addendum to my two cents-again

I am back with more frustration.

I wrote a poem in the early 80s called, "Withdrawal," It was a general rant about the political and economic conditions. There was a phrase "dropping out," a carry-over from the 60s, and it spoke to my feelings then. I would picture myself up north in Minnesota, some where by Lake Superior, breathing the fresh air, reading Emerson, and just being, "...safe in my sylvan home, I'll tread on the pride of Greece and Rome..." At the same time I was reveling within my imagination, their was a nagging thought of "copping out," another 60's carry-over phase. I could not step away from the feeling of responsibility I had for my family, neighborhood, city, and country, and the poem expressed that paradox. My great urge was to leave all that frustrated me behind and withdraw, but at the same time I felt a deep responsibility to stay put and work it out. Here is the poem:

I'm leaving behind the rest of my kind, and removing myself from the race.
I'm washing clean society's scene, and rinsing my mouth of bad taste;
Withdrawing from muzzled mouths, machine-gunning blanks words with each round;
From too polite salutations and too contrived departations;
From the printed accounts of gruesome, terrible crimes;
From the noise and the dirt and the slum and the grime,
I'm leaving this ocean of bullshit far, far behind.


As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life seems to float on a pool of extremes,
Flowing from best to worst or worst to best, with occasional levellings.


I'll not be swayed. I am determined to leave, and once gone there will be no weeping on
my shirt sleeve.
Withdrawing from an economic mutation: freeze enterprise, castlepolism, and presschasing
power; from increase the exports, decrease the imports, tariff davenports, duty free
whiskey quarts; from inflate the dollar, deflate its value, tax all the income-who is the victim?
From grow with the country-consume a T.V.; use a lawyer regularly to gain a 3% rate in G.N.P.
From inflation, taxation, and money orientation, I am taking leave of it all, and I'll burn my credit cards as a symbol of withdrawal.


As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
Life or death, dispositions of mind, where place the emphasis?
The decision is mine.


I'll not bend. My mind is made up. I'm withdrawing from a political circus that features
corrupt; from the codes and statutes obstructing my time; from the courts and their
justice, mentally blind; from the in-forms, the out-forms, the forms for forming forms, and the formed forms from forms. Take all the forms, roll into a wad then blast it into orbit and form a new moon.
I'm leaving. I tell you, and it isn't too soon.


As the earth spins in orbital glide, the sun shades its back and lights its front side.
Untolded lives end with the night, untolded lives begin with the light.
There are flowers that open full bloom to the sun, and close tight to the moon;
Accommodating the change of day in a most thoughtful way.


I'm leaving! and when I'm "safe in my sylvan home, I'll tread on the pride of Greece and Rome.
Safe I'll be, without ambiguity. Safe I'll be separate from society. Safe I'll be withdrawn from
that which annoys me.


Egad! I am a fool. To escape is mad. I am only accepting the good part of the world while
withdrawing from the bad.

I'll use flower wisdom: accept life's extremes, then accommodate the differences as my
awareness deems.

I am going to stay; mingle with my kind; accept all behavior as human and where I can,
adjust and refine.

You can see that the writing of my poem seemed to quite my frustration, but did not dispel it. I have learned to put the objects of my frustrations into fluid concepts, realizing that there is a dynamic process operating that shifts all things alone a circular path. For instance, if the liberal, political bar has current impetus and exuberance, it will not be long before the conservative, political bar will over take the liberal bar, with its own impetus and exuberance. The particular energy of one extreme has within itself the seed for the creation of its opposite, and as prescribed by nature, the wheel will also land at the center. There is an ancient Chinese symbol called Tai-Chi Tu (diagram of the supreme ultimate). It is a very common symbol and most people know it as the symbol of Yin and Yang. It is a precis symbol showing the movement of the principle of extremes and the inherent cosmic balance. So the best remedy to political frustration is patience. When the conservative have political dominance, their own energy will create impetus for their liberal replacement and visa, versa. Its inevitable!