When Will We Ever Learn?

wide awake in a nightmare,
my soul has been mortally wounded,
shot through the heart
by missiles of ignorance and war
launched by abusers
hiding behind shades of red, white and blue,
waving the flag of bombs bursting in air,
wagging the dog of illusion
before sleepwalking, apathetic masses

warmongers, the great pretenders,
feigning democracy and freedom
and concern for a better life,
invade and hijack the hearts and minds
of sons and daughters, mothers and fathers,
slamming shut the doors of truth and integrity,
with the help of media distraction and lies,
in the face of activists
advocating social, political and environmental change
and peace and justice for all

blind patriots rally to call war normal,
sucked into the black hole of big brother

purple hearts, and gold and silver stars
gather momentum to build yet another memorial
to the sacrificial lambs called collateral damage
who died trying to kill for the dreams of others,
who believed the lies and propaganda
that the unholy alliance was not about
oil,
or racial and religious intolerance,
or re-mapping of land,
or occupation,
or ancient treasures of mysterious origin,
or the greed and power of world domination,
or the addiction to - and big business of - war

the lucky ones sing their death song;
survivors imprison memories of horror
on the wailing wall of mangled minds
and the matrix of the soul



Art by Norman E. Masters

parts and pieces blown to kingdom come,
tied with yellow ribbons of lost hope,
join the ghosts of past wars
who walk alongside the waking dead
on a crowded, blood-soaked planet
filled with the dogma and strangled spirit
of man's darkness and disregard for life in all forms,
hearts hardened and desensitized to
compassion and non-violence,
minds clouded by addictions and material lust,
seeking instant gratification to ease the pain
of spinelessness and mindlessness,
imprisoning the spirit of humanity
in cellblocks of conformity and fear

in the theatre of war,
self-serving world citizens wear many faces
of apathy, ignorance,
and intellectual and spiritual arrogance,
choosing well-worn words and phrases
to detach from responsibility to the web of life



Art by Norman E. Masters

...I'm only one person, what can I do?

...I can't think about that right now, I'm too busy.

...Well, the only thing we can do is pray. I'm just going to let the
   Lord handle it.



Pray!
Art by Norman E. Masters

...Everything is happening exactly as it's supposed to.

...Life isn't real anyway, it's all just an illusion.

...We live in a world of polarity, so there will never be peace.
   Besides, we wouldn't appreciate the good things if we didn't
   have the bad.

...I'm only going to allow the light into my reality. All of this
   negative stuff zaps my energy.

...What's happening on the other side of the world is not my
   problem.

...It must be their karma; there's nothing I can do.

...This war is undeclared, so it's not a real war anyway.

...There's no need to do anything; when you're enlightened,
   you become the observer.

...How do you know that's true? I didn't see it on the news!
   (Patriot Act I and II, Pax Americana/Project for the New
   American Century *PNAC*, etc.)

...Now that the war has started, everyone should just shut up
   and support our government, they know what they're doing!



Eyes of the Blank Pondering
Art by Norman E. Masters

hyprocrisy rules the nation
selling democracy and freedom
on the backs of bombs and oppression,
from the halls of deceit,
ideals still on a wish list
for the tired, poor and hungry citizens
of the invading country
whose national and foreign policies
are twin towers of manipulation

threaten, destroy and selectively re-build
until the world falls back to sleep,
then threaten, de-humanize and assimilate
the culture invaded

moving on the wind of desire
and addiction to war
to the next 'axis of evil'
ensuring that fat cats of large corporations,
participating in perpetual sleep-overs
at the big white house and domed rotunda,
will never be hungry again

real freedom - of body, mind and spirit -
walks a tightrope once again,
the mirror held in the iron fist
of pride and ego,
begging for reflection's comment
on the lessons of man's inhumanity to life

history is a broken record
of broken promises
and broken treaties
repeating itself
for the benefit of slow learners
and those easily led
who have not grasped the concept and value
of compassion, integrity and non-violence
as the path to peace and freedom

and, while fence sitters nurse hemorrhoids,
those with a conscience
plant seeds of peace and truth,
watered with the tears and intent
of Gandhi, King, Deganawidah
and other ancestors dedicated to the reality of unity,
to germinate within the heart and mind,
from the light and dark of nature's balance,
food for thought for an unbalanced world

and, life goes on as usual
except for the air, water and soil -
and plant, animal and mineral kingdoms
who absorb the vibrations of fear
and inhale the particles of war,
choking on the blood of death and destruction



Kissing The Nightmare, Bare
Art by Norman E. Masters

life goes on as usual
except for the birds and insects
who now avoid travel in the no-fly zone

life goes on as usual
except for the young Hopi mother
whose life-force now sleeps on the sands of time,
in a different desert,
on the other side of the world

life goes on as usual
except for the 4 year old girl,
running down a bombed-out street
holding the hand of smoke and horror,
mouth and eyes wide open
to the death of innocence,
tramatized for life

life goes on as usual
except for the father carrying his daughter,
blood dripping on memories of childhood
from her dangling, blown-off leg

life goes on as usual
except for prisoners of war,
who now know Geneva Convention betrayal
while seven billion other prisoners of war, known as humanity,
allow 1984 to laugh in the shadows
as they mesmerize and anesthetize their fears and doubts
with a sanitized, reality show version of the sequel,
Gulf War II

and, life goes on as usual
except for the families of those
killed by 'friendly' and 'not-so-friendly' fire
who now know that the answer to the war-song question
"where have all the flowers gone"
is still the same...
"gone to grave-yards, every one"

when we realize that life is one gigantic, connected web,
that everyone and everything is related,
that those we kill are ourselves,
that we are all sons and daughters of one earth,
of one creator of which we are all an aspect

and, when we choose weapons of mass CONstruction,
principles dedicated to truth, integrity, compassion,
and non-violence

we will have answered the last war-song question

"when will we ever learn,
when will we ever learn???"

Quotes for the Soul:

"Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands
it."~~~~~~~~~~~Albert Einstein

"Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that
matter."~~~~~~~~~~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."~~~Thomas Jefferson

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time
to pause and reflect."~~~~~~~~~Mark Twain

"The news and truth are not the same thing."
~~~~~Walter Lippmann, American Journalist (1889-1974)

"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national
obligations of obedience...Therefore (individual citizens) have the
duty to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occuring."
~~Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950

"Democracy must be more than two wolves and a sheep voting on
what to have for dinner."~~~~~~James Bovard (1994)

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."~~~~Gandhi

"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your
ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less
the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity. And, on issues
that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost."
~~~~~Thomas J. Watson (1874-1956)

We are visitors on this planet.
we are here for ninety
or one hundred years
at the very most.

During that period,
we must try to do something
good, something useful
with our lives.

If you contribute to other
people's happiness, you will
find the true goal,
the true meaning of life."

~~~~~~~~~~H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your
life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~White Elk

"We are all flowers in the Great Spirit's garden. We share a common
root, and the root is Mother Earth. The garden is beautiful because it
has different colors in it and these colors represent different traditions
and cultural backgrounds."~~~~~Grandfather David Monongye, Hopi

"Let's put our minds together and see what kind of life we can make
for our children."~~~~~~Sitting Bull