Poetry and Memory

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.

Blessings on thee, little man;
Barefoot boy with cheeks of tan.
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes.

Under the spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands.
The smith, a mighty man is he
With strong and sinewy hands.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."

The above are just about all that I can recall regarding poetry that I studied long ago in school. The poems are on the Internet, now, and I looked up a couple of them to become acquainted with them again.

I am not a poem-y person. I never took much to poetry, preferring to write prose. Some poetry I don’t understand (I also don’t understand works of art, for the most part). However, some of what Mr. Wells tried to teach us in 8^th grade, and what other teachers tried to instill into us in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s has stuck in the form of snippets of poetry such as what is above.

I am much more amazed at the working and capacity of the human brain to retain such snippets for years on end than I am of poetry itself. To think that these kinds of things have been stored somewhere in the recesses of an approximately 3.5 lb blob of tissue (which, by the way, is capable of performing 100 trillion calculations per second, according to Wiki) for fifty or so years is just remarkable in many ways.

Surely, you too know the above poems and the authors. Don’t you?

What Was That??

Just when you think the neighborhood is beginning to feel a little “sterile”, a neighbor kid a few houses over goes out on his patio on Saturday morning and begins practicing his…yep, his bagpipe.

When the Saints Go Marching In, Amazing Grace, and other tunes emanate from the contraption of tubes and pipes. Some sound rather good. Others need a little work. But more than that, it’s a reminder that neighborhoods aren’t just a collection of houses, yards, and cars. There are people who inhabit this place, and they are as individualistic and unique as can be.

The retired contractor, the physician resident, the helicopter pilot (for an air ambulance), the serviceman…all are living, breathing human beings, part of the ecosystem we call a neighborhood. People move in and people move out. There are garage sales from time to time, and I’m sure there are other, less innocent things going on that we can not readily see.

Kids play in the back yard pool down the block, and other kids ride their bikes and trikes in the streets. Busses pick up kids for school, and a few, I think, are home schooled. People work, play, go, come, eat, sleep, and dream. Some may worry. Some may have good reason to worry. Others may already be in that stage in life where they know that worry gets them nowhere, fast.

Our missions committee at church is thinking about an urban ministry of some sort. It got me to thinking how I would approach our neighborhood with a ministry of some sort. In all honesty, I haven’t a clue. Now, what was that He said about being salt, light, and leaven in the world?

Dives and Establishments

Today, I went over to my barber on 13^th Street to get a haircut. I got there just as she was opening, and there were a couple of guys there waiting ahead of me, so I went next door to the Riverside Café for breakfast.

It’s always a treat to go to that café. Nothing pretentious, and a throwback to the days of plate lunches, lunch counters, and juke boxes, this place was so noisy at 9am that I had to raise my voice to the waitress to be heard.

Sitting at the counter beside a man and (who I presume was) his about 9 year old daughter, I noted the bustle of several employees, the loudness of conversation, and the juke box. Oh, the juke box. There are stations at many of the tables, just like the old days. The selections never change, however. And if no one plays anything for pay, the box just makes a selection every so often and blares out something from Elvis, Patti Page, the Four Tops, Louis Armstrong, or someone else from that era.

The lunch counter has a solid (no seams) copper top that has only become more striking with age and use. The cabinets behind the counter are wood, real wood, and crafted with obvious care by someone who took pride in his work. The place is crowded and cramped at times, but everyone is a friend there, and even the owner, who takes cash, tells you he’s glad you stopped in and please stop in again.

I had three strips of bacon, two eggs over medium (a little sloppy, though), wheat toast, hash browns for under five dollars ($4.59). Coffee was a dollar nineteen. The meal was unimpressive in itself, but the ambiance was great. I just sort-of sat there and took it all in. Nothing matched. Forks didn’t match spoons. Coffee cups were random this or that. The water pitchers were different colors. Pictures and other things were hung on the wall in not much of an apparent order.

I’ll take some dive like that over a fancy schmancy establishment any day.

Soaring

This evening I was out on the back patio. I noticed a large bird soaring in the air some distance away. I’m no great bird identifier, but think it was probably a hawk of some kind. I watched him as he flew.

He didn’t beat his wings once that I could see in the several minutes that I was watching. He soared, turned, cruised, and generally seemed to be enjoying being alive. At times he almost disappeared, but then turned in some way where I could see him better. I’m sure that some will say that he was looking for food or doing something for his survival; I prefer to think he was just out enjoying the day, grateful to be alive.

So, when do you take time out of your day to soar?

Perspective

Out of our back door, past the patio and our back yard, is a wall of trees and other vegetation. It truly is kind of a wall, because the property was cleared for housing back to kind of a line, then the natural growth was left in the park that abuts our property. There’s also a hiking trail not far into the woods, and we can see and hear people as they travel that trail.

The wall is a rather imposing thing at times. During twilight hours, it stands as a giant shadow, consuming all of the light that would come from that direction. During the day, it prevents me from looking more than just a few feet beyond the border. I hope that in winter, enough leaves will fall that we will be able to see farther into the woods.

That wall of growth has made me think of several things recently. When we walk on the trail, the woods don’t seem nearly as imposing as they do when I look at the wall from the outside. Also, the wall provides protection for the animals that live back there. Deer, turkey, squirrels and other wildlife are regulars, and need the protection that the woods provide.

However, in the last few days, the wall of plant life has served as a reminder that although things may be falling apart in man’s world (financial meltdown, presidential politics, etc), the creation goes on just as it has for ages past, and just as it will for ages to come (should God tarry His second coming). Regardless of what happens on Wall Street, the fish swim in our backyard pond, the deer come to the edge of the woods to graze in the mornings, and the trees continue the photosynthesis process.

It kind of brings things back into perspective.

Earmarks

One of the things that is going around in political circles nowadays is the fact that politicians are all railing against a Congressional practice known as earmarks. For those who may not know, earmarks are defined by different people in different ways. Generally, the definitions that follow are pretty much on target.

One type of earmark, the soft earmark, is the one in which a member of Congress successfully inserts language into a conference committee report or spending bill which urges or recommends that a certain amount of federal money be spent for a specific purpose, usually in his/her home state or district. These are known as soft earmarks because although they do not have the force of law, they are treated as if they do by the agencies having charge of the funds, in order to not rankle members of Congress or have their budgets cut by the Congress in the future.

Hard earmarks are language put into bills or committee reports by members of Congress which direct (not recommend) agencies to appropriate funds in a certain way to certain projects in a certain amount. These earmarks are decreasing in popularity because of relatively recent ethics legislation which requires members of Congress to publicly disclose when they use this process. The soft earmark is not defined by Congress as an earmark; therefore, it is a way to circumvent this disclosure process.

Hard earmarks are not necessarily evil. In fact, under the Constitution, the Congress is required to “pass legislation directing all appropriations of money drawn from the U.S. Treasury.” (Article I, Section 9) (Wikipedia) Congress has the power to direct specific funds to specific projects. In practice, however, in recent times Congress has appropriated a sum of money to an agency and then gives the agency the authority to spend that sum as needed. This essentially gives the Executive branch the final say in how (or whether) the money will be spent. It is understandable that the Executive branch would not take kindly to the Congress taking back that authority (which the Constitution already gives to the Legislative branch).

I think what is happening is a backlash against the so-called soft earmarks; those which escape the scrutiny of ethics legislation and can remain anonymous “requests”. I believe that Gov. Palin, for example, (and as demonstrated by her response to questions in the recent ABC interview) is not against the appropriation of money for specific projects, but rather is against the methods now used (soft earmarks) to do so.

The ethics legislation which brought about the use of soft earmarks (in order to thwart the purpose of the legislation) was enacted early in 2007. It is entirely consistent with Gov. Palin’s actions and statements regarding earmarks that, although she is not opposed to the hard earmarks (remember that the Congress has specific Constitutional authority to use hard earmarks) which benefited her state and community in years past, she is opposed to the thwarting of the intent of the ethics legislation passed last year by the creation and use of soft earmarks. Senator McCain has also made his displeasure well-known on this issue. Our collective misunderstanding of this issue has led us to incorrect conclusions and wrong assumptions.

I have to wonder just how much people pay attention to what is actually being said and what is actually going on in Washington. Additionally, I have to wonder whether people really know what the Constitution provides and allows. I have a much clearer picture of the earmark brouhaha now, and spent only about 15 minutes on-line (yes, I used Wiki, but I also used material from official non-partisan government agencies) finding out the particulars of the issue. If you’ve stayed with me down to this point, you also have a clearer understanding of the issue, and are probably more informed than 98% of the American public.

Courageous Living

Several times these last couple of weeks, I’ve thought about writing on a certain topic, but was always deterred somehow. Now, as I have the time to write, I cannot recall many of those topics that I have thought of in the recent past. Let’s see…maybe I can remember some of them at least enough to give you the general sense of what I’ve been thinking.

Courageous living. I know I’ve talked about that before, but I continue to see example after example of courageous living in the care home where I work. And I see it on the part of staff as well as the residents, who survive each day at a poverty level or near poverty level existence, balancing raising kids with working sometimes two or three jobs and just keeping everything afloat.

These are the people that Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama say they are fighting for and want to help. However, I hold no illusions that either one of them (or anyone else in government, for that matter) really know what’s happening right now to those families. Nor do I hold any illusions that government can be responsive to the needs of these people, even if it does know what is going on.

Because in order to truly know the lives of these people, one has to do more than shake hands and pause for a photo. It takes, I think, a long term relationship with people in their own environment to see the fear, courage, trepidation, hope, promise, and anxiety of these people. And somehow, I don’t see Mr. McCain working at my job in maintenance, unclogging toilets, pulling weeds, and taking out the trash, or Mr. Obama becoming a Certified Nurse Aide, making beds, feeding residents, and cleaning the butts of folks who could be his grandparents.

(Caveat here. In no way do I wish to minimize the service of Mr. McCain and his 5+ years in a prison camp and torture house. He will forever be a hero in my mind, and I will always marvel at his [and others] guts, determination, hope, and endurance during a time when by far the most of us would not even be here to tell about it.)

(Nor do I wish to minimize the service of Mr. Obama during the time when he genuinely tried, I think, to help those in greater need in the Chicago area as a “community organizer”. Such jobs are taken on by few, and even fewer manage to make a real difference.)

(I don’t know enough about the background of Joe Biden to make any statements regarding his service or lack of it.)

Gov. Sarah Palin is about as close as it gets to that kind of thing. And although she has been insulated from some of that for awhile, her family and living situation still present challenges to her and her husband that others also have to face. I think that may be part of the great attraction (or loathing) to her on the part of the nation, and no one seems to get that.

Attraction by those who also have challenges in life and living and see her as a courageous woman with a (mostly) functional family that they would like to emulate and perhaps even be a part of. They know she has “something” that keeps her going, and want to know more about it.

Loathing by those who cannot fathom why someone would deliberately choose to raise a Down’s Syndrome child, who think she is stupid for having a religious viewpoint that includes God in the plans for her and the universe, and who see her as the antithesis of all that their warped and jaded vision of the world is and can be (or not).

This blog started out as a list of those things I’ve been thinking about; as often happens, I got off on a subject and just kept going. Whether or not I continue with the list, I just don’t know. Writing is that way, some times.

What a Time!

In her speech to the Republican convention this week, Governor Palin used the “I” word. I don’t believe I have heard that word uttered by either of the Democratic candidates, or Senator McCain, for that matter. That’s not to say that they have not done so, for I have not heard all of what they have said. It’s just that I have not yet heard it.

In fact, very few politicians dare, I think, use the word because of the awesome responsibility that comes with it.

That word is INTEGRITY.

In her speech, Gov. Palin said, “No one expects us all to agree on everything; but we are expected to govern with integrity, and good will, and clear convictions, and a servant’s heart. And I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as Vice President of the United States.”

Not only did she use the word; she promised to be that person of integrity as the Vice President. That means, according to the dictionary definition, that Gov. Palin has promised a Vice Presidency that is “possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards.”

Many words can be used to describe this kind of behavior. Morality, honesty, truthfulness, honor, reliability, uprightness…all these and more are good descriptions. But to capture the essence, the fundamentality of the thought, I believe the word integrity must be used.

I don’t know who I will vote for come November. I am one of those undecided voters, knowing that things haven’t worked well for the last many years and wondering if I can do anything at all at the polling place to change what I perceive as self-serving, petty politics at the expense of the good of a nation and world.

But I do know that I will continue to search for people who both use this word and demonstrate by their lives that they understand what the word means, and will tend to gravitate toward them even if I don’t agree with them in all issues.

The jury is out on Gov. Palin as to whether or not she is the real deal. She has a couple of months, as do the other candidates, to convince me that she is a person of integrity as she says. This will be an interesting time.

The Heroes

I was watching the Republican convention this evening. Of course, the political far outweighs anything else that might come out of an evening with the Republicans (or the Democrats, for that matter), but one thing grabbed at me.

I watched the C-SPAN version of the convention, meaning there was no commentary and the television showed the minor speakers before the heavyweights came on later on. One of those speakers was a former Viet Nam POW.

As part of his short time on the podium, he introduced the sister and two buddies of a Navy SEAL who had given his life in Iraq by falling on a grenade, thus saving the lives of many others. For that act, he was given the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

The speaker then introduced five men who were at the convention (as special guests, no doubt) who were Medal of Honor winners and had them stand and be recognized. He then introduced twelve (I think that number is correct) men who were fellow POW’s along with himself and Senator McCain and asked them to stand and be recognized.

Let’s be honest and real here. Most of us have no idea. We haven’t a clue. We cannot possibly relate. Intentionally fall on a grenade? Serve 5 years as a POW in sub-human conditions? Be awarded the Medal of Honor? These men, ordinary human beings, each did something that was so extraordinary as to rise to the level of something almost not human.

Yet if you call any of these men heroes, each one to a man will tell you that the real heroes are the ones that never came back alive. (I don’t have to actually ask them. I’ve heard that from the heroes of Iwo Jima for many years, now, having attended several reunions. I have no doubt that these men would say the same thing.) The real hero in the group that was introduced, according to them, was the young man who fell on the grenade. They were just doing their job…doing their duty…doing what they were asked to do.

I complain about the price of gasoline, about the weather, and about my ailments that sometimes keep me up at night. I wonder if work tomorrow will be a good day or a not so good day. I look forward to the weekend, and enjoy the niceties of brewed coffee, a larger-than-life house, and the companionship of a great wife. My kids and grandkids are blessings in abundance.

Two worlds; two experiences. And in a chosen few, those worlds and experiences come together in the lives of men and women who are indeed the extraordinary...the courageous…the heroes.