Poetry here.

[Pluto]

The knighthood is in the pipeline
Don't you worry
For your comments and your comedy
We will send you a message
Let all know that you are good
A right-thinking person with good views
This is what we do you see
We reward those for good behaviour
For strengthening our cause
We want you on our side of the fence
We will pull you up and protect you
As long as you keep doing what you are doing
There will be no trouble between us
As it is in heaven
Amen

[artisticsolution]

AS, Thank you for the thoughtful reply and the intriguing thoughts you expressed.

The answer to your comment on family versus principles: If the couple does not share their deepest held principles, then it is, in my opinion, not a viable marriage -- they shouldn't have married in the first place. Even if there is a strong love between them, sooner or later it will lead to an unrepairable break. As it happened with my first marriage. The second one, now going on for 33 years, is pure happiness for both of us: neither of us has to compromise our principles because we share every one of them. There are only minor, inconsequential differences in our attitudes to life.

As far as the rest of my life is concerned, here is a more factually (as opposed to symbolically) accurate one:

Memories

It's a maelstrom of swirling images,
a painter's palette gone mad,
dizzying colours, haunting voices,
names, faces, choices…
…memories happy and sad.
I must impose order lest it overwhelms me,
I need to cope with the confusion,
achieve continuity, manage resolution.

I have lived so many lives, all so different,
with tectonic breaks between…
…it’s hard to keep track of
what, if anything, connects them,
as I hopped from one existence to another
trying to maintain my balance,
forgetting everything else.

I grew up with humanistic values:
honesty, courage, mutual assistance,
“Treat others as you would have others treat you”
my parents’ voice echoes in my mind
with kind, gentle insistence.

The world I knew was confusing,
so many people using each other,
often I couldn’t see what they meant…
…but I discovered science - it never lied to me,
explained the beauty and truth of the universe:
mystery easy to understand,
I never had to pretend - found sanctuary.

But I didn’t belong in my country, that corrupt, twisted world;
couldn’t trust our leaders who spoke of brotherly love
while enslaving the masses in poverty, ignorance,
crushing any sign of dissent with brutal intolerance.
Finally I broke to freedom, leaving all behind,
only to discover that humans are humans in whatever guise.
They spout the slogan, but insist on profit,
people are pragmatic, not idealist.

Now, near the end of this roller-coaster ride,
I am trying to make sense, figure it all out,
what it has all meant, beyond any doubt,
truth I can take with me to the end:

The one constant line I can identify,
what I believed in all the time:
honesty with myself, courage to face facts,
and the love I always felt
for my soul mates,
for my friends.

I really love your poetry. Do you write professionally? And yes, about compatibility...it's true. I think its as difficult to find compatibility as it is to find someone who will give you their life, or that you (in general) would give yours.

[Ned]

Thank you, AS.

To date I have published one collection, you can see the Amazon listing at this address:

http://www.amazon.com/Prism-My-Mind-Poe ... of+my+mind

I am preparing my second collection to be published soon.

However, science is my main passion: I am now writing the second volume of my Physics book I published earlier.

Poetry for me is a way to express deeply felt emotions, to summarize my relationship with the world.

Poetry for me

Desperation brought me to poetry,
or just plain laziness,
saving the effort that would be required
for building logical structures:
facts, arguments, causes and effects,
showing all the tragic defects
humanity has to endure
in our quest to survive
on this Earth. In our short tenure
of a few thousand years of evolution…
we don’t have a guaranteed resolution.

In my naïve desire to communicate
I hoped to break through the barriers
clamped on those skulls,
those fragile, cranial prisons
preventing them from seeing,
what our lives will depend on, in the long run,
while we only wish to have a little more fun
and gleefully pretend
that everything is run the way we like
and there’s nothing to fear
in the fast approaching night.

Poetry, for me, is a last attempt to communicate,
below and beyond the defenses,
hoping that some of it will filter through
and a few will see what is true
and what is not…
…that is the best, I believe,
one could want.

[Ned]

I loved that line...because the most important thing for that man was his families well being. Not his principles...his family. For a woman that is very important, I think.

I want my husband to give me his all, his soul, his principles, his life, so that I am secure in his love. I want to be his world. I understand that is a tall order...but that is the way I understand the word 'family'.

AS, I owe you a clarification on this one.

I have lived with, and loved, my wife for 33 years now.

If her life was in danger, if she was in danger of being seriously hurt (physically or emotionally), all my principles would fly out the window.

I would do almost anything to help her.

If she told me to do something that I considered unethical, because she needed the money gained that way to buy a bigger house (or whatever), then I would tell her: sweetheart, are you out of your mind? I never expected this from you.

I thought that this is what you meant, but I just wanted to make sure.

[Ned]

To illustrate what I meant:

What is love?

When you are old,
you know how little sense it all makes.
What keeps you going
is a deeply felt oneness,
with Another…
…the answer to the riddle
of elusive human happiness.

When you are old,
choking back all the unshed tears
collected in a lifetime,
your hurt is wiped off
by the smile of one
who forgives you:
imperfect,
not what you pretend,
to save your fragile ego
from the rest.

When you are old,
and you have told
all your stories
to anyone who would listen,
your love will gently hold your hand
and ask you to tell, once more,
how you felt
when you met for the first time.

[artisticsolution]

I loved that line...because the most important thing for that man was his families well being. Not his principles...his family. For a woman that is very important, I think.

I want my husband to give me his all, his soul, his principles, his life, so that I am secure in his love. I want to be his world. I understand that is a tall order...but that is the way I understand the word 'family'.

AS, I owe you a clarification on this one.

I have lived with, and loved, my wife for 33 years now.

If her life was in danger, if she was in danger of being seriously hurt (physically or emotionally), all my principles would fly out the window.

I would do almost anything to help her.

If she told me to do something that I considered unethical, because she needed the money gained that way to buy a bigger house (or whatever), then I would tell her: sweetheart, are you out of your mind? I never expected this from you.

I thought that this is what you meant, but I just wanted to make sure.

Thanks for the clarification, Ned. I am not just talking about giving up one's life as in 'dying for love', although I think it's sweet that you would do so. I am not sure if my husband would die for me. I am sure I would die for him, as it was sort of put to the test, so I am pretty sure. Yet, I know he would give up joy and the world for me...I just think he's a little too scared of painful injury to give his life...lol.

What I am talking about is just this, and I guess it has to do with being compatible, only not in the sense...'oh he likes jazz...so do I...therefore we are meant for each other'...no, what I am talking about is bigger. Like above where I say, I am okay if he doesn't want to get hurt to save me...because I know in my heart that if he was thinking in his right mind...he would sacrifice his life...but also that when he isn't thinking and it's an impulse...well, he can be a bit of a pussy...lol. Where I am the opposite...if they gave me time to think him or me...I would choose me. But if it was a quick decision...I always put myself in danger for those I love...at least past indications have shown this to be true.

Now, I know...this is not a thing that is the norm for women. It is the man usually who saves the woman....and most women would hate for their man not be the 'hero'. But I think they are looking at the smaller picture. I look at the big picture...He saves me everyday. He took care of the kids when I wanted to pull my hair out, he manages to take care of the finances, all without my help...and I mean...he doesn't even have a shoulder to cry on when we are in trouble. He knows I can't take the confusion of bills and that I would just hand all my money over to make it go away...lol. He is the nurse, he is the teacher and for the most part the maid. I go where I want when I want with no responsibilities. I would not trade places with any woman out there who's man would save them but then sits back and watches as they cook, clean, iron, are a slave to snot nosed kids...etc. So you see how I am 'saved' every day of my life.

And I love him to the point of in the future, if he meets another, I would want to see him happy. I don't want him to meet another mind you. But shit happens sometime. I would cry...and move on, cause face it, I would die for him..pain is pain..but he deserves to be happy. He has given up a lot for me. Just don't tell him I said so...lol shhhhhh....

I too, would not expect him to ask me to do something unethical, unless he caught a case of dementia or it was out of the world important that I do so, and yeah, I probably would do it...for him only...with a few questions...lol. I don't think I could be as nice as jeremy pivens in Gross Pointe Blank though...when he helps john cusak dispose of a body, no questions asked. I'd be bitching the whole time! LOL Not that I think I'd ever have to worry about that...

[Ned]

Now, I know...this is not a thing that is the norm for women. It is the man usually who saves the woman....and most women would hate for their man not be the 'hero'. But I think they are looking at the smaller picture. I look at the big picture...He saves me everyday. He took care of the kids when I wanted to pull my hair out, he manages to take care of the finances, all without my help...and I mean...he doesn't even have a shoulder to cry on when we are in trouble. He knows I can't take the confusion of bills and that I would just hand all my money over to make it go away...lol. He is the nurse, he is the teacher and for the most part the maid. I go where I want when I want with no responsibilities. I would not trade places with any woman out there who's man would save them but then sits back and watches as they cook, clean, iron, are a slave to snot nosed kids...etc. So you see how I am 'saved' every day of my life.

We share equally: both the chores and the fun stuff. Each of us have preferences, of course, but there are no 'man's jobs' and 'woman's jobs' with us. There are chores that neither of us likes to do, and then we negotiate.

[artisticsolution]

Is anything ever really equal? But still, if you are the one that's gonna do all the dying, I think you got one hellava negotiating perk.

[Ned]

We live for each other and the joy that brings us.

Dying doesn't come into it.

I did not say that I would die for her -- I did say that I would do almost anything...

Luckily, so far I haven't been put to serious tests.

[Ned]

Our marriage is magic

Our marriage is magic:
humanity at its best,
somewhere between a rainbow
and the tragic destiny of a species
torn, by dissent, to shreds.

It is not perfection, dressed in hyperboles,
where no one is allowed a dissonant tone,
it is made of a deep satisfaction
that bridges all gaps:
it has a foundation of solid stone.

It is a union described as a ‘one’
and parts of it live or die with it,
there is no life outside its cradle,
the fabric that will enable us
to live, to breath, to delight in its fable.

“We live for the one, we die for the one”,
echoes the lines from “Babylon Five”,
as we transcend cynical, pragmatic minds:
those we meet on their daily grind.

As we embrace each other
and hug our private magic
greedily to our souls and to our hearts,
our universe, the one giving us lives,
accepts us as one of its binary stars.

[artisticsolution]

Did you ever see "Brighton Beach Memoirs"? If you get a chance...I highly recommend it. It reminds me so much of mu husband and his way of being. My husband is Jewish, I am not. Not that that has anything to do with it, but that I really like the cultural difference. I was raised catholic then Christian in an all girl family until my mom married my step dad. I did not have a normal family life...to support us my mom had to work nights and sleep in the day.

My husband on the other hand had an upbringing like 'leave it to Beaver". When he tells stories about his childhood I start humming the 'leave it to beaver' theme song...lol. Sometimes he will act it out like he's a kid skipping down the street on the way to school...

D: "Hi Mrs. Johnson!"

MJ: :"Hello D, I'm baking fresh cookies today. Be sure to stop by on your way home from school!"

D: "Okay Mrs. Johnson! Thanks!"

Then the Theme Song.

Then he acts out me walking to school.

He dodges in between cars...trying to dodge stray bullets....lol

He's funny.

Anyway, my life with him is unlike any I have known. I cherish everything about it...even when it is not joyful....if that makes sense. I feel like I am a part of some type of bond that is unbreakable because it's not just about romance...it's about a sense of family. One that I have never experienced before.

In the scene I quoted in Brighton Beach Memoirs, the son is telling the dad how he got fired that day, it is around the great depression era and the husband/dad is responsible for not only his family but his wife's family as well. They all live in the same house. So the dad, listens to the son about his mean boss and tell the son he did the right thing by quitting...but that they have bigger things to worry about than principles as they have a houseful of people who are counting on them for survival. I love the tenderness of that scene. That the dad kept his head, did not yell at the son, but simply advised him to get his job back. And I loved that the son, after talking to the dad, was proud to humble himself and gravel to the boss for his job back. Because that is what men do. That is the heroic thing they do that no one gives out medals for...

That is my husband in a nutshell.

I don't know if our family brings him joy or pleasure. I'm going to have to ask him...lol

[Ned]

AS, it sounds like you have a very happy marriage.

I am happy for you!

[Pluto]

A Culture in Lockdown
You know it is so
They must destroy your music
And the things which give you power
So culture in lockdown
Must not let through that which resembles the times
But put up that which promotes the system
Culture in lockdown
A system which has taken power from you
And has left you adrift
It is a war on you actually, do you know?
It is important that you know your enemy
For they know theirs
Culture in lockdown, as a way to cut off your power

[Ned]

I had a dream last night

I had a dream last night:
I was a tree in pre-hominid times:
a giant red cedar
hugging the earth and the sky,
watching the birds and clouds float by,
stretching my leafy branches in leisurely comfort,
with not a care in the world,
knowing I would never die.

Then I was a bird,
a soaring condor,
being one with the sky
between the earth far below
and infinity above,
as I would fly over granite peaks
and desert dunes,
looking for food, mate,
landing on dewy meadow.

Then I was a whale,
embraced by the sea, the salty waves,
as I dove, and then rose again,
to emerge from the water,
celebrate the sunshine above
and the translucent green below,
wanting to live, in this splendor,
for ever and ever.

I was on the peak in every dream,
no one to hunt me, kill me,
no one to fear...
...not knowing that the end
of this beautiful existence
was soon, very soon,
here.

[artisticsolution]

Thank you, AS.

To date I have published one collection, you can see the Amazon listing at this address:

http://www.amazon.com/Prism-My-Mind-Poe ... of+my+mind

I am preparing my second collection to be published soon.

However, science is my main passion: I am now writing the second volume of my Physics book I published earlier.

Poetry for me is a way to express deeply felt emotions, to summarize my relationship with the world.

Poetry for me

Desperation brought me to poetry,
or just plain laziness,
saving the effort that would be required
for building logical structures:
facts, arguments, causes and effects,
showing all the tragic defects
humanity has to endure
in our quest to survive
on this Earth. In our short tenure
of a few thousand years of evolution…
we don’t have a guaranteed resolution.

In my naïve desire to communicate
I hoped to break through the barriers
clamped on those skulls,
those fragile, cranial prisons
preventing them from seeing,
what our lives will depend on, in the long run,
while we only wish to have a little more fun
and gleefully pretend
that everything is run the way we like
and there’s nothing to fear
in the fast approaching night.

Poetry, for me, is a last attempt to communicate,
below and beyond the defenses,
hoping that some of it will filter through
and a few will see what is true
and what is not…
…that is the best, I believe,
one could want.

Hi Ned,

I love your poetry so much I went to the link to purchase your book. Before I do, is there a way I can get a signed copy?