We got home from the desert last night. I didn't want to leave.

After getting home, I found out that on Wednesday, a man took six girls hostage in a high school in Bailey, a small mountain town outside of Denver, killing one of the girls and himself before it was over. Looking through the Denver Post website today, I found a photo of a sign created by the Platte Canyon Chamber of Commerce. The sign says "God Bless Emily Keyes".

I feel sad for Emily's family. I can't imagine the grief that they are experiencing right now. We don't think that sending our kids to school can result in terror and murder. It tears my gut up to think of having my daughter taken in such a way - in any way. Yes, may God Bless Emily Keyes, and her family, and the community, and our world.

What troubles me, though, is the same thing that troubled me when the murders at Columbine happened. It's one of the things that bothers me about the war in Iraq.

After the Columbine shootings, 15 crosses were set up - one for every "victim" and one for each of the "perpetrators". After a short time, the two crosses that stood for the "murderers" were removed. The shooters were demonized and anger flew. I understand the anger. I don't understand why the shooters didn't deserve as much compassion as the people who died along with them. Why does someone whose life was haunted deserve less from us than someone who lived a happy life? Don't the haunted need even more love and compassion?

So, I say may God bless you, Duane Morrison, Dylan Klebold, and Eric Harris. From what I have read, you lived with a lot of pain and anger. May you now be free from such suffering.

Sandstone arms open to greet
us as we find our way
Hot desert sun
Red earth baking
Stillness

Familiarity is here, yes
the feel, boulders as big as houses,
grandmother juniper

But you are not the desert
who last held me
Tears and rains have washed you
creating lines and creases where
there were none
the last time I caressed your skin

Uncompromising currents of life
must have roared one night
in what I imagine to be
a catharsis of rage,
play and orgasm
turning old walked roads and
enveloping laps of sand
into a newly ordered chaos
and leaving grandmother's roots unearthed

You are changed and I am reminded
that you were not really
what I saw the first time
and you are not
what I see now

Neither am I

You are
I am
we are

all

changing moments in the storm

"If there were no wars in the world, the U.S. economy would not prosper. Therefore, there must not be any more prosperity in the United States, if the world's poor are to prosper."
- Rigoberta Menchu, from John Dear's article, A Weekend With Nobel Peace Laureates

According to iCasualties.org, 2700 U.S. soldiers have now died in the occupation of Iraq. We have had more troops die from our war on terror than the number of citizens who died on 9/11/01.

I usually fast for 36 hours on the day that the number of fatalities from this atrocious war tips over another 100 mark, but my fast will wait a couple of days and will take place while I am in the desert.

I won't be writing for the next week, because we will be soaking up the desert's energy for awhile.

If bin Laden did actually die of typhoid in Pakistan, does that mean that we can stop killing people now?

"Where he is the most fearless is that he let us see who he really was ... and that's being brave in today's society."

~ Kevin Costner on the death of Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter)

(thanks to Michael)

Iran: Calls for Dialogue with the United States
9/21/2006
By David Culp, FCNL's Quaker Nuclear Disarmament Program

"We believe the production or use of nuclear weapons is immoral."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Hours after he spoke to the United Nations, the Iranian president made this clear, unequivocal statement to a group of us during a private meeting in New York. The Mennonite Central Committee organized an extraordinary, private session for about 50 people to dialogue with President Ahmadinejad about the escalating crisis between the U.S. and Iran.

I left the hour-long meeting convinced, as did many, if not all, of my colleagues, that the Iranian leader is a deeply religious person who approaches the issue of nuclear weapons from a moral perspective. The Iranian leader expressed great interest in establishing a dialogue with the religious community in the United States, and he explained that he views Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as three co-equal religions.

Of course, I suspect that all of the people in this meeting had many areas where we probably disagree with the policies of the Iranian government. For instance, FCNL is concerned about political prisoners in Iran, religious tolerance, and Iran's position on Israel. We also were aware that the Iranian president met with us as part of his effort to defuse the looming crisis between the Iranian government and the international community over Iran's nuclear energy program.

But I've been a lobbyist working for the abolition of nuclear weapons for more than a decade, and I've talked about these issues with a lot of people. Ahmadinejad impressed me as someone who had thought about these issues a lot. He's a former engineer, who is thinking through the arguments from a number of different perspectives.

For instance, although he starts any discussion by saying that nuclear weapons are immoral, Ahmadinejad also reminded us that the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, which didn't prevent their government from collapsing. He added that, during Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iraq's alliance with a country with nuclear weapons (presumably he was referring to the United States) didn't have any impact on the war. He convinced me that Iran is not interested in developing nuclear weapons.

Iran is interested in developing nuclear energy. As a former engineer, he believes that nuclear fuel is the cleanest fuel there is and he explained that this energy source is critical for the future development of his country. And Ahmadinejad bristles at suggestions that the United States or anyone else would try to dictate how his country pursued its energy needs.

But how do we get beyond the current impasse, we asked him? Ahmadinejad suggested that the UN's Committee on Disarmament, based in Geneva, might be one forum where these discussions should take place. He then offered a proposal: Iran will open all of its nuclear facilities to inspections, if the United States will also open its facilities to inspections. Neither Iran nor the U.S. have implemented the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that includes additional inspections, although we at FCNL believe both countries should do so. He added that the United States should refrain from building so-called second or third generation nuclear weapons.

Now, I'm not endorsing Iran's proposals or even arguing this is the only path to peace. And, in our meeting in New York on Wednesday, the Iranian president made other comments that I found deeply troubling. In particular, I was struck by his comments about the Holocaust. He did not deny the Holocaust, but he still conveyed a view that the matter is debatable. In these comments he sounded a lot like politicians in the U.S. Congress who deny that global warming is a fact, even though there is a significant body of evidence that cannot be denied.

But when he spoke about issues that I cover, the nuclear weapons issues, what struck me is that the Iranian president was offering a reasonable basis for real negotiations. Since Ahmadinejad took office, Iran has been backing away from permitting full inspections of its nuclear program. But I think this is a bargaining stance to start negotiations. Iran wants to have full rights for civilian nuclear energy, including nuclear enrichment. Iranian leaders also want some kind of assurance that the United States will not bomb their country.

The day I left Washington to go to New York for this meeting, I attended a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The contrast was striking. Nicholas Burns, the number three official at the State Department, spent most of that hearing lobbing what I can only describe as rhetorical hand grenades at Iran. In his first State of the Union address, President Bush described Iran as part of the "axis of evil." That's still the approach of some in the U.S. government.

But what is even more striking is the pride U.S. officials take in insisting they will not even talk to Iran. Nicholas Burns, in his testimony this week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made a point of saying he has never met with an Iranian government official. Now here is a man who has been part of the U.S. foreign service for decades, and he made a point of pride that he had never met with any Iranian official. If the U.S. continues to insist that no dialogue is possible with Iran, then war is the likely alternative.

War is not the answer.

Three vigilers from our Women in Black group traveled into Denver today to stand in solidarity with the downtown group on this International Day of Peace. Before the war began, I stood with the downtown group, because I was taking an art class nearby on Thursdays, so I could feed two birds with one pile of birdseed, but once the class was done, driving into downtown Denver during rush hour and using up gas for the sole purpose of standing for an hour just hasn't made sense.

The flavors are different in downtown - much more foot traffic and more variety of people and vehicles (99% of the vehicles in Denver are not SUV's, like they are in the burbs).

Today, I noticed a big difference in the responses of the drivers compared to pre-war vigiling there. During the build-up to the war, we experienced a lot of support and a good chunk of opposition. People now are much more subdued, and we received less attention. Kinda like the burbs. Here I thought it was something about the people out here, but it appears to me that many people have given up and gone back to the issues that are in their faces, since the occupation of Iraq doesn't affect them directly, and they don't want to be constantly reminded of it.

Tonight, I am tired, and wishing that I could be one of those people who just watched television, had fun, and didn't know or care about what our country is doing.

But I can't do that.

George Monbiot, on Common Dreams, says "If the biosphere is ruined it will be done by people who know that emissions must be cut - but refuse to alter the way they live...
...So we all deceive ourselves and deceive each other about the change that needs to take place. The middle classes think they have gone green because they buy organic cotton pyjamas and handmade soaps with bits of leaf in them - though they still heat their conservatories and retain their holiday homes in Croatia.

But my favorite quote from his article is "Do you really want to stop climate chaos, or do you just want to feel better about yourself?"

I think that is an awesome question, not just for people who want to stop "climate chaos", but for anyone doing anything to try to help our planet and its inhabitants. How much of what we do is related to our egos, to feeling better about ourselves so that we can continue doing what is ultimately destructive behavior?

A lot of harm can be done with the wrong intention.



Learn about false environmental claims made by corporations here.
Read about George Monbiot's fascinating life here.

Today is the International Day of Peace. Wouldn't it be amazing if all violence could stop for one day? Isn't it amazing that one would think that one day without violence would be an amazing thing?

For today, here's Yusaf Islam (Cat Stevens) singing a more recent version of Peace Train (thanks to Judy):

Thank you to Ann Wright, Geoff Millard, and others who were arrested while doing civil disobedience outside the U.N. while W was continuing to ruin the reputation of our country. Two of the protesters need some big-time support. You can read the whole story at WorldCantWait.net:

From their site:

Father Luis Barrios, a respected Episcopal priest, a tenured professor, columnist in El Diario, and long-time activist for social justice, was arrested yesterday in front of the United Nations. He was held all night, and charged with 2nd degree assault, because a police officer says Father Barrios touched him. Footage of Father Barrios being pushed to the ground by police was run all last evening. Father Barrios today says "we did the right thing" in protesting, and to everyone: "The World Can't Wait!" These outrageous charges must be dropped. We'll tell you soon how you can be involved.

Geoff Mallard, a disabled Iraq war vet, was charged with resisting arrest went he fell down trying to board the police wagon.

These outrageous charges must be dropped. We'll tell you soon how you can be involved.

For now, we urge people to continue to call in to demand the charges be dropped against the two protesters.
Mayor Bloomberg: PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 788-2460
E-MAIL: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
Police Commissioner: Raymond W. Kelly; NYPD
Switchboard: 646-610-5000

Meanwhile, last week, W said " he could not send thousands of troops into Pakistan to search for bin Laden without an invitation from the government. 'Pakistan's a sovereign nation,' Bush said (Carol here, wondering... were Afghanistan and Iraq soveriegn nations when we attacked them?).

Yesterday, he said "he would order military action inside Pakistan if intelligence indicated that Osama bin Laden or other top terror leaders were hiding there. 'Absolutely,' Bush said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer."

This man scares me.

Oh, and I thought that W was doing some damaging work in this world. Well, he is. And so are the people leading Jesus Camp

It tears me apart to see beautiful little creatures being harmed in this way. They are too young to know that they are being brainwashed. They are not yet able to make these choices. We need to be teaching our youth how to love, get along with others, and most of all, think for themselves.

I was in a cult when I was in my late teens/early 20's. It took years to heal from it. I feel like throwing up right now.

As Nathan at Michael's work said about the above video:

I think someone tried this once in Germany a few decades ago . . . Yeah I'm pretty sure I've seen film about young, blonde boys and girls worshiping some guy - going through some type of righteous indignation training of some sort . . . . I don't remember how it ended though . . .

I think that it is very telling that W and Ahmadinejad will both be at the U.N., but W will not even meet nor speak with Ahmadinejad in person. He will be at the same place at the same time, he has issues with the man, and he won't even meet with him to talk about it! That's the kind of behavior that got us where we are.

The Arizona Republic says it succinctly: Bush, who speaks at 8:30 a.m., says he will use his talk to warn Iran that it must obey a Security Council resolution calling on it to suspend its nuclear-fuel program. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tonight will say its nuclear program is peaceful. Bush says he has no intention of meeting with Ahmadinejad.

Talk about some amazing communication skills! Talk about triangulation! Talk about not even trying to see the human being in the man you disagree with! Talk about a role model for all American kids to emulate!

Kids, don't do this at home! It is hazardous to your safety.

When I observe the president of my country refusing to have dialogue in person with someone whom he considers a threat to my country, I feel disheartened and scared - more scared than I do of the possible threat of said nuclear program - because I need to know that the pres of my country is doing whatever he can for my safety and the safety of the rest of the world, and that he is doing it through working with those he disagrees with, not through force.

Me and the Buddha dog at Hell's Hole.










Tryin' to refill the joy tank - have been runnin' empty for too long.

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Aspen leaves on the water and in the skies

Hell's Hole (don't ask me why they named it Hell's Hole - this place is heaven)

Peace Jam, a local organization, brings together youth from all over the world with Nobel Laureates. The Ten Year Anniversary Conference is occurring now in Denver and bringing together the largest group of laureates ever to gather in the U.S.

From the Denver Post:

Visions of peace
War on terror blind to its causes, Nobelists caution
By Jennifer Brown and Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writers
DenverPost.com

The largest gathering of Nobel peace laureates ever on U.S. soil took a sharp political turn Saturday when several prize winners denounced U.S. foreign policy and President Bush while urging U.S. and Israeli leaders to open lines of communication with terrorist groups.

"You are some of the most incredibly generous people," Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa told an audience of 7,000 at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. "Your philanthropy is fantastic. How about exporting your generosity instead of your bombs?"

The man who helped abolish apartheid in his native country echoed advice offered earlier in the evening by fellow laureate Betty Williams, who sought to end the violence in Northern Ireland: "Take your country back!"

As part of this weekend's PeaceJam youth conference, the Nobel winners unveiled a United Nations-style "global call" to fight what they identified as the core evils of the world - poverty, racism, a lack of clean water, the degradation of the environment and the obsession with nuclear weapons.

The failure to address those evils, they said, are the root causes of suicide bombers and hijackers of airplanes.

Many of the laureates criticized the American government for spending so much on "instruments of destruction" instead of building schools or feeding the poor in other countries - ignoring more serious threats to humanity as it focuses on the war against terrorism.

Along with their public appearances, the laureates are spending the weekend inspiring 2,300 teenagers from 31 countries to create 1 billion acts of peace in the next 10 years. PeaceJam, an Arvada-based organization, runs education programs designed to teach young people conflict resolution in their own communities.

Williams, the Northern Ireland peace activist, paused during her talk to single out a PeaceJam participant sitting near the arena's rafters: a Peruvian girl working to eradicate hunger at an orphanage.

"A child of 11 has more intelligence than the president of the United States," she said, drawing cheers.

Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian judge who was the first Muslim to win the Nobel Peace Prize, said she was "very sorry about the sad events of Sept. 11" but wished that the United States had built a school in Afghanistan for each victim instead of going to war.

Ebadi also took issue with the idea that the world is in the midst of a clash of civilizations based on religion. She said political disputes are to blame, "the result of the wrong policies of politicians."

"Fundamentalism does not only belong to Islam, it exists in all religions," she said through an Farsi interpreter. "When someone claims that he has a mission from God to bring war to Iraq and kill the people of Iraq, this is a kind of terrorism and a kind of fundamentalism."

The sole American among the group, Jody Williams, recognized for her work to ban and clear land mines, said in an interview that Americans were told it was treasonous to ask "why" after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The U.S. government has created a "no-win situation" in Iraq, Williams said. If troops withdraw, terrorists can claim victory, yet continued occupation is pointless, she said.

"They're both bad, but withdrawing the troops is probably the better of two horrible options," Williams said. "We never should have been there in the first place."

The last Nobel laureate to arrive in Denver, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, said at a news conference Saturday that it was time for U.S. and Israeli officials to open up a dialogue with terrorism groups.

"I regret that there is not the courage or the political will to sit down and negotiate," said Arias, who won the prize for promoting peace in Latin America.

Arias criticized the U.S. and Israeli governments for saying security precludes peace when it is "just the opposite." Their logic gives power to fanatics such as suicide bombers, he said.

"The United States has declared war on terrorism ... but that is not the only threat," he said. "We are not dealing with the basic threats of humanity."

In a discussion taped for the BBC, the Dalai Lama said the United States and Israel "should not rule out" talks with Hamas and al-Qaeda and said that, in a condolence letter to President Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks, he had expressed his hope that the United States would not respond with violence. He stopped short of criticizing the president, whom he called a close friend, about the war in Iraq.

"That's his business," the Dalai Lama said with a smile, drawing laughs.

The Dalai Lama offered a one-hour, 26-minute pep talk to the attendees earlier in the day, covering questions about world peace, suicide, religion and the power of smiling.

The spiritual and political leader of Tibet said prayer was important and noted that all religious traditions teach the value of "love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, self- respect." He added that prayer alone is not enough to make the world a better place.

"So, listen, listen, this is good," he said. "I usually believe our action - with clear vision - is more important than prayer."

Staff writer Mark Couch contributed to this report.

Like my Kitty
I seek out the sun
Bask in whatever warmth I can find
Nest in comfy chairs
Or tender embraces
And purr when I am loved

Whoa! Michael just came home from the gym and found that someone had stolen the magnets off of our car.

Those little shits.

Our magnets have lived happily on the Toyota for a year, and now someone thinks that it is just okay to take whatever they want...
or whatever they don't agree with.

Our Women in Black vigil is always an adventure. I stand and watch the cars and motorcycles and trucks and pedestrians. Sometimes I feel invisible. Sometimes I feel like I'm at the zoo - and I'm the monkey behind the bars. There has definitely been a shift since our vigil started a year ago. We observe much less anger directed our way - less feelings and needs that are communicated in tragic ways, as Marshall would say.

Today's episode of As the Women in Black Stand begins with two women, holding the honkin' big banner alone - not a feat for the weak-hearted. Winds are pummeling, sheets of rain slash slices in the air while the two women hold on to their banner with all of their might.

Not really.

It was a pretty nice day, actually. A few sprinkles, sun and clouds dancing around. We started as two, but multiplied until we became SIX. The fun part was when two young men asked if they could stand with us until their bus came. They had shaved heads with a little tuft of black hair sprouting out on top (sorry, I'm so out of it, I don't know if there is a name to this style.) and piercings here and there. An excellent compliment to the wrinkles and gray hairs that had previously dominated the Women in Black landscape (yes, I'm speaking for myself). One young young man just stood with us, and one held one of our signs that says "Standing in Silence for Peace". He just stood right out in the middle of the sidewalk and faced the traffic.

Funny, we got a lot of supportive response while those guys were standing with us. I want to hire them.

Maybe it is the ALIVE energy of youth that those motorists responded to.


I just went through my entire blog and found all of the references to my Women in Black experiences. I had so much fun visiting my writings of the past 13+ months, that I decided if I die tomorrow, I will have lived a very interesting and enriching life, and a part of me will be majorly bummed that it can't continue, but another part will go in wonder at what the next chapter will bring.

If you haven't read them before, here are eight of my on-the-scene reports from the corner of West Colfax and the Denver Retail Entrance in Lakewood, Colorado, written over the last year:

http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/09/wondering-what-its-all-about.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/08/lemmings.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/06/women-in-black-amputees.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/06/peace-flavor-of-month_115029268595579471.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/05/rainbow-in-storm.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/04/back-to-women-in-black.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2006/03/if-you-meet-buddha-on-road.html
http://www.carolforpeace.com/2005/10/freedom-from-fear.html

First grade was really FUN!!!

Major tired tonight.

I did most of the 2+ days of the NonViolent Communication workshop with a killer headache. Couldn't sleep last night because of it. Funny thing... when we did an exercise where we were to practice empathic listening, and I got to express my fear, confusion, and sadness about my friend with pancreatic cancer, somehow my headache decreased to such a degree that I could start to remember what *good* feels like again.

Marshall Rosenberg is a master. He is not just teaching theory. NVC is in his cells... and he's funny, too!

I hope to be sharing some of what I (re)-learned over the next few days. I am certain that if we don't acquire new ways to communicate, and if we don't start teaching our children different skills than the ones that we have been using (you know, the ones that haven't worked to create peace yet), we will continue to experience violence in our world.

I don't want to sound like someone who has just found religion, but I am really happy with the changes in my life that have come through adding NonViolent Communication teachings to my spiritual practice. Throughout my life, I have carried some ways of thinking that have not served me - or others - well. In fact, these ways of thinking have caused me pain and have distanced me from the very closeness to others that I have wanted.

Some examples (ah, I am making myself so vulnerable here): I never used to know what I needed or wanted from someone. If I could grasp a tiny glimpse of what it was that I might be needing, it was too painful to ask for it. I was not deserving. And, if I had to ask you for it.... well, if I had to ask, then I didn't want it anyway, because you should've known that I needed this and done it without me having to ask. I also didn't know how to express my anger, so I held it in until it eventually came out all messy.

I didn't know that we could talk and figure out a way where WE COULD ALL GET OUR NEEDS MET! I didn't know how good it feels when we all get our needs met. I thought that I had to get mine met at your expense - or not get mine so that you would get what you needed at my expense.

I have not been a person with very good skills in the world, and I am now vulnerably admitting that and it feels..... really good. Maybe I'm growing up a little? Oh, finally! How ever long it takes....

I thought that NVC was just a formula for speaking in a clearer way. I didn't know that it would change the way that I see the world and myself. So many times, it seems that growing and changing can be kind of hard and painful. Like going to therapy and wailing, while processing our painful pasts (I'm not knocking the value that can sometimes come of that). This NVC journey, so far, has been relatively painless and the rewards come quickly. I don't have to be perfect at it to still feel good about the effect.

Tonight I begin the NVC workshop. I am excited, because I think that I will learn a lot. And I also am feeling a little anxious, like the first day of school, because I don't know anyone else who will be there and I don't think that I know what to expect there (even though I've done this before, and I do have a really good idea of what to expect - and I'm pretty sure that it's perfectly safe there).

Yippppeeee! An adventure!

Last night's Daily Show is a good one (see OneGoodMove.org)

Regarding 9/11,

Self-Evident
by ani difranco

to listen, go to http://www.righteousbabe.com/ani/sms_sml/SelfEvident.asx (Thanks to Drew)

yes,
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes
burning down our throats
down the hall
down the stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
yes, it's part of a pair
there on the bow of noah's ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

and every borough looked up when it heard the first blast
and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar
looked more like war than anything i've seen so far
so far
so far
so fierce and ingenious
a poetic specter so far gone
that every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it
you can keep the pentagon
keep the propaganda
keep each and every tv
that's been trying to convince me
to participate
in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution
perpetuate retribution
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution
is still hanging in the air
and there's ash on our shoes
and there's ash in our hair
and there's a fine silt on every mantle
from hell's kitchen to brooklyn
and the streets are full of stories
sudden twists and near misses
and soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters
with tales of narrowly averted disasters
and the whiskey is flowin
like never before
as all over the country
folks just shake their heads
and pour

so here's a toast to all the folks who live in palestine
afghanistan
iraq

el salvador

here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation
under the stone cold gaze of mt. rushmore

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors
who daily provide women with a choice
who stand down a threat the size of oklahoma city
just to listen to a young woman's voice

here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now
awaiting the executioner's guillotine
who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads
to find peace in the form of a dream

cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean
it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks
and boy did he ever

and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast

here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
let us vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost
cuz once upon a time the line followed the river
and peeked into all the backyards
and the laundry was waving
the graffiti was teasing us
from brick walls and bridges
we were rolling over ridges
through valleys
under stars
i dream of touring like duke ellington
in my own railroad car
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
in a grand station aglow with grace
and then standing out on the platform
and feeling the air on my face

give back the night its distant whistle
give the darkness back its soul
give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever

cuz when one lone phone rang
in two thousand and one
at ten after nine
on nine one one
which is the number we all called
when that lone phone rang right off the wall
right off our desk and down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that the whole world turned
just to watch it fall

and while we're at it
remember the first time around?
the bomb?
the ryder truck?
the parking garage?
the princess that didn't even feel the pea?
remember joking around in our apartment on avenue D?

can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design
following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!

it was a joke, of course
it was a joke
at the time
and that was just a few years ago
so let the record show
that the FBI was all over that case
that the plot was obvious and in everybody's face
and scoping that scene
religiously
the CIA
or is it KGB?
committing countless crimes against humanity
with this kind of eventuality
as its excuse
for abuse after expensive abuse
and it didn't have a clue
look, another window to see through
way up here
on the 104th floor
look
another key
another door
10% literal
90% metaphor
3000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain
sshhhhhh....
baby listen
hear the train?

I started a rant about how sick I am of reading headlines about 9-11, 9-11, and 9-11, but I decided to spare you. I will just ask one question: Why are we so special that we need to keep dwelling on this event, creating inaccurate television shows about it, and killing hordes of people in retailiation for it, while people are slaughtered through violence all over the world every day and we do nothing???

oh, I can think of so many anwers to this question...

(You can also see an enlarged version by clicking on the photo.)


Photo by Hawkline Photography



(Do you remember Five Man Electrical Band?)

Got the link to Says-It.com Ticket Generator from The Second Side blog.

What happened to the blue skies
that made me smile for no reason
except the gladness of being alive?
Colorado crispness floated in the air
and I thought that it always would,
but now a haze like I've never seen
weighs heavy and blocks my view of
heaven and the grandeur of tall peaks.
My children don't know
what the milky way or
skies the color of their eyes
even look like
so they don't
miss them

but I do



Photo by you-know-who (Hawkline photography) who I apologize to for interpreting his photos in ways that surprise even me.

Next week, I will join Marshall Rosenberg as he compassionately tries to teach me how to communicate in ways that are more useful in attaining the peace that I desire.

Near the end of the month, Michael, the Buddha dog, and I will go camping in the desert at the location where our vision quests take place. This time will be for relaxation and only a one-day solo.

In the meantime, below are some of the events that I am working on and participating in.

Standing as a Witness To End Violence

Our local Women in Black vigil is changing the vigil day/time back to Saturdays beginning this coming Saturday. We'll be standing from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at our usual spot - in front of the Colorado Mills on West Colfax in Lakewood. If you live in the area - or if sometime you happen to pass through - you are always welcome to join us. To see what we look like, click here.

Immigration

Four well-known and respected panelists will speak on immigration facts, legislation, and human rights issues at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community on Monday, September 18th at 7:00 p.m. Spirit of Christ is located at 7400 West 80th Avenue, Arvada.

Panelists include Polly Baca, Executive Director of the Latin American Research and Service Agency and previous member of the Colorado State Legislature; Lisa Duran, Executive Director of Rights for All People; Adrian Miller, General Council and Director of Outreach for the Bell Policy Center; and Father Prudencio Rodriguez, a Vincention Priest who has worked with Spanish-speaking communities and offers workshops on the Hispanic culture. There will be a time for questions and answers.

American Friends Service Committee's Eyes Wide Open Exhibit

From October 9th through the 11th, AFSC in Denver will host the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit, which demonstrates the human cost of the Iraq War. It "features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war." I hope to be a part of the team working on this event. Some people think that displaying a pair of boots for each soldier killed, along with shoes representing killed Iraqis is a political action. I think that it is reality.

Martin Luther King Event

The Arvada Peace & Justice's second annual MLK event will take place on Martin Luther King Day, January 15th, 2007. We have begun our work to plan this yet-to-be-named event. We predict that it will be even better than last year's awesome celebration. Last year, the dream of the event unfolded over time into something bigger and better than any of us would've imagined. This year, we are creating a vision, with the input of people of color, so that we can bring awareness of the changes, and lack thereof, that have taken place since MLK did his great work.

A friend mentioned that I sometimes have some humor on my blog, and I realized that even though I busted my gut laughing at "girl stuff" with the other Women in Black vigilers the other night, I haven't laughed very much lately. So I tried to find something funny to post today... but I failed.

A few years ago, I went to an Aids, Medicine and Miracles weekend. One of the workshop facilitators was a laugh therapist. She said that you don't laugh because you're happy, you are happy because you laugh. I haven't put much thought into figuring out whether or not I think that is true. But I do know that laughing is medicine, and I would like to use that medicine more often.

This laugh therapist had a BIG laugh that anyone could hear long before they ever set eyes on her. I could be walking down the hall, and hear rolling, contagious laughter emanating from this woman, then suddenly find myself laughing for no reason.

Of all the workshops that I participated in that weekend, the laughter workshop was the most memorable.

Too bad I forget to practice it. It could come in handy right about now.

Even though I didn't find something laugh worthy, here is something VERY BIG SMILE worthy.

The great line from yesterday's Women in Black vigil came from a young man standing in the doorway of a trash hauling truck as it drove past: