April 18, 2023

National Poetry Month - 30 poems in 30 days

Hafiz


I Have Learned So Much


I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
A Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me

That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
Or even pure
Soul.

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.



The Stairway of Existence

We
Are not
In pursuit of formalities
Or fake religious
Laws,

For through the stairway of existence
We have come to God’s
Door.

We are
People who need to love, because
Love is the soul’s life,

Love is simply creation’s greatest joy.

Through
The stairway of existence,
O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz

Have
You now come,
Have we all now come to
The Beloved’s
Door.


Untitled

The green fields of the sky I saw
Mowed with the sickle of the new moon
I thought back to what I'd sown
And to the harvest, what it might draw.

And then I talked to Fortune,
"You've overslept. See, the sun's already risen."
He replied, "Don't despair,
With what you've done your record will repair.

If you go as Christ to the sky
Clothed in simple purity,
Then your light shall rise and become
As a hundred rays connect to the sun

But do not rely upon the lunar star
He is a wayward rogue
Who lifted the crown of Kaus
And knicked the belt of Khusrau.

Though the ear strains
From the gold and ruby jewel,
Attend! Passing beauty shan't remain
So give yourself to counsel's rule.

God protect your mark of beauty
From the evil eye's effect.
By that beauty
The moon and sun are held in check.

Tell the sky not to
vaunt its beauty.
For in love the moon's harvest goes for but a grain of barley,
And the Pleiades for two.

The fire of the hypocrite's sham show
Shall consume Faith's harvest.
Hafez, doff your woollen cloak
-and go!







More Hafiz
https://www.poetseers.org/the-poetseers/hafiz/hafiz-poems/

April 17, 2023

30 poems in 30 days

Yu Xiuhua

I Crossed Half of China to Lay You 穿过大半个中国去睡你

In fact, to lay you or to get laid by you is the same, nothing but
The force of two bodies banging against each other, nothing but flowers
erupting from the force
Nothing but spring virtualized by the flowers making us believe that life has
been unfolded again
In half of China, everything is happening: Volcanos erupting, rivers drying up
Some political prisoners and homeless people whom nobody cares about
Elks and red-crowned cranes always being targeted at gunpoint
I have crossed gun forests and bullet showers to lay you
I have squeezed numerous nights into one dawn to lay you
I have run numerous selves into one to lay you
Naturally, I might be sidetracked by butterflies and
Regard praises as spring
Regard a village that resembles Heng Dian as my hometown
And all these
Are the necessary reasons why I am going lay you


Prayer


I pray for a poem to stop a tank
A poem full of tears stops more
I pray for a flower to withstand a bullet
A handful of carnations can comfort a mother

I pray for the sun to shine on everyone
Let some of them come out of the bomb shelter
to touch the spring
bruised
yet still trying to bloom

I pray that those farewells do not bear the grief of parting forever
But the joy of touching freedom
I pray that those children, O those children
Can go out into the street

I pray for peace!
I pray that the enemies with bayonets in their hands
Tell each other the names of their mothers
The names of their wives, the names of their children

I pray that every person who starts an unjust war
Cherish their own honor
Cherish the life of every soldier
Cherish the life of every civilian

I pray that on our already plagued earth
The sun illuminates every corner
There is nothing more evil than war
There is no aggression worse than war

I pray for peace!

(Translated by Ying Bao, 3/4/22)




More Yu Xiuhua
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2018/july/two-poems-yu-xiuhua
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/world/asia/china-poet-yu-xiuhua.html

April 16, 2023

More relevant than ever: 'America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy' Is a Dangerous--And Wrong--Argument

Enabling sustained minority rule at the national level is not a feature of our constitutional design, but a perversion of it.
By George Thomas




Full history and analysis
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/yes-constitution-democracy/616949/

April 16, 2023

April, National Poetry Month -- 30 poems in 30 days

Nikki Giovanni


Vote



It’s not a hug

Nor mistletoe at Christmas

It’s not a colored egg
At Easter
Nor a bunny hopping
Across the meadow

It’s a vote

Saying you are
A citizen

Though it sometimes
Is chocolate
Or sometimes vanilla
It can be female
Or male
It is right
Or left
I can agree
Or disagree but
And this is an important but
I am a citizen

I should be able
To vote from prison
I should be able
To vote from the battlefield
I should be able
To vote when I get a driver’s license
I should be able
To vote when I can purchase a gun
I must be able
To vote
If I’m in the hospital
If I’m in the old folks’ home
If I’m needing a ride
To the Polling Place

I am a citizen

I must be able to vote

Folks were lynched
Folks were shot
Folks’ communities were gerrymandered
Folks who believed
In the Constitution were lied to
Burned out
Bought and sold
Because they agreed
All Men and Women Were Created Equal

Folks vote to make us free

It’s not cookies
Nor cake
But it is the icing
That is so sweet

Good for the Folks
Good for Us
My country ’tis of thee.


Choices

If i can't do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don't want
to do


It's not the same thing
but it's the best i can
do


If i can't have
what i want


then
my job is to want
what i've got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more to want


Since i can't go
where i need
to go


then i must

go
where the signs point
through always understanding
parallel movement
isn't lateral


When i can't express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal


I know
but that's why mankind
alone among the animals
learns to cry




more Giovanni
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/you-came-too-2/

April 15, 2023

Just a heads up from EFF -- Be Skeptical of FBI Warnings About Phone Chargers

These are the real OG's. Long may they run.



More
https://www.eff.org/be-skeptical-fbi-warnings-about-phone-chargers?fbclid=IwAR2XOaomlvY2UZ1q8RexV1TGS_nQ3010V22k7EgJezTYPwJkf2Du9xaDHjg

April 15, 2023

30 poems in 30 days

Sumerian balbale

A love song of Shu-Suen (Shu-Suen B): translation 


Man of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. Lad of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey.

You have captivated me (?), of my own free will I will come to you. Man, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. You have captivated me (?); of my own free will I shall come to you. Lad, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom.

Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.

Man, you have become attracted to me. Speak to my mother and I will give myself to you; speak to my father and he will make a gift of me. I know where to give physical pleasure to your body -- sleep, man, in our house till morning. I know how to bring heart's delight to your heart -- sleep, lad, in our house till morning.

Since you have fallen in love with me, lad, if only you would do your sweet thing to me.

My lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart, if only you would handle your sweet place, if only you would grasp your place that is sweet as honey.

Put your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a measuring cup. Spread (?) your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a cup of wood shavings.





more

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balbale

A love song of Shu-Suen (Shu-Suen A): translation



https://www.egyptiangeographic.com/en/news/show/340

April 14, 2023

AG Merrick Garland Announces Fentanyl Trafficking Charges For Members Of Sinaloa Cartel

The Dept of Justice's Press Release:

“This indictment is another example of how this administration is taking on the cartels and their transnational criminal networks, and sending a clear message that we are going to hold them accountable,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “I commend our workforce at Homeland Security Investigations and our federal partners who are relentless in their efforts to stop the scourge of fentanyl. Today’s announcement exemplifies a whole-of-government approach to protecting our homeland that is yielding results.”

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world and is largely responsible for the manufacturing and importing of fentanyl for distribution in the United States. Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that is more than 50 times more potent than heroin. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, and it has fueled the opioid epidemic that has been ravaging families and communities across the United States for approximately the past eight years. Between 2019 and 2021, fatal overdoses increased by approximately 94%, with an estimated 196 Americans dying each day from fentanyl.

The Sinaloa Cartel operated as an affiliation of drug traffickers and money launderers who obtain precursor chemicals – largely from China – for the manufacture of synthetic drugs, manufacture drugs in Mexico, move those drugs into the United States, and collect, launder, and transfer the proceeds of drug trafficking. Once led by Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka El Chapo, and Ismael Zambada Garcia, aka El Mayo, the Sinaloa Cartel’s members and associates – allegedly including the sons of Guzman Loera, collectively known as the Chapitos – smuggled significant quantities of drugs through Mexico and into the United States. The Chapitos are Ivan Guzman Salazar, 40, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 37, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 36, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33.

Following Guzman Loera’s arrest in January 2016 and extradition to the United States in January 2017, the Chapitos allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Zambada Garcia and Damaso Lopez Nunez, aka Licenciado. The Chapitos subsequently amassed greater control over the Sinaloa Cartel by allegedly threatening and causing violence against Lopez Nunez, his family, and his associates and, as a result, became principal leaders and drug traffickers within the Sinaloa Cartel.

The indictments being unsealed today demonstrate that the Sinaloa Cartel has been engaged in drug trafficking activities into the United States, and violence, spanning over a decade and a half. The Chapitos are alleged to have repeatedly and consistently transported lethal amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.

The Chapitos allegedly used cargo aircraft, private aircraft, submarines and other submersible and semi-submersible vessels, container ships, supply vessels, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor trailers, automobiles, and private and commercial interstate and foreign carriers to transport their drugs and precursor chemicals. They allegedly maintained a network of couriers, tunnels, and stash houses throughout Mexico and the United States to further their drug-trafficking activities. The Chapitos allegedly used these networks to import the drugs into the United States.

Southern District of New York

Fentanyl trafficking, weapons, and money laundering charges were unsealed today in the Southern District of New York against 28 defendants, including three of the Chapitos; top lieutenants and leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel; alleged manufacturers and distributors of the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl; the managers of the violent armed security apparatus that protects the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking operations; the sophisticated money launderers who repatriate the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug proceeds back to Mexico; and multiple chemical precursor suppliers in China that fuel the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl distribution operation.

According to court documents, Ivan Guzman Salazar, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and their co-conspirators allegedly controlled extensive, multi-faceted, and international operations covering the fentanyl trade. Through these efforts, the Chapitos and the Sinaloa Cartel allegedly reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profits by flooding the United States with fentanyl.

Eight defendants are in custody pending extradition proceedings.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez is charged in a separate indictment alleging the same offenses.


A fentanyl related series of arrests less than a month ago:


Trio Indicted and Arrested in Fentanyl Distribution Conspiracy Spanning From California to D.C.

...Federal law enforcement arrested one member of the conspiracy last month, and two remaining members of the conspiracy, this morning, for a fentanyl distribution conspiracy responsible for bringing thousands of fake blue Oxycodone (M30) pills, containing fentanyl, from California to D.C., ...

According to the indictment, from on or about January 2021 to February 24, 2023, Valdez, Taylor, and Eastman conspired together to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl. The indictment further charges Eastman with three additional counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, including one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a protected location (a school and a public housing apartment).

Valdez was arrested on February 24, 2023, in the Central District of California. During a search of his residence, law enforcement recovered over 4.4 kilograms of blue M30 pills and a half-kilogram brick of powder, which tested positive for fentanyl. Valdez was ordered detained pending trial and is currently being transferred to the District of Columbia for prosecution. This morning, law enforcement arrested Taylor and Eastman inside Taylor’s residence and seized seven firearms while executing a search warrant.

The conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison up to life; the possession with intent to distribute charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and the possession within 1,000 feet of a protected location carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year up to 40 years in prison. The sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation of this case had the sponsorship and support of the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF specializes in the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises.

The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Washington Field Division, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with additional support from the DEA Los Angeles and Riverside Field Offices. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Henek, Andy Wang, and Matthew Kinskey of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses (VRTO) Section.

April 14, 2023

National Poetry Month -- 30 poems in 30 days

Lorna Goodison


Mother, the Great Stones Got to Move


Mother, one stone is wedged across the hole in our history
and sealed with blood wax.
In this hole is our side of the story, exact figures,
headcounts, burial artifacts, documents, lists, maps
showing our way up through the stars; lockets of brass
containing all textures of hair clippings.
It is the half that has never been told,
and some of us must tell it.

Mother, there is the stone on the hearts of some women and men
something like an onyx, cabochon-cut,
which hung on the wearer seeds bad dreams. Speaking for the small
dreamers of this earth, plagued with nightmares, yearning
for healing dreams
we want the stone to move.

Upon an evening like this, mother, when one year is making way
for another, in a ceremony attended by a show of silver stars,
mothers see moon, milk-fed, herself a nursing mother
and we think of our children and the stones upon their future
and we want these stones to move.

For the year going out came in fat at first
but toward the harvest it grew lean,
and many mouth corners gathered white
and another kind of poison, powdered white
was brought in to replace what was green,
And death sells it with one hand
and with the other death palms a gun
then death gets death’s picture
in the paper’s asking

“where does all this death come from?”
Mother, stones are pillows
for the homeless sleep on concrete sheets.
Stone flavors soup, stone is now meat,
the hard-hearted giving our children
stones to eat.

Mother, the great stones over mankind got to move,
It’s been ten thousand years we’ve been watching them now
from various points in the universe.
From the time of our birth as points of light
in the eternal coiled workings of the cosmos.
Roll away stone of poisoned powders come
to blot out the hope of our young.
Move stones of the sacrificial lives we breed
to feed to suicide god of tribalism.
From across the pathway to mount morning
site of the rose quartz fountain
brimming anise and star water
bright fragrant for our children’s future
Mother these great stones got to move.


The Yard Man: An election poem

by Lorna Goodison

When bullet wood trees bear
the whole yard dreads fallout
from lethal yellow stone fruit,

and the yard man will press
the steel blade of a machete
to the trunk in effort to control

its furious firing. He will dash
coarse salt at its roots to cut
the boil of leaves, try slashing

the bark so it will bleed itself
to stillness, and yet it will shoot
until the groundcover is acrid

coffin color, the branches dry
bones. Under the leaves it lives,
poverty’s turned-down image

blind, naked, one hand behind
one before. The yard’s first busha
was overseer who could afford

to cultivate poverty’s lean image,
but good yard man says since we
are already poor in spirit, fire for it.








more Goodison
https://poetryarchive.org/poet/lorna-goodison/
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZETKBEXEAEJJBv?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
https://onbeing.org/poetry/a-cleanse-petition/
http://fathermen.blogspot.com/2015/10/my-uncle-by-lorna-goodison.html

April 13, 2023

30 poems in 30 days

E.E. Cummings


[in Just-]

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee



Your poems are rather hard to understand,
whereas your paintings are so easy. Easy? Of
course - you paint flowers and girls and
sunsets; things that everybody understands. I
never met him. Who? Everybody. Did you ever hear
of nonrepresentational painting? I am. Pardon
me? I am a painter, and painting is
nonrepresentational. Not all painting. No:
housepainting is representational. And what does
a housepainter represent? Ten dollars an hour.
In other words, you don't want to be serious
It takes two to be serious.









anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
sonny summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spnng summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then) they
said their never they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
land only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain




more cummings
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/search?query=E.E.%20Cummings&refinement=poems

April 12, 2023

Why the Elias Law Group Will Always Fight For the Democrats

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/21/democrats-elias-elections-00073595


.