Rolling and Tumbling: Back In "!blac"

!blac 

by E.E. Cummings

!blac
k
agains
t

(whi)

te sky
?t
rees whic
h fr

om droppe

d
,
le
af

a:;go

e
s wh
IrlI
n

.g

"Nonsense!" you say. "What a dumb poem. It makes no sense." Some of my old students might even protest and defend their views by telling me: "This is junk!"

And, everyone is entitled to their opinions concerning poetic form, style and theme. But, who said poetry has to contain conventions that limit its structure or it connotations? After all, Robert Frost said, "Poetry is what gets lost in translation." The vital rhythm of poetry takes on many, many forms. The reward of meaning can be very simple. Sometimes, to me, simple is best.

Concerning the economy of words in poetry, I once heard the shortest poem in English is this couplet attributed to Shel Silverstein:

Fleas

Adam
Had 'em.

I don't know if this is true, but "Fleas" does illustrate how meaning and even rhyme can be conveyed in four syllables. I'm not sure a poem with any meaning can be just two like such as "nice ice."

Thomas Harrison stated, "A poem conveys not a message as much as the provenance of a message, an advent of sense." If you take a few minutes to reread "!blac" and consider Cummings and his distinct style, I believe you may appreciate the poem for its compact genius. I promise to reward you with a little more meaning than "bare bones" lines and syntax.

E.E. Cummings

Edward Estlin "E.E." Cummings (October 14, 1894 — September 3, 1962) was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as an eminent voice of 20th century poetry. 

Cummings's poetry often deals with themes of love and nature, as well as the relationship of the individual to the masses and to the world. His poems are also often rife with satire.

While his poetic forms and themes share an affinity with the romantic tradition, Cummings's work universally shows a particular idiosyncrasy of syntax, or way of arranging individual words into larger phrases and sentences. Many of his most striking poems do not involve any typographical or punctuation innovations at all, but purely syntactic ones.

A number of his poems feature a typographically exuberant style, with words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols scattered across the page, often making little sense until read aloud, at which point the meaning and emotion become clear. Cummings, who was also a painter, understood the importance of presentation, and used typography to "paint a picture" with some of his poems.

Cummings's work often does not act in accordance with the conventional combinatorial rules that generate typical English sentences (for example, "they sowed their isn't").


!blac

E.E. Cummings's poem "!blac" definitely has a certain"haiku-like" quality. Scholars of poetry see the Japanese touches.

"The vertical (kakemono) format puts the poem like a calligraphy scroll into the tokonoma (display alcove), and highlights it as a display object. 

"The separation of words into letters, besides enhancing verticality, has the effect of prolonging the action described: slowing down the experience of the poem and letting the reader concentrate on its immediacy; another Zen feature. 

"The initial exclamation point marks a first excitement at the start trees against sky, and the final period (on the ground, as it were) marks the end of the leaf's descent, a bit of dynamic connecting two static things; very Bashô. And another framing device, to emphasize the poem-object as such. All this is beautifully done, but it is perhaps fairly obvious."

(E Bruce Brooks. "E E Cummings: '!blac.'" An illustration for: Nine Maxims On Translation.  University of Massachusetts. December 2002)

If we horizontalize and recollapse the wordstock of the poem, we get three periods (here marked by commas):

"black against white sky trees, which from dropped, leaf a goes whirling"

And if put into normal word order, we have

"black trees against white sky, from which dropped, a leaf goes whirling"

And it is obvious that the poem is produced from the normal order by reversing the order of the middle period, and by delaying certain elements in the other two periods. If we repeat the normal form, highlighting the two elements which are to be delayed in the final version, we get:

"black trees against white sky, from which dropped, a leaf goes whirling"

The Japanese construction looks evident, yes, But, we also know Cummings had a classical education. And, scholars relate that the same sort of grammatical separation (adjective-noun pair) is typical of Quintus Horatius Flaccus (8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, who was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.

My Take
 
Can you see the shape of the poem lends itself to the image of falling? The poem is pretty simplistic as far as the event -- a leaf whirls from a tree. Yet, I feel the poem is far more, and that witnessing this "fall" is both familiar and oddly emotion.

For better understanding, I would divide the poem into two parts:

Part A: "!black against (whi)te sky" -- this presents the reader with a conflict: black against white.
Part B: "?trees which from dropped leaf a goes whIrlIn.g" -- this depicts an image of a falling leaf.

The black/white contrast introduces a natural conflict, an opposition. Direct opposites (in this case opposition of color) create the greatest conflict -- a black tree against the white sky is symbolic of the fall of a small, natural life -- a leaf. Could Cummings be commenting on racial conflict? I guess, given his writings, this may also be possible.

To an English teacher, one thing is certain -- without opposition, no conflict is possible. In this case, what has been growing as part of a tree is now a dead leaf spiraling to the ground. It is a journey of finality. Whether the large "white" sky" is emblematic of a white society, I am not sure.

The punctuation is clever. Consider the exclamation mark (!) used to dramatize the event. This mark of punctuation is used to indicate intensity of emotion or even astonishment. Such a simple natural occurrence as the falling of a leaf is symbolic of the finality of all things living. Rumination on a falling leaf could cause a person to consider his own autumn or bemoan the eventual demise of humans.

Parentheses are often used traditionally to enclose words not directly relevant to the main topic of the sentence but too important to omit. And, of course, a question mark is used to indicate a query. Consider "(whi)te sky?"

Does the color of the sky necessarily have anything to do with the descent of a leaf? I think not.

For that matter, when is the last time you have seen a "white" sky? I wonder if Cummings is having a little fun with this image and suggesting that we not make too much (black = bad, white = good) from witnessing such a simple event. Or, maybe the speaker in the poem is somehow prejudiced in his somewhat "warped" perspective and overly melodramatic while painting simplistic black/white connotations.

Is the unique punctuation in "a:;go" just word play that suggests "a" as the article that modifies the noun "leaf" that "goes whirling" but might also be read as the word ago, which connotes a passage of time. In this case, the witnessed time passage is part of a significant cycle in the life of the leaf, and, on a larger scale, in the life of the tree itself. It it both symbolic of death and rebirth. Is this poem a death scene or a natural, musical dance in an endless cycle?

Capitalization is used to show specificity and importance as in capitalizing a proper noun such as "Joe." The period is a punctuation mark that shows a full stop or the end of an idea. Consider "whIrlIn.g" as an interesting construction. When something like a leaf is whirling in air, it does so in a very asymmetric manner, catching breeze in an unpredictable flight. Perhaps caps to lower case indicates this movement. At the end of the poem, the leaf is not necessarily described as grounded and immobile, so maybe Cummings prefers "whirlin.g" to indicate a touchdown that can still be carried by the breeze.

Words can be denotative, connotative, and just plain enjoyable in unique combinations. A poem can be a very powerful piece of literature in a condensed form. E.E. Cummings used lots of "different" word presentations to create perspective and meaning. Simple yet complicated? Isn't that really true of the art forms we appreciate most? I love to look at word "pictures" and discover different worlds of thought. I hope you enjoyed this one.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world doing its best to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle 

any human can ever fight and never stop fighting."

--E.E. Cummings

Scioto County Roadmap to Premature Death

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Scioto County Error Margin Ohio National Benchmark* Rank (of 88) Health Outcomes  87 Mortality  88 Premature death 11,262 10,417-12,107 7,513 5,466   Morbidity  87 Poor or fair health 26% 20-35% 15% 10%   Poor physical health days 7.1 5.2-9.0 3.6 2.6   Poor mental health days 6.2 4.2-8.1 3.8 2.3   Low birthweight 9.7% 9.0-10.4% 8.6% 6.0%   Health Factors  88 Health Behaviors  87 Adult smoking 36% 28-45% 22% 14%   Adult obesity 34% 28-40% 30% 25%   Physical inactivity 31% 26-37% 27% 21%   Excessive drinking 12% 8-18% 17% 8%   Motor vehicle crash death rate 19 16-23 12 12   Sexually transmitted infections 262 420 84   Teen birth rate 62 58-65 40 22   Clinical Care  83 Uninsured 15% 14-17% 14% 11%   Primary care physicians 2,124:1 1,101:1 945:1 Preventable hospital stays 112 105-118 78 49   Diabetic screening 78% 74-82% 83% 89%   Mammography screening 59% 54-64% 66% 74%   Social & Economic Factors  81 High school graduation 89% 78%   Some college 46% 42-49% 60% 68%   Unemployment 12.8% 10.1% 5.4%   Children in poverty 32% 24-40% 23% 13%   Inadequate social support 27% 20-37% 20% 14%   Children in single-parent households 31% 27-35% 33% 20%   Violent crime rate 235 360 73   Physical Environment  63 Air pollution-particulate matter days 2 2 0   Air pollution-ozone days 0 6 0   Access to recreational facilities 3 10 16   Limited access to healthy foods 1% 7% 0%   Fast food restaurants 60% 55% 25%   2012 * 90th percentile, i.e., only 10% are better. Note: Blank values reflect unreliable or missing data Ohio is comprised of 88 counties. The information above represents the latest statistics (2012) on county health rankings. As you can see, Scioto is a very unhealthy county. It ranks dead last in state mortality rates and health factors (88th of all 88 counties). Also, Scioto does little better in health outcomes, morbidity, and health behaviors ranking next to last (87th of all 88 counties) in these important categories. Scioto County health statistics highlighted in red represent figures that fall short of Ohio county averages and the National Benchmark. The gold highlights figures that fall below either Ohio county averages or the National Benchmark. The county scores well in "air pollution particulate matter days" and in "air pollution-ozone days." Scioto ranks well above other Ohio counties in the percentage of high school graduate. The Scioto County Health Coalition has been formed as an umbrella group meant to bridge the gap between all the Scioto County citizens, government agencies, private sector businesses and non-governmental organizations, for the purpose of addressing Scioto County’s ranking 87/88 in health outcomes and 88/88 in health factors. The coalition is organized around the concept of a super coalition meeting the second Friday of every month.  The day consists of 6 workshops:  * The Wellness Committee,  * The Medical/Clinical Committee,  * The Planning Committee (Community Development),  * The Code Enforcement Taskforce,  * The Land Re-utilization Committee (Economic Development), and  * The Scioto County Drug Action Team Alliance.  Anyone can attend one or more of the work groups according to their interests.  Work groups do not have official members; this is a coalition of everyone interested in improving the health of all Scioto County citizens.  The coalition philosophy is work oriented, informal, and transparent. The coalition has a non competitive, optimistic atmosphere. It maintains a county-wide focus and is managed by evidence-based objectives. Here is the Scioto Coalition website: http://www.sciotocountyhealthcoalition.org/home/ My Take The population of Scioto County is 76,334 with that of Ohio at 11,542,645. Here are some other factors that influence health outcomes:  Social and Economic Factors Median Household Income:                   Scioto $35,860        Ohio $45,151 Children Eligible For Free Lunch:         Scioto 50%             Ohio 30% Illiteracy:                                                Scioto 10.8%          Ohio 9.1%  Health Care Mental Health Providers:                       Scioto 6,371:1        Ohio  2,501:1 Health Care Costs:                                 Scioto $12,960       Ohio $9,903 Could Not See Doctor Due To Cost:     Scioto 28%             Ohio13% All citizens must contribute to efforts to change these horrific conditions. There is no reason that the people in Scioto County should continue to be inattentive and/or inactive. We must focus our work on the areas that clearly mark us as an unhealthy populace. Gaining knowledge is the first step toward individual and group improvement. And, believe me, there is a lot to learn. I urge you to become a part of the Scioto County Health Coalition. Let me remind you again that meetings are all day on the second Friday of every month. Click on the link above to access the coalition. Just as important, we must take the initiative to improve our own health and do what we can to improve our own individual unhealthy bodies. This is no easy task with so many unhealthy conditions in our midst. If we use the method of "divide and conquer," we each can choose a course of action that will enable us to have direct impact on the total health of Scioto County. Each individual improvement will better the statistics. Just one more suggestion, please. Let's put extra effort into raising healthy children. I think these measures would reap benefits:  * Mandatory PE in all classes (K-12)  * Scores of good adult role models who decide to give up smoking * Less fast food meals even though kids are involved and active, often missing home mealtimes * More mental health screening and counseling for all students * Mandatory, evidence-based prescription drug education (K-12) * Access to contraceptives and open discussions about adolescent sexual behavior * Strong measures to combat sleep deprivation and school absence * Programs to increase understanding and appreciation of Appalachian history and positive, simple values

Nothing Compares: Summer Love and Beautiful, Eternal Memories

 

SONNET 18 

by William Shakespeare (1609)

 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee. 


Summer and youth -- beauty, innocence and love. The sun seems to ignite tender emotions as human desire catches fire. In response, we run and jump and dance through the glorious days and new experiences of our youthful summers. Nothing compares to the combination of freedom, vitality and energy that come together during this time of life.

What could be more beautiful than a young lover? Perhaps the natural creation of the environment itself? "Sonnet 18" explores the limits of human emotion and man's ability to express his true love.

The speaker in William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" poses a question to himself on how to best immortalize his lover. He contemplates a comparison to "a summer day." Yet, he finds the metaphor imperfect so he decides through internal debate and poetic expression that the best way to immortalize his love is through his own poetry.

The form of the poem is structured with the first eight lines, an octet, as the speaker posing his question, or problematic comparison, to the reader while the latter six lines focus on a solution, which is a poetic format developed by the Petrarchan poets Dante and Petrarch.

Will a summer day do justice to his affection? After all, his fair youth is more beautiful and "more temperate," or calm and gentle, than the most lovely time of the warm solstice. And, the summer has "rough winds" and passes too quickly while his lover's beauty is eternal.

Each subsequent comparison between his lover and the summer fails in immortalizing his lover's beauty as each comparison is imperfect in describing her beauty, which will fade in time: "And every fair from fair sometimes declines."

The speaker makes a statement that shows summer can often be too hot. In this next line "And often is his gold complexion dimm'd" he tells the reader that the sun only shines for part of the day and disappears for much of the year. Summer is thus an imperfect season, but his love is not. She shines always -- she remains "fair."

Writing "when in eternal lines to time thou growest," the speaker uses a grafting metaphor. Grafting is a technique used to join parts from two plants with cords so that they grow as one. Thus the beloved becomes immortal, grafted to time with the poet's cords (his "eternal lines").

The speaker/poet states that the only way to keep his love alive forever is through his own poetry, which will be read for all of time: "So long as men can breathe or eyes can see." This line is his testament that as long as man remains on earth, then this poem will be read and his love's beauty remembered through the beautiful lines of the poem. In eternal verse, he thus finds a way to preserve his lover's incomparable youth and fairness.

My Take

Without summer, love, and lovers, we are empty. Without the ability to express our understanding of our needful human existence, we are powerless. The beauty and power of love reside in our hearts and souls. How often do we draw upon our memories and our experiences to sweeten our aging lives?

Poetry and music remind me of my past, a time filled with the trials, the errors, and the successes of love. Reliving tender moments or exchanges of heated passion gives me more reason to live. The summation of all I have done, like the beauty in "Sonnet 18," is eternal in my memory.

Summer moves my memory like the warm temperature causes sap to run from a maple. Yes, I am a boy of summer, even at the age of 62. Maybe you are a boy or maiden of the hot solstice, too.

Exploring Deeper Depths

Are your memories filled with magic summers 

Of naive times with vernal lovers?

Who took your breath, your heart, your skin

To sultry journeys without, within.

As hand-in-hand you tread warm waters

Too deep to touch familiar bottoms.

With fumbling fingers and thirsting lips

Two unfledged souls found new pleasure slips

To moor their dreams till new morns gave

Ripe, new suitors rights to give and take.

Once, warm breezes and sun-stirred, fevered blood

Now, cooled by time, become keepsakes of the wanton Flood. 

Frank R. Thompson, May 2013
  

"Summer Boy: even if he leaves again, he’ll be back

Because he never really left me anyway.

He’s my summer boy.

And summer boys are the only thing certain.

You can trust that they’ll always be back…

Because they loved you in the time

When you were most free."

--Unknown

 

Updating Ron Kovic: Rolling Thunder from a Wheelchair

 

 

 

"There is nothing in the lives of human beings more brutal and terrifying than war, and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth."

 

--Ron Kovic

Ron Kovic’s 1976 memoir, Born on the Fourth of July inspired the 1989 Academy-Award winning film of the same name, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise as Kovic. I have written about Kovic, about the book, and about the film.

Still, every Memorial Day I think about him and his experiences before, during, and after the Vietnam War. As a youth of the 1960s, the complexity of the lessons Kovic teaches about Vietnam and war are part of my being. My strong connection with him is something I am still exploring.

I thought it was time to update my blog and tell you a little more about this man.

Ron Kovic is an incredible patriot and a distinguished veteran. Kovic, now 66 years old, lives in Redondo Beach, California, where he writes, paints, plays the piano, and gardens. He says he would like to get married someday, but he has never married. And, he has never stopped his efforts to eradicate war.

On January 20, 2008, Kovic observed his 40th anniversary of having been shot and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. In March 2005, he said...

 "The scar will always be there, a living reminder of that war, but it has also become something beautiful now, something of faith and hope and love. I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, and entirely different vision. I now believe I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. My life has been a blessing in disguise, even with the pain and great difficulty that my physical disability continues to bring. It is a blessing to speak on behalf of peace, to be able to reach such a great number of people.

“I saw firsthand what our government’s terrible policy had wrought,” he continues. “I endured; I survived and understood. The one gift I was given in that war was an awakening. I became a messenger, a living symbol, an example, a man who learned that love and forgiveness are more powerful than hatred, who has learned to embrace all men and women as my brothers and sisters. No one will ever again be my enemy, no matter how hard they try to frighten and intimidate me. No government will ever teach me to hate another human being. I have been given the task of lighting a lantern, ringing a bell, shouting from the highest rooftops, warning the American people and citizens everywhere of the deep immorality and utter wrongness of this approach to solving our problems, pleading for an alternative to this chaos and madness, this insanity and brutality. We must change course.”

 (Jeff Severns Guntze, "It's Veterans Day: Meet Ron Kovic All Over Again, http://theforestofthings.tumblr.com/post/1543748672/its-veterans-day-meet-ron-kovic-all-over-again#footer)

Kovic On the U.S. Fighting in Iraq


Kovic was in the thick of Iraq anti-war demonstrations before that start of the actual fighting. Then, just days before the war began, he vowed: "We will do everything we can in the streets of this country to bring the troops back immediately. We have much respect for them, and we don't want them to be used the way my generation was."

With the war in full swing, Kovic told a Los Angeles crowd of protesters: "Many of the people who are architects of the war haven't experienced war as I did. They're ... risking the lives of the beautiful men and women that are our troops. It's shameful."

The war raged on, and the day Baghdad fell, Ron Kovic, then 56, was back in the Veterans Affairs hospital for a checkup at the spinal cord injury outpatient clinic, only to find his doctor expressing worry over potential cutbacks, a situation reminiscent of spending priorities at the close of the Vietnam War. Kovic said...

"We're putting all of these millions of dollars into warfare when the disabled of our country, disabled veterans and disabled citizens, are in need. Many of them live below the poverty level. This policy of aggression, this policy of arrogance, of blindness, of recklessness, I don't think this is going to help America. I think that this behavior, which I abhor, this policy, which I strongly disagree with, is leading this country in the wrong direction."

Through all the operation in Iraq, Kovic remained a man of ideals. He confessed, "I believe in democracy an authentic democracy where all the people are represented and I want to be a part of that, I want to be a part of the continuation of that great democratic experiment. I want to expand our democracy, I want to make it more and more authentic, I want people to be encouraged to speak their minds and not to be afraid or be intimidated."

So, feeling that way, why didn't he support the military's mission to free Iraq from decades of fear and oppression by Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party? Didn't he see the inconsistency in opposing a war to "free the Iraqi people" while campaigning for a "true" democracy here in America? Here is Kovic's reply:

 "No, I don't at all. I think what the military has done is sow the seeds of discontent all throughout the Middle East. I think that we really were denied a lot of what was happening during that war by our media. We weren't able to see all of the civilian wounded, the many casualties that occurred, and most of the Arab world was seeing that. This war has caused a tremendous amount of anger, a tremendous amount of rage against this country. And I'm offended by that. I'm offended by what this administration and this president have done to our name. Now they may be telling us that we're freeing the Iraqis, but I truly believe in my heart that President Bush has established with the use of brutality and force and violence a colony, an American colony in the Middle East. I think it's shameful."

  (Tim Gilmer, "Ron Kovic Reborn, New Mobility,

 http://archive.truthout.org/article/ron-kovic-reborn, June 23 2003)

Kovic's assessment of the Bush administration's motives did not stop with allegations of colonialism. The real prize, he said, lay beneath the desert sands. "I don't think that they will ever allow a democratic government, because a democratic government would be a direct threat to the very reason they went over there to begin with, and that is to dominate the oil, to control that region, and to literally steal the resources of that region for this administration, for the corporations and the businesses of our country. That is a crime."


Kovic On the U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan

What about Kovic's views on the continued efforts in Afghanistan?  He wrote a letter to President Obama in 2009 stating the following:

"We are at a crucial turning point Mr. President and the decision you are about to make in the coming days and weeks may very well be the most important decision of your presidency... In your book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream you spoke of that time, the Sixties, admitting that you were, 'to young to fully grasp the nature of those changes, too removed to see the fallout on Americas psyche.' I write this letter to you Mr. President as both a survivor and witness to that time and someone who must live with the consequences of a decision made by our government and it's leaders four long decades ago.

"In your recent address to the VFW on August, 17, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona, you stated that the war in Afghanistan was a "war of necessity." I remember as I watched and listened to you that day wondering if you had any idea what you were getting us into, if you knew anything of Vietnam and the painful lessons I and others of my generation had learned from that war. You were three years old when I joined the Marine Corps out of high school in 1964, seven when I was shot and paralyzed in 1968, ten when I joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and began to protest against that war.

(Ron Kovic, "A Letter to the President," The Huffington Post, October 28 2009)

Kovic continued his active efforts to stop the war in Afghanistan. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010, he led veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, including troops now serving in the armed forces of the United States, in a dramatic act of nonviolent civil disobedience in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., along with other brave veterans and citizens, protesting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling for all troops to be brought home immediately and without delay.

(Ron Kovic, "Raise Your Voices, Protest, Stop These Wars," http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/raise_your_voices_protest_stop_these_wars_20101231/, December 31 2010)

Ron Kovic's Continued Efforts For Peace

On April 8, 2009, Kovic joined British MP and activist George Galloway to launch Viva Palestina USA, an American branch of Viva Palestina. He co-lead with Mr. Galloway a humanitarian relief convoy to the Gaza Strip in early July 2009.

In April 2010, Kovic traveled to Rome, Italy, as a member of the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation. Between April 19-26, he attended meetings at Rome's City Hall with other international peace activists, diplomats and academics, to discuss the need for conflict resolution and other more peaceful, nonviolent alternatives to war as a way of solving the worlds many conflicts.

On April 21, 2010, Kovic spoke of his journey from war to peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation before Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno, and other civic leaders at Rome's Ara Pacis  (Altar of Augustan Peace), commissioned by the Roman Senate 4 July- 13 BC.

Today Kovic, 59, lives alone in his modest Redondo Beach apartment a short distance from the Pacific Ocean -- and a couple of towns away from another apartment in Santa Monica where a young Kovic pounded furiously through many nights at a $42 dollar typewriter he had picked up at a Sears and Roebuck.

He has plans to return to what launched his career as a public figure: "I have to remind you that I'm also an author and a writer and I have a love of the language. There are many ways to communicate my politics, whether it's a motion picture or the writing of a book or speaking behind a microphone in a rally. I want to move into writing another book, a book that I actually was beginning just before September 11 happened."


My Take

I defer my understandings of the logic of war to Ron Kovic. His honest words breathe with wrenching candor. To end this entry, I will let Kovic relate his experience at a Bronx veteran’s hospital after he returned to the States with the devastating wounds in suffered in Vietnam.

"I feel like a big clumsy puppet with all his strings cut.  I learn to balance and twist in the chair so no one can tell how much of me does not feel or move anymore.  I find it easy to hide from most of them what I am going through.  All of us are like this.  No one wants too many people to know how much of him has really died in the war.

"At first I felt that the wound was very interesting.  I saw it almost as an adventure.  But now it is not an adventure any longer.  I see it more and more as a terrible thing that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.  Nobody wants to know that I can’t fuck anymore.  I will never go up to them and tell them I have this big yellow rubber thing sticking into my penis, attached to the rubber bag on the side of my leg.  I am afraid of letting them know how lonely and scared I have become thinking about this wound.  It is like some kind of numb twilight zone to me.  I am angry and want to kill everyone—all the volunteers and the priests and the pretty girls with the tight short skirts.  I am twenty-one and the whole thing is shot, done forever.  There is no real healing left anymore, everything that is going to heal is healed already and now I am left with the corpse, the living dead man, the man with numb legs, the man in the wheelchair, the Easter Seal boy, the cripple, the sexlessman, the sexlessman, the man with the numb dick, the man who can’t make children, the man who can’t stand, the man who can’t walk, the angry lonely man, the bitter man with the nightmares, the murder man, the man who cries in the shower… 

"It is okay now.  It is all right. Yes it is all right.  I have given my dead swinging dick for America.  I have given my numb young dick for democracy.  It is gone and numb, lost somewhere out there by the river where the artillery is screaming in.  Oh God oh God I want it back! I gave it for the whole country. I gave it for every one of them.  Yes, I gave my dead dick for John Wayne and Howdy Doody … and Sparky the barber.  Nobody ever told me I was going to come back from this war without a penis.  But I am back and my head is screaming now and I don’t know what to do."

(Ron Kovic, Born On the Fourth of July, 1976)

Kovic has mellowed in many respects since those days. Now, his rhetoric is polished and less direct, yet he has never wavered from his opposition to war. His voice is so important to the spirit of America. Ron Kovic reminds us of the true meaning of observing Memorial Day. That is, we must work to prevent war -- all deadly conflict. We must refrain from glorifying its greedy, gory presence and past. And, we must find a way to stop waging war no matter the political powers that prevail.

Ron Kovic reports he is happy to be alive, and he recently bought a piano. He says, "I love to play the high notes; they are gentle and soothing to me, almost like the sound of raindrops on my window when I was a boy. Just to touch the keys from time to time helps me to forget the war. The music of the piano fills the air with healing. The past recedes. And sometimes even the nightmares disappear for a while. The sound of a single note gives hope. Somehow we must begin to find the courage to create a better world even if it is with one note or one step."

Ron, keep playing that gentle piano. You are a musician whose "music" makes a huge difference in the way we Americans view patriotism, aggression, and war. And, to me, the notes you play ring so very true.

Law and Justice for "Richer or Poorer"

The selective enforcement and differential application of the rule of law should be carefully examined and and officially monitored at all times because individual and organized discretion by police, prosecutors, and judges has historically reproduced patterns of crime control that adversely affect the poor and marginal members of society while they positively benefit members of the middle and upper classes.

The ideal in America is that all people are subject to the same laws of justice (due process), and that all are equal before the law. The legal definition of "equality before the law" is the doctrine that all persons, regardless of wealth, social status, or the political power wielded by them, are to be treated the same. Is this a prized and lofty principle? Absolutely. Is the definition enforced? Only marginally.

In truth, here are some of the most prominent considerations that affect enforcement and application of the law:

* Legitimacy of the victim

* Local politics

* Departmental policies

* Nature of the crime

* The relationship between the victim and the offender


We, the people, live with the inherent imbalance of lawfulness. In America, money, power, and social status influence the application of the law and the measure of justice . We have endured this discordant "equality" long before we claimed liberty in 1776. Now, most of us accept our selective treatment without protest. We shrug our shoulders, grimace and declare "Oh, well" as we listen to account after account of inequality and injustice.

Often, we are unwilling or unable to expose this gross selectivity. "Fight the powers that be" is a great lyric in an Isley Brothers song; however, application of dissent against great odds most often leads to rough waters and contempt. The Old Line is entrenched and ready to bristle when challenged while even the most oppressed people scoff at those who attempt to move mountains and build new visions.

Perhaps we should consider the true moral intent of the phrase "equality before the law." The word before should not be interpreted to mean "in front of" or "in the presence of" a legal magistrate. Instead is should be understood to mean "in advance of" the application of "the law." 

Everyone should be considered equal and worthy of lawfulness without any judgment, yet most people consider "equality before the law" to mean equal treatment in the "eyes" and presence of a judgmental legal system.

Doesn't the present interpretation of justice in the United States resemble an old, old concept of class and value? The personification of legal equality as the lady of justice is most likely derived from Ancient Rome. The Romans adopted Justitia as a female goddess of justice. Since Roman times, Justitia has frequently been depicted carrying scales and a sword but with her eyes uncovered.

For the Romans, it was not true that all people were created equal. Roman society, like most ancient societies, was heavily stratified. Some of the people resident in ancient Rome were slaves, who lacked any power or justice of their own. Other classes were proletariat, plebeian, and patrician with varying degrees of lawful protection. Many would say this unfair class system is analogous to 21st century America with its deprived lower class, struggling middle class, and comfortable elite.

Only since the 15th century has Lady Justice often been depicted wearing a blindfold. Of course, the blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is, or should be, meted out objectively with impartiality. This is a fantastic, suppositious ideal in America, perhaps unattainable but always openly declared to be true. Perhaps the good-intentioned blindfold over the eyes of Lady Justice is actually transparent.

When dealing with an individual, what does enforcement and the legal system  "peek" under the blindfold of justice to seek?

1. Is the person legitimate?

In other words, is that person "worthy" of equal protection? Our present system makes some very unfair judgments on legitimacy. The middle and upper class are deemed "legit" while the less fortunate are seen by many as unfortunate "baggage" and contemptible inhabitants.

Mentally handicapped, economically challenged, mentally challenged, or physically impaired. The homeless, the poor, the eccentric, homosexuals, prostitutes, juveniles, or unborn babies. All people deserve impartial equality in dealings with the law. The same strong protection and unswerving care should be given by all civil servants to all Americans. Yet, we know this does not happen.

2. Does the person "rock the boat" of local politics?

An unpopular political stance is likely to meet with harsh treatment. Face it: the law in states, in counties, in cities, and in towns is directly influenced by the politicians that be. Politics trickle down to the boots of enforcement and judgment. These people then become detestable political cronies. Since the lower class does not effectively "speak" politics or carry any true weight in its design, they are considered, at most, bleating sheep in such matters.

Though effective enforcement and application should always be apolitical, it is not. Local politics are responsible for putting local law and legal personnel in office, and people remain obliged to the power of politics -- so much so that corruption and inequality is inevitable. These politics should be consistently investigated and effectively eliminated when discovered.

3. Does the person "fit" departmental policies?

"This is the way we do things around here, son. We've always done them this way, and we aren't going to change things for some fancy-thinking person like you." Does this sound familiar concerning dealings involving effecting needed change and progressive movement?

"Departmental policies" should be established with good reason and consistently reviewed to avoid becoming dated. Without reason and review, they can become stale, ineffective, and biased. Sometimes those in power resist change or exception to policy merely because they wish to maintain full control over those less fortunate. And, sometimes, these people in control are terribly prejudiced and evil. If someone is judged a less-than-perfect "fit," that person is sure to be ridiculed and perhaps denied his/her rights.

4. Did the person commit a crime with a "nature" deemed morally reprehensible?

Once labeled as an offender who has committed an offense commonly held as particularly "unnatural," that person has little chance to serve a sentence, then go back to society and be considered an "equal" member once more. Unless, of course, that is unless the person has significant celebrity, money, power, or a combination of all three.

While it is true that many criminals do commit reprehensible, ugly acts, and deserve harsh judgment and extended sentences or even life in prison, the vast majority deserve a second chance.

Yet, how does anyone pay a debt to society, come out of jail or prison with a record, and then find meaningful employment and impartiality from an unforgiving public? The Scarlet Letter that remains signifies that an ex-con is forever "Horrible." It also signifies that the ex-con is a lifelong second-class citizen, a loser in the eyes of the public and in the eyes of the law.

How close have we all come to being one of the people sporting such an "H" on our sleeves? Need we all say, "But for the grace of God..."?

5. Does the relationship between the "victim" and the "offender" fit accepted standards?

Some people are victimized by offenders who sit in positions of legal power. These insider abusers may be officers, lawyers, or judges. They intimidate and control those who do petty crimes and even major crimes. They love the role of "puppet master." These fiends use their position to private advantage as they "play" their underlings while attempting to maintain a clean public persona.

The enforcement puppeteers enjoy their tenure and their dominance as they ally and unite offenders to their suiting. The rich in money and image who align themselves with the "legal" will not be charged with any offense that belittles their masters or themselves. Most likely, any crime these protected citizens commit will go unpublicized. They have the proverbial "Lifetime Pass."

My Take

We are not all subject to the same laws of justice (due process), and we are not all equal before the law. At the risk of sounding like a complainer or a conspiracy theory nut, I uphold the belief that the poor, the disadvantaged, the once-labeled "Sinful," the distinctly "different," and the unpopular have a right to complain about discrimination before the law.

OK, OK... I understand the slim chance of reforming a dark system. I am a realist... honestly. Still, I am adamant about the need for transparency in legal doings and exposure of wrongdoings done in the name of the law. I believe we can make a significant difference by fighting the "good fight" against the overwhelming odds even though we may seem to most to be Don Quixote's jousting with windmills.

I would much rather be taken as a fool operating under a fantasy than as a lying, power-hungry enforcer of injustice. Don't get me wrong, I love good politicians, good judges, good lawyers, and good cops. At the same time, I know some legal authorities deal in dirt. In soiling their own hands, they also blacken the reputations of their innocent peers, and they blacken the hearts of those they are sworn to serve and protect.

“We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right 

of trampling on them forever, because they are prostrate."

--Lydia Maria Francis Child, American abolitionist 

and women's rights activist

Lead Us to Megan Lancaster

25-year-old Megan Lancaster has been missing since April 3, 2013. Her car, a Ford Mustang, was found on April 5 abandoned at the Portsmouth, Ohio, Rally's Restaurant on 1111 Monroe Street. The family reported Lancaster’s wallet was found in the passenger seat of her car. When they've tried to call her, Lancaster’s phone goes to voicemail.

Some employees at Rally's report a white Chevy pulling in behind Megan's parked car on April 3. These reports say she got into the car with an unidentified subject somewhere around 10:00 P.M. that night. Employees are said to have copied the license number of the suspect Chevy and reported it to the local authorities. They even claim to have seen it "stalking" the lot days later.

One later sighting of Megan on April 3 was reported to have occurred at a convenience store/gas station in Wheelersburg around 1:00 A.M. Megan appeared to be in distress at the time.

Our Facebook group, Fix the Scioto County Problem of Drug Abuse, has received numerous other unsubstantiated tips and clues concerning Megan's disappearance. All have been duly reported. New information surfaces almost every day; however, numerous family search efforts and inquiries with the aid of the public have yet to be successful in leading to discovering Megan's whereabouts.

"Tips come from all sorts: from somebody questionable who might really know something to something being found," said Joanna Krohn of SOLACE Ohio, an organization that helps families of drug addicts form support groups. " What's a legitimate tip?"

"We need search dogs. We need helicopters," said Megan's sister-in-law, Kadie Lancaster. "We need stuff to try, because Scioto County is very large."

Meanwhile, although detectives are busy investigating Megan's disappearance, they have told Channel 13 WOWK News they cannot do large-scale searches on a whim; they need a viable tip. Yet, tips keep pouring in concerning Megan. We know we can start with Megan's last know appearance, her abandoned car, and credible sightings -- why can't officials work from these leads?

Friends and family have been placed identification/information flyers in the immediate area and in many places in the Tristate. So many people know Megan. It is hard to believe someone doesn't know about her present whereabouts.

Megan Lancaster has a 7-year-old son who stays with her parents. Her parents acknowledge she has had have drug problems, and they’re afraid these activities may be connected to her disappearance.

"She just got mixed up with the wrong people," her father Charles said. "I loved her, even though I didn't like what she’d done. She's still my daughter.”

 My Take

Megan has been missing now for over 50 days. Was she abducted by those from Detroit, Dayton, or Columbus who deal in the heroin trade? Was she "picked up" by a person intent on using her sexually and ending her life? Did she owe some debt she was unable to pay? Did she fall victim to someone's senseless, serial rage? Was she an informant who lost her value to her employer? Or, did some other cruel fate befall her? I and the family strongly believe Megan did not disappear of her own will.

At this point her family doesn't know much. They pray for the safe return of their daughter but fear the worst. They understand the longer the case goes unsolved, the more likely it will be filed under "cold investigation." This cannot happen. It must not happen. Enough talk, clues, and leads exist to help investigators find pertinent information that will lead to Megan Lancaster. Someone "out there" in the community knows more about her disappearance; they are likely too intimidated by evil fiends to come forth. 

Megan's family has been relentless in their search for her. Prayer services, candlelight services, numerous searches, individual investigations, distributions of information, canvasing of neighborhoods, working closely with enforcement and media, requesting much-needed outside help -- they have tried so hard to find Megan through all available resources and they continue to do so.

Consider the truth. Megan is yours. She is mine. 

She is a vital missing part of our community family, 

an innocent victim of something that has gone terribly wrong. 

We must work to find her and uncover the mystery of her disappearance.

I am certain the story of Megan's life is both typical of those fallen into hard luck, yet it is surprising in that her connections, her circle of friends, and her influence run deep. I honestly believe substantial people who reside here know more about her fate than they wish to divulge. I can speculate why this might be.

After all, Megan is a young, attractive girl who is intelligent and "street wise" yet chemically dependent upon an element who would use her for their own advantage. Some look "down" on her for her drug abuse and related negative activities. Yet, some of these same people apparently "use her" themselves for their own satisfaction because they know they can, and they know they can likely continue to get away with it.

I just want to say this to those hypocritical bastards, many with money and evil power, who roam our streets and believe they are "above the law":

"F _ _ _  you all! You are the root of darkness in our area. I get so sick of cover up and inexcusable, deviant behavior, especially from those of you with position. You know exactly the harm you do, but, guess what, so does the entire community. You are not fooling one other soul. We will work diligently to bring you down."

I, personally, am sick of the indifference and outright offensive comments about Megan made by some who know better and who are in positions to help. Your judgment is an impediment to justice for all. Megan's disappearance has helped focus needed light on some very big areas of concern we must address. Something "more" is wrong here. And, some of you know exactly what that "more" is. 

We need to find Megan Lancaster, and we need to do this together with the highest transparency. We need to do this for Megan, for her family, for her friends, and for ourselves. She has been missing far too long. Each new day that she remains missing weakens us all -- please understand that predators on the loose are going to continue their deadly games. You may become a future victim.

I am confident if we work together to "lift up some rocks" and reveal the "insects" beneath, we will discover Megan danced too close to some of their attractive, deceitful webs. I urge detectives and all enforcement to pull out all stops to find this girl, even if it means shedding light on some "fine" characters with substantial standing. I urge all citizens to ask that the case be solved.

Let's welcome a prodigal daughter who once was lost. Megan, you are wanted at home. We vow to find you. We love you. We pray you are still alive... somewhere.


"Prodigal Daughter" partial lyric by Michelle Shocked

"Look here comes a prodigal son
Fetch him a tall drink of water
But there's none in the cup because he drank it all up
Left for the prodigal daughter

"What's to be done with a prodigal son?
Welcome him home with open arms
Throw a big party, invite your friends
Our boy's come back home
When a girl goes home with the oats *he's sown
It's draw your shades and your shutters"

 * (yes, he's sown)

"Prodigal Daughter"

By The Work of the People

 

http://www.sermonspice.com/product/12740/prodigal-daughter