Tuning Fork
Strike and resound
A single perfect note
Against which
Our poor play is practiced.
The texts are ancient
Thoughts in a case
Replaced by the
Younger and fresher.
This tuning fork
Centuries old.
Bring me a gadget
A gizmo
To give me my pitch.
Ah but
The warm simple beauty
Of the vibrating metal
Is the practice
Before the practice.
Terrible jobs can have their rewards. In the case of supporting political candidates, it’s some combination of money, power, friendship or being a true believer.
Even with those possible rewards, you have to think that defending, excusing, explaining or just talking about some of the things that Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump do or say, or have done or have said, has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. So to those who have taken on that job, we can only guess what you go through, and we hope it’s worth it.
Fallen Petal
Petals
The petals have
Begun to fall
This one still
Moist and colorful
Soon dry and brown.
At first
Mindlessly discarded
Now retrieved.
The stems
Will be bare.
What then?
Reason
Reason
as solid
as a rock.
Clinging to it
in the middle
of the ocean.
When I look to friends, colleagues and mentors who have taught and influenced me, I see in many of them a happy and helpful balance of reason and spirit. I thank them, and recommend having such people in your life.
This may be what I might want others to say of me, that I neither abandoned reason nor clung to it too tightly.
A message to candidates and voters from the Tao Te Ching. It is the first line of chapter 60, in various translations. Please read and feel free to interpret as you like. Comments are welcome.
If I were moderating a presidential debate, I would simply recite this line and ask Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump what this means to them. What illuminating fun that would be.
Govern a nation as you would fry a small fish.
Directing the flow of affairs of a large country
Is like cooking a small fresh fish.
Govern great nations
like frying small fish.
Ruling a large country is like cooking a small fish.
Hip-hop may be the most influential cultural movement of the past few decades. It is certainly the basis for the most popular and prevalent global music of the century so far.
Listen to it, like it, love it or loathe it, it is complex art. Among its elements is a brutal honesty, not only about conditions in life and the world, but about personal behavior and attitudes. And some of those behaviors and attitudes can reflect self-centeredness, narcissism, and an embrace of materialism and success, all of it verging on a very aggressive artistic id set free. Others will analyze the source of this, but there it is.
Here’s the irony, or maybe not ironic at all.
The above describes Donald Trump perfectly. Word for word, behavior for attitude, id for id.
Which suggests that Donald Trump, unknown to all of us, is one of the great hip-hop artists of the age. Even his talks are more like raps than speeches. That is not meant to reflect badly on hip-hop. Just an observation, contributing to answering the question of how this is happening.
So if Bill Clinton was the first black President (wrong; sorry Toni Morrison), maybe Donald Trump will be the first hip-hop President. Just don’t tell his supporters.
These words from Verse 80 of the Tao Te Ching could come from the Wizard of Oz:
let there be another state so near
people hear its dogs and chickens
but live out their lives
without making a visit
In other words, there is no place like home.
The force of exploration, discovery and progress is strong with us. This post, for example, is drafted on an amazing digital device, edited on another amazing digital device, and published on an amazing global network. Moving house and traveling are easier and more convenient than ever. So many modern tools. So big a world.
Verse 80 proposes a different view. Labor-saving tools not used. Boats and carts not ridden. Knots used to communicate (a pre-writing system). Pleased and content with clothing and goods. You may think that this is regress, the opposite of progress. But is it? In your heart, is that what you believe?
Imagine a small state with a small population
let there be labor-saving tools
that aren’t used
let people consider death
and not move far
let there be boats and carts
but no reason to ride them
let there be armor and weapons
but no reason to employ them
let people return to the use of knots
and be satisfied with their food
and pleased with their clothing
and content with their homes
and happy with their customs
let there be another state so near
people hear its dogs and chickens
but live out their lives
without making a visit
Lao-tzu’s Taoteching, translated by Red Pine
Magic
Magic
must be
real.
It’s #LaborDay. My Grandpa Harry was a member of the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU). He made beautiful coats. I still keep one of his union dues cards among my treasures.
All this talk about “Made in America” is incomplete. If we want things made in America, instead of all the other countries most of us buy most of our stuff from, we will pay a price. Unless we are planning to pay American workers the substandard wages of many of our import nations, we have to be willing to pay more for our goods. Are we willing? Are you willing?
Meanwhile, here’s the once famous song of the ILGWU. Maybe it can be famous again.
Look for the Union Label
Look for the union label
when you are buying that coat, dress or blouse.
Remember somewhere our union’s sewing,
our wages going to feed the kids, and run the house.
We work hard, but who’s complaining?
Thanks to the I.L.G. we’re paying our way!
So always look for the union label,
it says we’re able to make it in the U.S.A.!
And view this ILGWU singing ad from 1978.
Happy Labor Day.
1
Prayer Rope
Prayer rope
Strung with knots
To count
But not
To untie.
2
Knots
Cut off
The knots
You can’t untie
But keep them.
Bob Schwartz 