, with the sheepskin tucked beneath his arm in football style,
Bill put on steam and dashed into the thickest of the pile;
With eyes ablaze he sprinted where the laureled highway led-
When Bill woke up his scalp hung loose and knots adorned his head.
He tried to run the ends of life, but with rib-crushing toss
A rent collector tackled him and threw him for a loss.
And when he switched his course again and dashed into the line
The massive Guard named Failure did a toddle on his spine.
Bill tried to punt out of the rut, but ere he turned the trick
Right Tackle Competition scuttled through and blocked the kick.
And when he tackled at Success in one long, vicious prod
The Fullback Disappointment steered his features in sod.
Bill was no quitter, so he tried a buck in higher gear,
But Left Guard Envy broke it up and stood him on his ear.
Whereat he aimed a forward pass, but in two vicious bounds
Big Center Greed slipped through a hole and rammed him out of bounds.
But one day, when across the Field of Fame the goal seemed dim,
The wise old coach, Experience, came up and spoke to him.
“Oh Boy,” he said, “the main point now before you win your bout
Is keep on bucking Failure till you’ve worn the piker out!”
“And, kid, cut out this fancy stuff – go in there, low and hard;
Just keep your eye upon the ball and plug on, yard by yard,
And more than all, when you are thrown or tumbled with a crack,
Don’t sit there whining-hustle up and keep on coming back;
“Keep coming back with all you’ve got, without an alibi,
If Competition trips you up or lands upon your eye,
Until at last above the din you hear this sentence spilled:
‘We might as well let this bird through before we all get killed.’
“You’ll find the road is long and rough, with soft spots far apart,
Where only those can make the grade who have the Uphill Heart.
And when they stop you with a thud or halt you with a crack,
Let Courage call the signals as you keep on coming back.
“Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine,
Let every game’s end find you still upon the battling line;
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game.”
Written by:  Grantland Rice
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On This Day In:
2022	True Measures
2021	Moments With You
	I Remember I Told My Sorrow
2020	A Post-Valentine Thought
2019	A Little Magic
	‘Cause It Makes Me Feel Happy
	The Mark Against Your Name
2018	Nice To Meet You
2017	All Nations & Religions
2016	Given The Choice
	Why Is He Wearing Red?
2015	Within The System
2014	None But…
2013	Obviously Longer
2012	A Childhood Poem
	Who Are You Callin’ Leather-Faced?
2011	In No Particular Order
	The Need For Proof

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Sin Less Every Day

The sin of our times is the sin that believes in nothing,
Cares for nothing,
seeks to know nothing,
Interferes with nothing,
enjoys nothing,
hates nothing,
Finds purpose in nothing.
Lives for nothing,
and remains Alive because there is nothing for which it will die.
—    Dorothy Sayers
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On This Day In:
2022	In My Defense…
2021	Mike Could Have Saved Us A Bundle On Border Walls
	Is It Too Late?
2020	And Then There Was Yellow
	At This Moment
2019	Sin Less Every Day
2018	Probably Only A Little Easier
2017	Stars Above
2016	Where Do You Stand?
	Health Update
2015	Leaving On A Mid-Night Train
2014	Questioned Faith
2013	At Home In Fire
2012	A Tale Of Two Books
	More Meaning
2011	Back At The Millstone
	To Learn, Teach

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Sad Words

For all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:  “It might have been.“
—    John Greenleaf Whittier
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On This Day In:
2022	Choose Possible
2021	Thousands
	Where Did All The Blue Skies Go?
2020	A Profound Source
2019	Sad Words
2018	Self-Sorted
2017	Right
2016	At Least One Step
2015	Month To Month Rental
2014	Professional Beliefs
2013	Books Are…
2012	True Distinguishing Marks
2010	Sub-300

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Just Passing Through

I Shall Not Pass This Way Again
Written by:  Eva Rose York
I shall not pass this way again—
Although it bordered be with flowers,
Although I rest in fragrant bowers,
And hear the singing
Of song-birds winging
To highest heaven their gladsome flight;
Though moons are full and stars are bright,
And winds and waves are softly sighing,
While leafy trees make low replying;
Though voices clear in joyous strain
Repeat a jubilant refrain;
Though rising suns their radiance throw
On summer’s green and winter’s snow,
In such rare splendor that my heart
Would ache from scenes like these to part;
Though beauties heighten,
And life-lights brighten,
And joys proceed from every pain,—
I shall not pass this way again.
Then let me pluck the flowers that blow,
And let me listen as I go
To music rare
That fills the air;
And let hereafter
Songs and laughter
Fill every pause along the way;
And to my spirit let me say:
“O soul, be happy; soon ’tis trod,
The path made thus for thee by God.
Be happy, thou, and bless His name
By whom such marvellous beauty came.”
And let no chance by me be lost
To kindness show at any cost.
I shall not pass this way again.
Then let me now relieve some pain,
Remove some barrier from the road,
Or brighten someone’s heavy load;
A helping hand to this one lend,
Then turn some other to befriend.
O God, forgive
That I now live
As if I might, sometime, return
To bless the weary ones that yearn
For help and comfort every day,—
For there be such along the way.
O God, forgive that I have seen
The beauty only, have not been
Awake to sorrow such as this;
That I have drunk the cup of bliss
Remembering not that those there be
Who drink the dregs of misery.
I love the beauty of the scene,
Would roam again o’er fields so green;
But since I may not, let me spend
My strength for others to the end,—
For those who tread on rock and stone,
And bear their burdens all alone,
Who loiter not in leafy bowers,
Nor hear the birds nor pluck the flowers.
A larger kindness give to me,
A deeper love and sympathy;
Then, O, one day
May someone say—
Remembering a lessened pain—
“Would she could pass this way again.”
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On This Day In:
2021	Momentary Offering
	Happy Noise
2020	No Crumbs
	Too Many Detectives On This Case
	A New Day Is Coming
2019	Or In This Case – What’s Wrong
2018	Just Passing Through
2017	True Torture
	Happy Thanksgiving – 2017 !!
2016	Overtaken
2015	Alone Praying
2014	A Full Man
2013	Off Defending The Universe
	Taking Precautions
2012	Never, Never, Never
2011	Testing 1, 2, 3

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Do You Remember?

A Child’s Prayer…
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I ‘wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
[A few night’s ago, I awoke in the middle of the night and the second half of the above prayer / poem flashed through my thoughts.  In its entirety, this was the “formal / regular” prayer I used to say when I was a child and going to bed.  For whatever reason, I recalled the entire prayer and said it earnestly.  It’s “funny” the things you remember – for no particular reason – as you get older.  They just spring to mind…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Of Course The Term “Value” Is Undefined
	Waiting
2020	I Hadn’t Thought Of That
	Keep Looking!
2019	Knocking On Impeachment’s Door
2018	Do You Remember?
2017	Choose Life
	My Response To President Trump’s Threat To NBC
2016	We, Us, All
2015	No Less
2014	Life Advice (50)
	Orange October (IV) – Giants Win Game 1 Of NLCS!
2013	Running To
2012	Suddenly
2011	Liberal Washington
2010	Giants Advance To NLCS!!

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Pity The Nation (Part 2)

PITY THE NATION
(After Khalil Gibran)
Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars
Whose sages are silenced
And whose bigots haunt the airwaves
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
Except to praise conquerers
And acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world
By force and by torture
Pity the nation that knows
No other language but its own
And no other culture but its own
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed
Pity the nation oh pity the people
who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away
My country, tears of thee
Sweet land of liberty!
Written by:  Lawrence Ferlinghetti
[Please note:  “Khalil Gibran” is also spelled “Kahlil Gibran“.  The latter is how I “normally” spell the name as this is how it appears on the several books I own.
I found this as a posting on FaceBook by an old friend from grammar school:  Mit (Mithras) Maurille.  Part 1, yesterday’s post was found on the internet.  It is available on multiple sites.     —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	Practically Worthless In Every Way
	It Never Was
	Frustrating Incentive
2020	You Too?
	Six Degrees
2019	A Branching Stream
	Day 9: One Day At A Time
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 2)
	Day 1: Redux
2017	Good Blogs, Too
2016	My Prediction For #AmnestyDon
2015	Worth A Try
2014	I’m Feeling It
2013	May I Have A Little More, Please?
2012	Increasing Doubt
2011	You Can’t Touch This

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Pity The Nation (Part 1)

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave
and eats a bread it does not harvest.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,
and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream,
yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice
save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins,
and will rebel not save when its neck is laid
between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,
whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,
and farewells him with hooting,
only to welcome another with trumpeting again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years
and whose strongmen are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments,
each fragment deeming itself a nation.
―    Kahlil Gibran
From his book:  “The Garden of The Prophet“
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On This Day In:
2021	I Think They Mean It
	An Endless Stream
2020	ITF (365) – Update
	Word Up!
	My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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I’m Still Here

So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love–
But for livin’ I was born.
―      Langston Hughes
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On This Day In:
2017	Start Typing
2016	Just Saying (Nothing)
	Thought Of You
	Saldaga (“As I’ve Lived”)
2015	A Terrifying Cycle
2014	Rights
2013	Do Bold Things
2012	Seven Causes
2011	I Feel A Tingle Coming On

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Even #45 Shall Pass To Sand

Ozymandias
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.  Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away”.
Written by:  Percy Bysshe Shelley
[This poem first captivated me in my pre-teens when I read it in a comic book.  It remains a reminder to me when I despair from the evil I see in the world.  You can find this and other (more positive / inspirational) poems and writings on my Poems page / tab.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2017	Shedding Light
	In The Neighborhood
2016	The Responsibility Of Freedom
2015	Face It
	Birdfight
2014	Honoring Firefighters
2013	And Never Will
2012	The Human Adventure Continues
2011	Almost Never

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What I Tell You Three Times Is True

But we all know in our hearts that mere repetition and decibel level is no way to truth.
Part of the controversy hinges on the difference between discovery and invention.  To me, science and math are ultimately about undiscovered continents:  things that really do exist, although we might not yet know about them.  The example that I often use is trilobites in the Cambrian period, more than 500 million years ago.  Did trilobites know the value of pi?  I think not.  Did any living creature in the Cambrian know the value of pi?  No.  But did pi exist with the same value that we know of today?  Yes.
Truth is all around us.  We just have to look for it.  This task  —  is mankind’s most noble activity.  We give up on it at our peril.
—    Errol Morris
From his editorial:  “Why Donald Trump can’t kill the truth“
Appearing in:  Time Magazine;  dtd:  11 June 2018
[The title for this post is a quote from Lewis Carroll’s poem “The Hunting of the Snark“.  It also appears in the text of Morris’ opinion piece.    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2017	And So On
2016	Kept
2015	Envy * 2
2014	Destiny For The Talented
2013	I Do Not Fear It
2012	Until Found
2011	Reducing Goods To Data
	The Fog Of Civilization Building

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