A Poetic Interlude

Macaw in winter

1

Too cold for an old
red macaw perched

outside the door of a
Kushiro pet shop this

December day. But
there he is

hunkered down,
grooming his feathers

in the cold winter wind
as snowflakes begin to fall.

2

Today the old red macaw
is on his perch munching seeds
as the arctic wind whips past.

Does he dream
of steaming tropical
forests?

--Kushiro, December 2007

Government of the people, by the people, for the people

The phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people”, so dear to the hearts of Americans comes from Lincoln's Gettysburg address: “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

In their majority ruling, the U. S. Supreme Court has today turned government of the people, by the people and for the people on its head, reengineering it to say "government of business, by business and for business", the people be damned.

What we now are guaranteed, unless Congress can overturn this ruling, is government by business interests, the best government that money can buy, that does what business interests wants it to do, with an utter disregard for the interests and needs people like you and me.

How did the Supreme Court do this? In a 5-4 majority, they said that businesses and business organizations could make unlimited political donations, including sponsoring TV ads for candidates they support, and against candidates they want to see defeated. What this does is hand the power of the purse over to the power elite, because they are the ones who have the money. Where does that put the average US citizen and citizen's organization? In Pauper's Row, begging for money.

This totally upsets the way politics are supposed to work in America, and hands it to people who do not have your interests, or mine, in mind.

If this doesn't make you mad, it should.

It is high time we flood the email Inboxes and mail boxes with demands that Congress reverse this ruling with strong protections that spell out in crystal clear terms just what government of the people, by the people and for the people is, so that business and the U.S. Supreme Court justices who wrote the majority opinion in this ruling understand exactly what it means, and spells out in clear terms its guarantees.

And we need to do this now.

All for this post,

Toasty

“The day I see a leaf is a marvel of a day.” — Kenneth Patton

Sitting here in my study looking out at the snow, I think what marvelous things our senses are. To sit quietly and see, touch, hear, smell and taste the world we live in. To take the smallest, the tiniest particle or being and take it in and savor it. To watch the wind in the trees, the approaching rain, the sound of voices or a voice. To hear music, laughter, grief. To look into our loved one’s eyes and see into the depths. To hold a loved one’s hand, to feel the warmth and texture of skin on skin, to cherish memories.

What a privilege just to to be without expectation or agenda.

Spring Poem

This morning walking

to work

I saw

leaves

backing out of

the

branches of a hedge.

Scottish Country Fair, St. Paul

On the green

dancers leap & twirl

bodies light as mist

They catch moons with their arms

throw out suns

make the earth under their feet

groan with pleasure

& with their eyes

give out a solemn joy & pride

that moves across the green

like a soft wind

blown up from a valley

or a shaft of light

cast down through trees.

Ocean

The ocean

is magnificent

sun sparkling

on its calm surface.

Quiet

In this quiet room

only the TV and my pen

show any motion

~ ~ ~

I wrote the first poems back in the 1970s. They are in my poetry collection, Seeing: Collected Poems, 1973 – 1999, published by Tortoise & Hare Publications in 2000, and now out of print. The last two poems I wrote while visiting my wife’s family in Kushiro, Japan in December 2007. On sunny days, the old red macaw sat on his perch outside in the winter wind.

Happy New Year to each of you. I am now back from my “writing sabbatical”. For more about that, go to www.geogepolleyauthor.com, go to “Writer’s Blog” and read “When the Well Runs Dry”.

Warmest regards,

Toasty

A Recommended Blog

Every once in a while I run across a blog that I like well enough to recommend to others, and Spence Smith's blog is one of them. I really like Spence’s blog, what he writes about, and the way he writes. I guess it proves the value of social media, because I ran into him on Twitter.

Take a look, wander around and see if you don't agree with me that he writes about some very worthwhile things.
His link is: http://www.spencesmith.com

Enjoy.

Toasty

For a future to be possible

Does it seem to you, as it does to me, that for a future to be possible on this planet, we – each of us – has got to do something to turn things around so that a future is possible for our children, grandchildren and beyond?

“The day we stop killing off our own species,” writes Zoe Taylor of McClure Middle School in Seattle, WA, “our world will become a book with no more torn pages.” (Source: Wisdom Commons, www.wisdomcommons.org.) That ought to be so obvious that no one would question it. Yet people go on killing each other every day in acts of war and vengeance.

Are there active movements where you live to reduce violence and the madness of war? If there are, what are they? If there aren’t, why not? What prevents such  movements from happening? Historian Andrew Bacevich has written that Americans are seduced by war (“The New American Militarism”). I am convinced that America and its citizens are seduced by violence. It’s in our militarism, our video games, our domestic relations, our language and in our gangs. Is this true where you live? What can you – can we – do to change this where we live? What are we willing to do.

For the first time in my life, I live in a country – Japan – that is committed to the peaceful means of solving conflicts. Nonviolence has been written into its Constitution since the end of World War Two. Does this mean that war thinking has ended? Not at all. It means that the nation, and its people are dedicated to seeking peaceful means to solving conflicts. Looking back at the horrors of World War Two, the Japanese people wanted nothing to do anymore with war and warmongers, and they have stuck resolutely by that and demanded that their politicians and military leaders do the same. (The last military officer to publicly rattle his sword, a four-star Air SDF general, was summarily fired from his job earlier this year and mustered out of the Self Defense Force.)

South Africa changed from a White controlled government to a racially inclusive government led by Nelson Mandela without the eruption of violence and hate that most people had predicted. And in Northern Ireland, in spite of occasional outbursts of sectarian violence, the people and their leaders seem committed to a peaceful future.

For a future to be possible we, as individuals, neighbors, communities and nations, must begin committing ourselves to beliefs, attitudes and activities that bring a peace that respects our differences.

What do you think?

All for this post,

Toasty

 

Good books and old friends

Some books are like old friends. I love getting together with them, settling down with a cup of tea, or just settling down and getting into them. These books make me smile, warm my heart and leave me satisfied and anticipating the next time we can get together.

I have two books to recommend this winter Holiday season that are like old friends. I know because that’s what readers say about them. They are The Old Man and the Monkey and Grandfather and the Raven. Read about them below, then pick up a copy or two from Abbott ePublishing at http://www.abbottepub.com. The Old Man and the Monkey is listed on their “Fiction” page. If you own a Kindle, the books are Kindle-ready and downloadable to your machine.

Here’s what readers are saying about these two warm-hearted books:

The Old Man and the Monkey:

"I was immediately drawn to it. Wow! Nothing short of monkey magic.” –Thom Rutledge, author, Nashville

"Makes you look within to find the best that you can be. I love this story. It gets better every time I read it.” –Jean S., Seattle

“Reflects the rare values of unconditional friendship; love, trust, respect, loyalty and dependability.” –Stella T., Rotterdam

Makes you “feel you’re with” the old man and the monkey.”  –Aneeta S., Kuala Lumpur

Wakens you “to the wonder of life and death and friendship.” –Wendy M., Quebec

Grandfather and the Raven:

“A delightful collection of life fables that warms you all the way down, leaving you looking forward to another reading in the future.” –Jean S., Seattle

“Full of wisdom and simply a pleasure to read! A book that rejuvenated me.” –Meam W., Karachi

“Suffused with a gentle knowingness and humour, accompanied by a sharp disapproval of unprovoked violence.” –Tim Roux, author, Belgium

“Like that piece of chocolate that you have with your afternoon cup of coffee... short, sweet, and leaving you wanting another piece.” –Shawn C., author, Sapporo

The raven “speaks in a mysterious voice, which some people can understand, and others hear only as a noise. These stories are fun, and would be fun to read to a child sitting in a loving lap.” –Wendy M., Quebec

Be sure to pick up your copy at http://www.abbottepub.com. You’ll find The Old Man and the Monkey listed on their “fiction” page. Then settle down with a cup of hot chocolate, tea or coffee, pick up the books or turn on your Kindle and enjoy a wonderful experience. You’ll be glad you did.

Happy Holidays and happy reading,

Jorge (“Toasty”) Tostada

(Who’s that George Polley fellow? It’s me, writing under my author name, the one my parents gave me when I was born.)

 

Obama’s Bow

The headline in this morning’s Yahoo! News reads “Outrage in Washington over Obama’s Japan Bow”. I said “What?” Seems the conservative pundits in DC have their knickers in a knot because President Obama bowed to Emperor Akihito when he met the Emperor and his wife.

“Oh, God! What shame!” Bah! I am disgusted with this kind of arrogance. “Ugly Americans” are alive and well and kicking, and are as blind as they ever were about how the rest of the world views them.

In case you’re wondering who “ugly Americans” are or what the term means, it means the loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens and corporations abroad and at home.

It means acting as though it’s proper to walk into anyone’s house or country and do what you want without apologizing for the inconvenience, discourtesy or disrespect.

It means telling others what is good for them instead of asking because you don’t consider them important (and you consider them too “stupid” to understand how important you are, though they recognize how self-important and arrogant you are).

So William Kristol, Bill Bennett and others are having hissy fits. "We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States…” Some said Obama’s bow was particularly grating after he publicly bowed to Saudi Arabia’s Kind Abdullah at the G20 meeting in April. Quelle horreur!

These people say the president “has hastened America's decline as a world superpower by being too apologetic and too deferential in his dealings with other world leaders.”

Oh, really. What they’re missing besides good sense and good manners is this: The best way to shore up US power in a region increasingly dominated by rising giant China is to show respect for the people you want to improve your relationship with. In countries where bowing is a sign of respect, this means bowing where it is most appropriate. And bowing to Emperor Akihito is very appropriate and important to the Japanese people.

But if you’re an Ugly American, you don’t see it, because you think walking in and telling people people what you’re going to do is the way to win friends and influence people. Self important, arrogant behavior is “ugly”, and it just does not go over well. Showing respect does.

Here’s an example. I spent a few months in Mexico City in 1973-74 when President Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal (his people had sent burglars to break into someone’s office) that eventually forced his resignation. The Mexican people greeted the affair with high hilarity. Here was good old self-righteous Uncle Sam caught with his hand in someone else’s till. “Ho-ho-ho!” A restaurant in the Zona Rosa featured a special dessert made of minted  peaches. It was delicious. The restaurateur called it “Impeach mint.” Still makes me laugh out loud!

How does President Obama go over in Japan? His face, his words and his books are everywhere. Kids use his speeches as part of their English language study. His bow to Emperor Akihito was played over and over again on the news. (I know because I watched it.) It was a gesture of respect and kindness, a huge step forward in repairing damages done, especially over the previous eight years by an administration that had no time to genuflect to anyone, including their own country’s citizens.

Former President Bush? He threw out the first ball at Japan’s recent baseball championship game, he’s popular with former Prime Minister Koizumi, and without trying he does a pretty darn good imitation of Mad Magazine’s mascot, Alfred E. (“What, me worry?”) Neuman .

All for this post,

Toasty

Sapporo, Japan