b99 (2.22-1.2021): grocery store bartender

grocery store bartender [1] 
by avalue d. s. hopper
 
shopping cart in park
coffee isle (on bender)
deli section (dark)
grocery store bartender
 
seafood, meat, candy-treats,
donuts, soup and spam
grocery store bartender
time to take a stand

...and be the man
_______________________
[1] martino, j. (2.22-1.2021). grocery store bartender. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by joal martino. 

b99 (2.18-1.2022): every bit: a his-story

every bit: a his-story [1] 
by a. h. istorian

alternative titles:

every bit a my-story

every bit a kid’s story

 
every single moment, of every single day
every single instant, in every single way
every single me-mory, or thought of future (worry)
every single bit of this, a hint of y/our his-story
________________________
 
·         be-cause it’s all you’ve got: thoughts.
 
·         brain-waves of memories.  worries of future hell and hopes/beliefs of potential heaven. 
·         maybe… you control those thoughts… or (just maybe) free will is a man-made concept that makes men feel better… and you have absolutely no control… over anything!
 
absent sitting on a cloud and listening to harp-music for the next eternity (no food, no alcohol, no drugs, no sex, no illness or pain, no loss and no gain) …if you’ve ever really contemplated heaven, billy joel’s “Only the Good Die Young!”…sounds about right.
 
…but (absent heaven), all we have is the thoughts and memories that we can tap into…
 
Now.
 
…and all of it… the chills and the spills and the thrills… and the agony of defeat: it.is.all. y/ours …forever.
 
the middle.
_______________________
[1] martino, j. (2.18-1.2021). every bit: a his-story. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by joal martino.

b99 (2.9-1.2021): crybaby vs. bully

crybaby vs. bully [1]
by di s. gusted 

crybaby vs. bully

it’s painful to see

just a bunch of d--k-waving is all it is (to me)

 

we sit (after school) and pay attention to it (fully)

a foregone conclusion:

crybaby vs. bully

________________________

 

·       the working (wo-woooo)man understands that the bully is going to get off... again.

·       the crybaby is going to (sort-of) get his way and get his say… but the bully has the power (today).

·       another perfect, faux-news-worthy display of the worst of the u.s.a.

·       no wonder most of us plebes believe that nobody (with an agenda) is even remotely capable of telling the truth.

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (2.9-1.2021). crybaby vs. bully. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by wellnesseducation.us.  

b99 (2.5-2.2021): he's a lonely king

he’s a lonely king [1] by charlie hess

he’s a lonely king

up there on his throne

now that all the knights and bishops (even castles) gone

now he watches as his pawn becomes another queen

now he cries (he says goodbye) as queen mates other king

________________________

 

·        in chess, the queen of one side can often be intimately involved in the mate of the opponent’s king.

·        how, in any universe, can that be thought of as a win?

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (2.5-2.2021). he’s a lonely king. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by joal martino. 

b99 (2.4-1.2021): open/shut: acquit

open/shut (acquit) [1] 
by repu b. licaticiuos

open/shut (acquit)

guilty (let him go)

it’s okay to lie (deny what everybody knows)

just in case you’re wondering: the senate loves a twit

seeing red (it’s in your head), it's

open/shut: acquit

________________________

 

without tapping into a nanosecond of impeachment news, any 3^rd grader could predict the defense, as we’ve seen it all play out over a 5-year span.  here’s what he will say (sometimes through l[ie]awyers):

·        i didn’t do it/say it!

·        okay, okay,  i  did it/said it... but i didn’t mean it that way (e.g. you misinterpreted my words/actions).

·       what i did/said wasn’t wrong.  it wasn’t against the law.

·        so what if it is against the law?  i’ll do it again, anyway, and you (liberals) can’t stop me!

((in fact, nobody will stop me.))

the interesting thing about this defense is that, like any good playlist, you can select “repeat & shuffle” followed by turning the sound waaaaaay up… and the law-makers won’t miss even the tiniest wink of sleep tonight.

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (2.4-1.2021). open/shut (acquit). book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by joal martino. 

*fun-fact: joal martino is a registered republican who has voted democrat and progressive and independent.  who would have guessed?

b99 (2.1-2.2021): the big chill

the big chill [1]
by connie hill

some call it ‘expansion’

others drift away

some predict that we’ll no longer see the stars (someday)

________________________

 

·        the big chill is the expansion of the universe to the point of an absolute zero temperature state.  long before that, it will appear that the stars have disappeared.

·        a big chill (in the urban dictionary) is a person who “clears the room” upon entering, due to his detested personality traits.

·        in both cases, separation.

 

when Union separates to its Ultimate End, it might be difficult to find One-self, even for the Is.

 

question: does separation cause coldness, or does an absolute zero cause separation?

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (2.1-2.2021). the big chill. book 99: the february chill. © 2021 by joal martino.

[2] the universe expansion - Bing images 

b68 (1/28/2021): ECP

ECP (extreme collective paranoia) - ekhart tolle

argument: when two people dis-agree with each other.

ECP: when large groups of people bond together against each other. ..this is seductive, because the "bonding together" often feels good (for the moment), in a unifying kind of way. ..un-fortunately, unification against is simply the ego, demonstrating the urge to attack/defend -- further propagating the illusion of separation.

here's how it expresses:

* "let's vote them all out!"
* "send in the marines!"
* "we need to use the bomb, and turn that place into a parking lot!"
* "we're number one!"
* "our way (or city, or country, or church, or team, or God) is better than yours."

...surely, you can think of other ways that ECP expresses, even on a small scale. 

(can we say "gossip"?)

tolle notes how people can defend an opinion as if it were life itself, and how arguments can turn into collective pathologies, like crowd violence, prejudice, and war.

_________________________

*written during book 68: wonder-full.

b98 (1.28-1.2021): forGive & re-Member

forGive and re-Member ^[1]
by miss information
 
forGive and re-Member
let them live, but live
forGive and re-Member
re-Member (forGive)
________________________
 
forGiveness is not a top-down pardon to person or process that hurt us. 
 
forGiveness is a gift to ourselves, as we purge the poison from our own veins and re-lease the negativity that coincides with shaming, blaming, vindictiveness, etc.
 

does this mean that we “forget”? 

no.

to forget would be stupid.

 
obviously, learning from the past and preventing future transgressions is important.
 
example: if i get mugged at 3 am -- in a back alley, south of charlotte, i’d better remember:
 
((3 am/back alley/charlotte/potentially bad idea.))
 
the forgiveness piece occurs when i can under-stand the mugger, when i can empathize and “put myself in his shoes.”  to re-Member is to re-Une.  it is the namaste’ of forGiveness.
 
further analysis can be conducted when discussing “punishment”:
·        how harmful was the intent of the transgression?
·        how many times did the transgression occur? 
·        how long ago did it occur?  days?  weeks?  months?  years?  decades?
·        is the perpetrator committing the same transgressions, at present?  is this a pattern?
·        did the victim play a role in the transgression?
·        does the victim share some responsibility for the transgression?
·        is the perpetrator sane?  does he/she have the mental capacity to cease the behavior? 
·        can he/she be rehabilitated?  can he/she presently contribute, and live in society?
·        will the punishment prevent future transgressions -- without inciting others?
 
in any event, we need to drop the “forgive and forget” mantra.  a suggestion is to replace the old mantra with its modern version (maybe use it in the title of a thoem).
_______________________
[1] martino, j. (1.28-1.2021). forGive and re-Member. book 98: januflection.  © 2021 by wellnesseducation.us

*can we allow those who've wronged us to live, and can we live with ourselves for those who we have wronged? 

b98 (1/23/2021): spinning

spinning ^[1]

by poly ticians

alternative title: red queen runs in place

going nowhere fast

make that wheel spin

all we do (re-cycle)

a game that we can’t win

_________________________

 

·        as the usa watches the tired, old regurgitation of bulls--t ...uttered by the dried-up old men pretending to be directional, the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ blend back into the sorry-old lies that we used to despise… prior to getting wise to the disguise of guys who sir-mise the cries of “wolf” …if only to throw the commoner off-track again… while those who write the laws rise: laughing all the way to the pension welfare-line that is unavailable to plebes like us.

 

although i surmised it might get a little boring (a.t.), i never suspected that it would happen so quickly.

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (1.23-1.2021). spinning. book 98: januflection.  © 2021 by joal martino. 

b115 (7.20-1.2021): apocalyptic grin

apocalyptic grin [1]
by a. robot

at first it seemed robotic
our world was caving-in
but then (not so psychotic)
apocalyptic grin
________________________

the advantages of living in an apocalypse:

• we aren’t going to be missing-out on anything.
• we don’t have to worry about growing old.
• we don’t have to worry about finances (retirement, health care, etc.).
• we don’t have to worry about a lot of things:
• politicians, lobbyists, etc.
• the future.
• arguments at family reunions.
• broken relationships.
• …and on and on…
• we get to see how we’ll react, in true crisis.
• we get to say “i told you so” and be right.
• dying – will be much preferred (to survival).

…and (drum roll)… we’ll finally have our come-to-jesus meeting. heck, if he’s not going to come back & see us, we might as well go visit him.
________________________

[1] martino, j. (7.20-1.2021). apocalyptic grin. book 101: on the other hand. © 2021 by joal martino, and edited for book 115: the back end of the train in june, 2023. 

b98 (1/19/2021): bad guys versus good

bad guys versus good ^[1]

by u. badguys & w. e. goodguys

 bad guys versus good guys

who decides?  who pays?

what determines who is good or bad or good, today?

whose perspective writes the story: could or would or should?

what if thought is biased?

bad guys versus good

_________________________

 

·        what if thought/perspective itself (being hopelessly self-centered) is biased?

·        thought… can’t not but be a homer.

·        is it possible that bad, good, wrong & right get determined after the fact, based upon who won the war and (therefore) who controlled the story-line?

_______________________

[1] martino, j. (1.19-2.2021). bad guys versus good. book 98: januflection.  © 2021 by joal martino.

b98 (1/16/2021): please, pay no attention

“please, pay no attention” ^[1]
by bul l. s. hitors
 
“please, pay no attention”  (behind our curtain, yes)
lying (smoke and mirrors) might be something to address
__________________________
 
·        especially when you are off to worship the wizard.
_______________________
[1] martino, j. (1.16-2.2021). “please, pay no attention.” book 98: januflection.  © 2021 by wellnesseducation.us.

b98 (1/13/2021): it's rigged

"it's not that we have bad people running our systems,

it's that we've got bad systems, being run by people."

-jm

___________________ 

• the important thing to note is that any and every living thing... will attempt to 'rig' the system (in its own favor).  

____________________ 

[1] martino, j. (1.13-1.2021). it's rigged. book 98: januflection. © 2021 by joal martino.

b98 (1/1/2021): jan-new

jan-new [i]

by a. new

every day is dark and gray and bright and shiny (blue)
we’ll find that which we expect (in retrospect):
jan-new

________________________

[i] martino, j. (1.1-2.2021). jan new. book 98: jan-new-flection.  © 2021 by joal martino.

b93 (8.14-1.2020): transitions

transitions [i]
by tra n. sitions

alternative title: the winds of change

the winds of change are not decisive, fast (or curt) decisions
they come and go and reap and sew and flow and know:
transitions
________________________

there’s something that happens on cool, august mornings… when the hummingbirds are fighting more than they have all summer.

it’s a feeling.

school is about to begin (amid a covid-19 disaster plan that changes daily), but the winds of the seasons are different.   it happens on an overcast, cooler-than-usual morning.  even the coffee is different.

in north carolina, it’s a gentle sway/foray into falling (once again, my friends) for fall.

even in uncertain times, friends connect (through media, telephone, and even rhymes).  there’s time for reading.  contemplation.  gratitude (bordering on elation).  there’s a mental-shift that occurs with a whisper – coupled by a knowing nod of yes-ness.

it is coming.

no, we aren’t talking about the 2020 rigged election by a madman who is both power-hungry and supported… not only by a political party, but the world’s most powerful “news” conglomerate.  we are not talking about that travesty.

we are talking about the earth’s annual trip around our sun.  we are talking about the memories of fun… and of being One.   

---

[i] martino, j. (8.14-1.2020). transitions. book 93: augusted. © 2020 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b93 (8.13-1.2020): hasta luego, too

hasta luego, too [i]     
by unti l. then

hasta luego, freedoms
hasta luego, dreams
hasta luego (everything that u.s.a. should mean)

hasta luego, county
hasta luego, truth
hasta luego (things we took for granted in our youth)

---

[i] martino, j. (8.13-1.2020). hasta luego, too.  book 93: augusted. © 2020 by wellnesseducation.us. 

b92 (7.4-5.2020): why do we like bombs?

bombs (bursting in the air)  [i]          

by b. ombers

  

alternative title: why do we like bombs?

why do we like bombs?

bombs (bursting in air)

why (in times of war) do we re-flect that which we fear?

why (in times of peace) do we forget the hope of moms?

why (in times of ever), never…

why do we like bombs?

_______________________

·       when it is obvious that bombs kill, indiscriminately… why do we honor that which is obviously destructive, arbitrarily merciless, and indisputably harmful?

---

[i] martino, j. (7.4-5.2020). why do we like bombs?  book 92: breathless in july. © 2020 by joal martino. 

b91 (6.19-1.2020)

simpler times  [i]          

by r. e. member 

 

simpler times were simple

simpler times were free

simpler times were easy (you be you and i’ll be me)

 

simpler times were best of times (with rhythm and with rhyme)

simpler times were all we needed, then, in

simpler times

________________________

 
but now... we’re into covid times, 

and ASI times, 

and nuclear times, 

and racial times, 

and political times, 

and times in which people lose hope.

•  humanity has been through these times in the past.
•  humanity can rid himself of these times, if, for a moment, he re-leased the myth of being the top of the evolutionary chain.  we aren’t.
• we destroy, and we don’t replenish at the same rate.
• we take, and we do not appreciate.
• we dominate/develop (we pray that this is fine).
• we do not understand that here & now are

 simpler times.

---

[i] martino, j. (6.19-1.2020). simpler times. book 91: j-Une. © 2020 by wellnesseducation.us.