Poem: Making Room

First, God issued me a soul,
And yelled to the drummers
"Let it roll!"

And down down down I went
Within hours, my twig was bent.
Within years, I'd be paying rent.

For what it was worth,
I crowned on earth
And was showing signs

Of showing signs
So they checked to see
If my eyes aligned.

Before I was allowed to bloom,
They had to fill another tomb.
Out with the bad

And in with the good,
They had to make room.
I understood.
---o0o---

[Revised from a poem originally published in 1982. The poem first appeared in Scape Magazine, New York City, 1982]

Rumsfeld, reacting to resignation pressure threatens to expose drug use, sex, and corruption in White House

During an informal talk with the press Thursday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld made a veiled threat to the White House to back off on calls for his resignation. Two more retired U.S. generals called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign on Thursday, claiming the architect of the U.S. war strategy in Iraq should be held accountable for the chaos enveloping Iraq. A total of six retired generals have now called for Rumsfeld to step down.

"I don't know where this f***ing s**t is all coming from. How high up? You know you've got to watch your back around this town, " the Secretary told reporters. "For all I know, these Generals were put up to this by some overzealous, coked up mid-level staffers. "

"Maybe not," he said, responding to a question from Phil Ronson of the Mutual News Syndicate, "but someone up there had a hand in this. You can bet your ass it's not coming from the Pentagon. Try Foggy Bottom or The White House."

The Secretary continued, "Whoever is responsble for these generals holding forth, well, maybe they just don't know who they're f***ing with!"

Later in the conversation, the Secretary mused "Do you know how many skeletons I could rattle around here, with the parties and dope. . .the escort services, kiddie porn, wife swapping, the bondage crap? There was even a snuff movie making the rounds. Not to mention people with their hands in the till. If this s**t doesn't stop right now, it'll be a green light for me to tell everything I know. And it doesn't end with quote, high officials, unquote. It goes right to the top. But let's drop the subject. I've probably already said too much for now. "

When pressed, the Secretary declined to elaborate on his stunning allegations. "Believe me, you'll all know when the time comes. If it comes to that, you'll won't find me going 'gentle into the good night.' I don't know who put these generals up to this," he said, "but I will."

White House officials have previously leaked stories (wishful thinking?, a message?) claiming that Rumsfeld would leave the Admininstration in early 2006 (see December 8, 2005 All This Is That). The White House has recently and frequently been forced to defend a man who has been a lightning rod for criticism over the Iraq war--the same war that is largely responsible for President Bush's plummeting approval ratings.

Other recent articles about Sectary Rumsfeld appearing in All This Is That:

Five new Rumsfeld Poems
Poem: Clarity By Donald Rumsfeld
Poem: Those Glass Boxes By Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The Poetry Of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part 3::::::That's Life
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VI:::::Predicting The Future
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VIII::::::Litany: What I Don't Do
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld IX::::::Accuracy
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld X:::::::::Where Is Osama bin Laden?
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XI:::::::::Existence, Evidence, Absence
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIV::::::::The Unknown
New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing
---o0o---

Painting: Ungawa

click painting to enlarge

This is a painting/mixed media piece I did a couple years ago.

This piece is an acrylic on interlocking pine panels (an old chest lid), with a taixidermy glass eye, a vintage saw blade, a chrome drawer pull. a Russian military button, a 50's thunderbolt car ornament, a Red Cross medallion, a 'boneless' meat sticker, two black glass drawer pulls (the eyes), a Vietnamese instruction sheet, and an old steel "owner will maintain" sign.

The title comes from one of the only jokes I know by heart. It resides in my office at work. . . ---o0o---

The Sparrow Pecking At My Window

A couple of sparrows live in the spruce tree right outside my office window. Ten or twenty times a day, the male comes over, flies up and down the window and lights on the ledge, where he pecks at the window for a few seconds and flies away. If I move over close to the window, he flies away. I wonder if he wants in? Is he curious about the guy in the glass with the TV sets and computers blazing away? I can't get a very good picture, but I'll keep trying... /jack
---o0o---

Poem: Changes Eight/Holding Together

1
We could hold together,
Like the water
Covering this sweet green sphere,

And eventually become
A beige world of one purpose
On the road of love,

With no jihads or wars,
Klans or factions,
Bombs or bullets,

With no corporations or landlords,
Parties or armies,
Walls or fences.

2
There is one ocean
With seven names
And into this ocean,

Sooner or later, flows
Every river, creek, and tear,
Every lake, bay, and lagoon.

Every spring and aquifer,
Every pond and swamp,
Every snowflake and raindrop.

But to coalesce people
You need a nucleus,
A leader

With greatness of spirit, love,
Consistency, and strength.
Let he or she who wishes to gather others

Under their wing ask themselves
If they are equal to the undertaking
With no natural laws creating a union.

3
The door is locked.
You jiggle the knob.
The door eases open.

4
Water fills up
The empty places on the earth
And clings fast to it

In a way we can never
Cling to each other.
Water flows to unite with water

Because the laws of nature
Will not be broken.
Selah.
---o0o---

Cindy Sheen picks up the cudgel again

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan is returning to Crawford, Texas for another war protest near President Bush's ranch (The Prez, however, will spend the weekend at Camp David).

The anti-war demonstrators with Sheehan accuse The President, who has spent every Easter at his Crawford ranch since he was elected, of running from them and their message to bring the U.S. troops home from Iraq immediately.

"We chased him away from his ranch," said Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.
---o0o---

President George Bush 'channels' Adolph Hitler during Iowa speech (includes audio clip)

In a bizarre incident in Des Moines, Iowa yesterday, President George Bush began channeling Adolph Hitler during an afternoon speech on Medicare. Five minutes into the speech, The President faltered, appearing momentarily confused while reading from the TelePrompTer[tm] and slipped into a German accent, haranguing the crowd with angry invective. After approximately thirty seconds, The President resumed his prepared remarks, and concluded his speech three minutes later.

Stunned aides rushed The President from the stage into waiting cars. Two speeches scheduled for later in the day were cancelled.
---o0o---

Happy Belated Birthday, Buddha!

Photo of painting of Gautama Buddha's first
sermon at the Deer Park - Click the painting
to enlarge

Buddhists celebrate April 8 as the birthday of Gautama Buddha; he was born in 563 B.C. as Prince Siddhartha, the son of the king of the Sakya people.

The prince, it was predicted, would either become a great world monarch or a Buddha--an uber-enlightened teacher. The Brahmans told his father, King Suddhodana, that Siddhartha would become a ruler if he were kept isolated from the outside world.

Siddhartha was brought up in great luxury, and married and fathered a son. But, at age 29, he decided to see more of the world and began excursions off the palace grounds in his chariot.

On his clandestine trips, he saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. The prince had been so cloistered that his charioteer had to explain to him about age, illness, and death. Finally, on one of his trips Siddhartha saw a monk and was so impressed that he left the palace and became a wandering ascetic, and The Buddha.
---o0o---

President Bush's approval ratings plunge deep into the toilet bowl

Political reversals, more bad news from Iraq, and the generally pathetic vibe emanating from the White House have dragged President Bush's standing even further into the toilet. The Republican congress fares no better in the popularity wars. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 38 percent of the public approve of the job Bush is doing, down three percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling since he assumed office. A third of registered voters approve of the way the Republican-led Congress is doing its job -- their lowest level of support in nine years. They're sucking even worse than POTUS!



The numbers over recent months seem to show that the plummeting GOP approval ratings are not just an anomaly, or as the Post put it "a patch of bad luck." It is a fundamental reaction against the GOP dominated Congress and Administration. And it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.
---o0o---

"50,000 boots on the ground in Iran by June"

As you have probably read this weekend, the buzz is building around a story by Seymour Hersh in the April 17 New Yorker that the U.S. is planning a military strike on Iran because of its nuclear ambitions. According to reports by the Washington Post, members of the U.S. military now believe President Bush is leaning toward a "regime change" in Iran as the best way to end Iran's nuclear development. The Bush administration, Hersh writes, has "increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack," including the use of nuclear, bunker-busting bombs. A senior official quoted in the New Yorker, says The President views Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "potential Adolph Hitler."

A caller to Seattle's KIRO 710 on Sunday afternoon--calling from a local Air Force Base--claimed to Frank Shiers that he had seen comprehensive plans for an invasion of Iran, and that within a month and a half "we will have 50,000 boots and full support on the ground in Iran, ready to go." The guy didn't sound like a nutjob. . .but if he isn't, The White House is more dangerously unstable than we'd thought in our wildest dreams. Yes, the story sounds completely insane, and even in this Administration, would hit the high water mark for delusion and perfidy.
---o0o---

Updated index to Jack Brummet poems on All This Is That

Changes Seven/The Army
Changes Six/Conflict
Changes Five/The waiting
Changes Four/The Young Shoot
Changes Three/Trouble Ahead
Changes Two/The Receptive
Changes One/Action
The revolt in heaven
Found Poem: The Richmond Hill Oracle
Poem (and painting): The Robot Wars
I don't believe
I'm here
Ten ways of looking at lies
The Broken Chord
With our heads in the sand during the transit and eclipse
the sun plays its red song
Litany
Poem: The Developers
A raindrop's life
The mystery of the first amendment to the Ten Commandments
The Bay Of Delusion
Mad Song
Reasons To Keep On
Conspiracy Theory
The Moon Race
Mr. Flue's Grave In Hillcrest Cemetary, Kent, Wash.
The World Seems Especially Calming And Verisimilitudinous Today
Kent, Washington
Rollover
[It's the Lee Harvey Oswald smile]
Zombie Breakdown
Heaven
The Variations
You Rehearse Dying
Sonnet For Hari
Defensive Daydreaming
The Dream
Dogpaddling
The Prostethic Head & The Absence Of Blood
Tetuan - "No Paranoia, My Friend"
The Grey Visitors & Painting: The Grey Ambassador
The Bad Movie
The Bucket
The Man In The Mirror
Liftoff
Optimism Perspective
A Flight Of Swallows
Audioblog - The Prevaricator
Weather Report
Your Wooden Leg
The Revelations
Sermon At The First Church Of The Mojo Apocalypse
Dosvidaniya, Ivan Ivanovitch
The Late Excavation (Text And Audio)
Jack Kerouac, Meet John Barleycorn
The Gideon Bible In My Nightstand
At The Acropolis
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
The sous-chef is a sociopath]
James Wright
Falling
[Life Is Not A Hardy Novel]
Seven
Coyote Comes Home Like A Salmon
Shorts For Jerry Melin ca. about 1988
Bird
Monism
The Golden Rule
The Countdown
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
AT HILLCREST CEMETARY IN KENT, WASHINGTON, I WALK BY THE GRAVE OF SAM THE GRASSEATER
Notes On Flying
Daybreak
Explosions
Not Past Tense Yet
the glass is not half-full
It's Getting Crowded Here
Li Po In Disgrace
The Clock
A Love Song
Bad Timing
The Killer
The Absence of Footprints
Growing Up
Gone Fishing
The M.D.s A Poem -
Acrylic
The Marriage
Driving Home To Seattle, We Watch Deer Drinking from the Skookumchuck River

Poem: Changes Seven/The Army

War develops
Like a toothache,

The caries slowly and inexorably
Gaining ground,

Until the cavity
Dominates the tooth,

Until war itself
Becomes more important

Than the reasons
For which the war is fought.

The power of the people
Is hidden in the masses

Until every poor boy
Becomes a warrior

Under an iron man
With iron fists at the top.

When the war ends
There is no victory.

The win goes to those
Who lost least

And every shucked poor boy
Goes home to his plow or factory.

The king bestows medals and ribbons
On the officers

And divides the swag
Among those who need it the least,

Want it the most,
And stop at nothing

To replenish the coffers
With the spoils of victory.
---o0o---