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Politics

PeoplePolitics

In Honor of Maya

by Deb Strafuss
I wrote this in the summer of 2010. It is the right time to share it, as Maya was its inspiration…. God bless the lighted souls who share their spirits with us here. Maya was one such soul, lit by the tears of grief and fear, deepened by the experiences of life to a vibration of soul that resonated deeply with many. She played us like orchestral strings with her words. We thank her for being here.

Summer Dreams

I wish a poet laureate to be

with some sweet form of melody

ringing from the heart unstressed

through aught within

unstopped, expressed

Flowing through – unfiltered, clean

the pure images of what is seen

felt and throught – spoken and taught

named and nameless deeds been wrought

I wish a poet laureate to be                                                                                    

A clear, sparkling mirror

of reality!

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NaturePolitics

Hope Blossoms

by Deb Strafuss
Yellow tulipsOne Lilly
9-11 memorial Boston Garden
My husband got a new shortwave radio for his birthday recently; he has been connecting to his world through shortwave – a delightful process of hearing the languages and accents of the world he lives in describe their own experiences in their own way, at their own times. I often wake in the small hours of the morning and find him guiltily up in the living room with the earphones on catching radio Japan.
 
As such, he has become a new and vibrant source of first hand world information. It is not all what it is reported to be as filtered and reconstituted through our American reporting system.
 
For instance, only the Japanese will report that three hundred yards from the shore of the devastation of the January tsunami in Japan, a single cherry tree blooms as Japan’s spring will not be denied. Cherry blossom time in Japan is symbolic of healing and rebirth. The first hand remarks of radio Japan as it shares its visions of healing are undeniably catching. The hope of this stoic nation and the world watch as these delicate blossoms live their tender short lives out in beauty and fragility against the backdrop of destruction and the threatening doom of radioactive forces beyond our control; reminding us that not all forces beyond our control or complete understanding are bent upon our destruction, and that beauty has more force and power than we credit it with.
 
Thousands of miles away, in the midst of terrifying, destructive, deadly storms of sudden and seemingly uncontrollable rage, here in the heartland of America, a young man is sucked up from his home and before our virtual computerized eyes is taken to Oz and gently returned without a scratch, to walk home and hug his parents. And we are once again amazed, confused, awed and humbled in our obvious ignorance of the benignity of the violence of nature; how it interacts with us and how it walks with us upon this planet- how we live in and with it’s energies.
 
This week, my husband strolled among the Boston Gardens, recording the bursting of our surprising spring upon a wintered and sanded and salted landscape that would seem, two months ago, never to have held the capacity for the tenderness of fragile new growth again.
 
Just two days before, the world had been told that the the human tsunami, the terrifying cyclone of September 11th, Osama Bin Laden, had passed from the face of our earth, that his energy had been dissipated, that the forces of destruction and terror have passed through us like water and wind, leaving their mark, taking their toll, and causing us to wonder if there is a rising from such pain. As my husband walked the Boston Gardens, he came upon the 9-11 memorial with the names of the Massachusetts victims engraved upon it, and a single cherry tree in blossom standing in solitary eloquence beside it….
Red TulipsChildren playing
9-11 Close up
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NaturePolitics

April’s Fools

by Deb Strafuss
Spring Flag in Snow April fools us,

only us

blowing through her place

She knows –

She knows

Only she can come and go

as she pleases.

Aligned with some great global harmony

she reflects back to us scenes and truths

we cannot read

about our world today,

foretells the paths we’re on

reflecting them

As she’s come and gone.

 

If we could but read her lines,

interpret her signs

Understand our Times

hear her song

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Politics

Democracy, not theocracy

by Deb Strafuss

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo….

Which way now does Egypt go?

So many choices, options glow

with promises gleaming,

Now they’re free to pick a  prize

Which sparkly one before their eyes

Seems really really really nice…..

Only a clear, deliberate plan will keep this country moving toward its goal of freedom and self expression.

There are way too many sparkly, enticing ideas and options to try out along the way, temptations to put one group in charge, take charge where things are lax,  let the people go home

The real work happens now. What idea rules a country?

What is the vision. How is it accomplished?

The world has not suffered much success with forms of theocracy. Unfortunately for human nature, when we get all worked up about an idea we tend to become exclusive, close minded and arbitrary – none of which leads to good governing. People are either suppressed or freed. Religions by definition demand ideological allegiance. Belief. A dictatorship of ideas. Democracies demand personal responsibility.  Belief systems put rules in place, fostering resistance and oppression. Democracy creates a forum for many voices and the need to resolve differences peacefully. Within the bounds of democracy, many beliefs can flourish. Within the bounds of a religious group, time and again, only one belief is tolerated.

Democracy, or theocracy….

Which will the choice be……

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NaturePolitics

On Japan and the Gulf Spill and other Catastrophes and Global Events…

by Deb Strafuss
Springs of Weeping…..

Green and seeping
Blood from the earth springs true
Oozing and leaking, gushing and bursting
Pushing and slipping through
All the cracks in time
Of containments refined
By the limited sight of the blind 
How powerless really are we
No matter what might we seem
To hold
Shaking and waving our hands
Like ancient warrior bands
We troop through the world unknown
In jungles of forces and powers
Surrounded by gales of thunderous tales
And energies we cannot harness
Affrighted each time they arise
And expose our limited eye
Push us effortlessly aside to die
Like bugs on a rotting tree…
Until we can assume our place
As part, not ruler, of this space
Each time they speak, pour out release
We will be chased away…
Somehow, in the turnings of spring we find – great joy and sorrow combined. Mother Nature in some agony of birth aborts us off the ground and reminds us of our place and power – that we walk the surface of her bower, understanding from a limited view, the sky, earth, sea, and where we’re going to. An exercise in humility, reminding us once again of the great powers we live in and among and around. Inspiring fear and awe and wonder at the universe in which we are bound.
Obviously, I cannot speak without giving you poetry, but I trust you have heard my words – and better yet, their spirit.
Weep with me over the pain of the earth, weep with me over the pain of our losses and the horror of realizing our insignificance.
Joy with me over the wonders of what we can accomplish working together.
Intend with me that we learn and gain from the costs paid for us by others….
And keep a watchful heart upon the peoples and earth of Japan.
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PeoplePolitics

Aung San Suu Kyi

by Deb Strafuss

It is National Women’s History Month

I did not even know one existed until I was asked to participate

Here I honor not women who have made history, but women who are making history.

Nationally – internationally – those who live for it, and those who have died for it. The political leaders of countries we would count  as less feministically advanced than us, yet whose heroes are female political leaders who have sacrificed their families and their lives for their countries…

Aung San Suu Kyi – you will not hear as much about her as you will Nelson Mandela

Yet she has paid her nation’s price in 18 years of imprisonment, separated from her two sons and husband, to stand for democracy and freedom in Burma

Why is democracy and freedom in Burma of any importance to us snuggled here in the states??

Because what enlarges one enlarges the world, and what diminishes one, diminishes the world.

Whether we know it or not, feel it or not, see it or not, believe it or not….

We are connected…………………….

Here’s to the courage of woman – as brave and as strong and as free

as any of man that would see or be

spirit is the same

it knows not face or name

nor race

nor sex

nor anything in between

It simply is what it seems

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Politics

Celebration and Deliberation

by Deb Strafuss

Joy, celebration, and the clear after effects of revolution.

What are we building…?

Where are we going?

What is our next course…

The consequences of victory are:

A new Beginning.

Once again, we watch, wait, hope and stand with the Egyptian people as they move to deliberation, formation and re-construction.

This people have taken back their power, proving once again, that expression, not oppression, is the key to governance. Every where in the world, and to the degree that it is restricted or denied, self expression pushes back. A people must be free to express their diversity. Strength and survival rely upon our ability to create and innovate. When those energies are restricted, a time bomb is in place. The human spirit must express and create, or its energies will turn to hate….

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PeoplePolitics

Cry of the people

by Deb Strafuss

It is so hard, from such a distance and from the outside, to see or judge clearly – to make gray areas black and white – yet the voice of the people raised in Egypt reminds me of one raised many thousands of years ago in the same place by the Hebrew people enslaved there….”Let my People Go”…

Are we standing on the edge of witnessing, once again, the profound power of the people to claim their freedom? Will we see a

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Politics

Egypt

by Deb Strafuss

Today I am sad.

You notice that the demonstrations in Egypt did not become violent and dangerous until the “pro-Mubarak” supporters appeared….after the people would not leave upon hearing Mubarak’s “concession” not to run for re-election, but also, not to step down right away…. pointing most clearly to the president’s supporters as being paid agitators, which any reasoning individual would surmise after today’s exhibition. 

On a viewer ratings scale, a peaceful demonstration gets old pretty fast. 

Today, we must have our excitement, our violence. Once again, we have provided, not news, not a real event of honest people and their lives, but entertainment…..

Once again we crave excitement
Something fine and violent to watch
Something raising our adrenals
Like a new intoxication
Leading deep into addiction

We must have our blazing fury
conflict, violence and confusion
Even our heroes are framed
In confrontational effusion

Losing peaceful resolution
Neath the waves of emotional contusion…
Stirred  by what makes news today….

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