Desperado

From “Desperado” by the Eagles:
“Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds boy.
She’ll beat you if she’s able.
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet.”

Are you trembling?

“If you tremble indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.” -Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Yup yup

“A man can’t make a place for himself in the sun if he keeps taking refuge under the family tree.” -Helen Keller

I’m Not a Man

“I’m Not A Man” by Harold Norse

I am not a man. I can’t earn a living, buy new things for my family. I have acne and a small peter

I am not a man. I don’t like football, boxing and cars. I like to express my feelings. I even like to put my arm around my friend’s shoulder.

I am not a man. I won’t play the role assigned to me – the role created by Madison Avenue, Playboy, Hollywood and Oliver Cromwell. Television does not dictate my behavior.

I am not a man. Once when I shot a squirrel I swore that I would never kill again. I gave up meat. The sight of blood makes me sick. I like flowers.

I am not a man. I went to prison for resisting the draft. I do not fight when real men beat me up and call me queer. I dislike violence

I am not a man. I have never raped a woman. I don’t hate blacks. I don’t get emotional when the flag is waved. I do not think I should love America or leave it. I think I should laugh at it.

I am not a man. I have never had the clap.

I am not a man. Playboy is not my favorite magazine.

I am not a man. I cry when I’m unhappy.

I am not a man. I do not feel superior to women.

I am not a man. I don’t wear a jockstrap.

I am not a man. I write poetry.

I am not a man. I meditate on Peace and Love.

I am not a man. I don’t want to destroy you.

Rebel of choice I sing to you.

“Train Ride from Hell” by Jack Micheline

I look at the faces

and lift my head

above the roar

only the vision

the smile

the knowledge

few men know

I salute you rebel

born rebel

above factories

above the whips of dead men

above cemeteries

lets sing to the flower

here on earth

wherever it may be

I sing to the flower

in the jailhouse full of blues

in the coffin without courage

I sing to you

you who never forget to smile

no matter how hard

no matter how your fist

clenched in anger

you smiled at me

that was the flame

for I am richer than

all the moneybags in heaven

I sing for you

a flower

rebel of choice

I sing to you

WRITE IT!

"One Art"
by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied.  It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

He did not have a mediocre mind

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” -Albert Einstein

I couldn’t find a more perfect quote

To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow.

-William Faulkner

At least somebody gets it.

American University law professor Jamie Raskin testifying before Congress in 2006 during a hearing about a proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage:

“People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don’t put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.”

What a Shame

“What a Shame” by Shinedown

Two packs of cigarettes a day
The strongest whiskey
Kentucky can make
That’s a recipe to put a vagabond
On his hands and knees
I watched it all up close,
I knew him more than most
I saw a side of him he never showed
Full of sympathy for a world that
Wouldn’t let him be

That’s the man he was,
Have you heard enough?

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame,
To judge a life that you can’t change
The choir sings, the church bells ring
So, won’t you give this man his wings?
What a shame to have to beg you to
See we’re not all the same
What a shame

There’s a hard life for every silver spoon
There’s a touch of grey for every shade
Of blue
That’s the way that I see life
If there was nothing wrong,
Then there’d be nothing right
And for this working man they say could
Barely stand
There’s gotta be a better place to land
Some kind of remedy for a world that
Wouldn’t let him be

That’s the man he was,
Have you heard enough?

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame,
To judge a life that you can’t change
The choir sings, the church bells ring
So, won’t you give this man his wings?
What a shame to have to beg you to
See we’re not all the same
What a shame

God forgive the hands that laid you down
They never knew how, but your broken
Heart can break the sound
And change the season
Now the leaves are falling faster,
Happily ever after
You gave me hope through your endeavors
And now you will live forever

[Chorus]
What a shame, what a shame,
To judge a life that you can’t change
The choir sings, the church bells ring
So, won’t you give this man his wings?
What a shame to have to beg you to
See we’re not all the same
What a shame, what a shame
‘Cause we’re not all the same
What a shame, what a shame
‘Cause we’re not all the same