20160529 (pattern)

Who, seeing geese overhead, has not wondered at the pattern?

Two days ago geese flew low

Overhead, south for the summer.

I had seen them while walking

Sampson, a beautiful Golden-Collie

Mix I had sub-adopted from my

Son Andy, near Horseshoe

Lake in Shaker Heights both in

The crisp fall and the gently

Warming spring. To see them

Landing on the pond, their 

Webbed feet splayed ahead

Of them like water skis was

A treat for ears and eyes second

Only to their taking off again.

As the flapping of their wings

Brought their bodies up and 

Forward their webbed feet 

Seemed to run across the 

Surface until they were fully

Airborne. You could hear the

Exuberant honking and in the

Background the buzzy fluttering

Of their feathers, as they plowed

Upward to join with others in

The customary chevron for the

Long flight. Typical of migratory

Birds in flocks, the pattern is a

Remarkable product of evolutionary

Development. The lead bird

Central and low in the formation

Sets the direction for the rest 

Rising left and right from each

Wing of the leader. They are 

Slightly behind and a shade 

Above the leader and equally

Spaced from the front to the 

Rear of the group. Turns out 

It is not the product of long

Range planning on their 

Behalf prior to setting out.

The practice flows quite

Naturally from the beating

Of their wings through the

Air reduces the disturbance

So that each goose benefits

From the effort of the goose

Ahead, maximizing the 

Efficiency of flight for the 

Group overall. Likewise,

They can easily see each

Other. In a short book titled,

High Flying Geese, the 

Author, Brown Barr, uses

The practice to illustrate an

Effective method of shared

Leadership in organizations,

Particularly smaller one. The

Geese rotate the role of leader

So that the most taxing position

Is equally shared, which allows

The lead goose to rest as he 

Relinquishes the fore position

To a more rested goose, moving

Further back, until it is again

His turn to be first. The geese

Are not so different that only

Some are leaders. All share 

That capacity naturally. Less

Burnout for the stressed,

Barr argues. Truly the whole

Here is more than the sum

Of the parts. Everybody gets

Their time in the sun and

Contributes to the project.

Generally I’m loathe to use

Nature analogues for human

Behavior, but this one is so

Apt and has universal appeal.

We didn’t need to discover

It ourselves, wings flapping

In the wind for centuries, while

The genetic advantage comes 

To dominate. No, just look up

And figure out why.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160528 (tomb of the unknown saint)

Hedy Epstein, activist for civil rights, Palestinians, war protestor, Holocaust suvivor, dead at 91

No shame in dying anonymously,

Without pretension. Damn few 

Of us will be in history books,

If they even still have books

A thousand years from now.

They’ll remember Ozymandias

Long after we’ve been forgotten. 

This glorious celebrity for

Which we so devotedly hunger 

Is a complete sham—utter

Illusion. Our diamond rings 

Will last longer than our 

Genomes. Those memorial

Foundations we establish may

Not survive the next revolution,

Much less the many after that.

But if I should be remembered

Let it be like ninety-one year

Old Hedy Epstein, Holocaust

Survivor, advocate for peace,

Palestinian restoration, arrested

For demonstrating at the Missouri

Governor’s office on behalf

Of the oppressed of Ferguson.

Escaping Nazi Germany in 1939,

She worked after the war for

The prosecution in the Nuremburg

Trials. She was active her whole 

Life in civil rights and antiwar

Protests. In 2011, she was one 

Of fifty passengers on the

Audacity of Hope, a U. S. 

Flagged vessel attempting 

To break the Israeli blockade

Of Gaza. She died of cancer.

Or like the Reverend Daniel

Berrigan, S. J., another troublemaker,

Fugitive, poet, and man of all

Around good humor, who years

Ago burned draft files in 

Maryland to protest the war

In Vietnam, and who in his

Late years comforted the 

Occupy protestors in Zuccotti

Park. I will give you I have no

Desire to be in the public eye

As these giants of conscience,

Not if it means I have to hide 

From the law, make do with

Food scrounged from other

Protestors, and not be able to

Return home after the protest

To sleep in my comfortable 

Bed with my loyal cat and dog.

When I went to Washington

D. C. in March of 2011 to join

With other Veterans for Peace

Getting arrested for failing 

To quit the White House

Fence in protest against the 

Iraq war and use of drones to

Kill remotely and discovered

I might have to stay the night

In the Anacostia jail without

The hundred dollars to pay

My bail, my stomach came 

To my rescue by growing 

Queasy, indicating that at 

Least subconsciously I was

Clearly not up to the task.

Of course we’d all like to be

Remembered more as heroes

Than psychopaths, but there’s

No assurance we’ll be 

Remembered at all—good

Or bad.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160527 (disappoint)

The belief that humankind is locked into an immoral use of power to preserve itself is true cynicism

There are some topics I will not 

Share, so blogging as my “journal

Keeping” is not entirely forthright

Though I often feel I should begin

“Dear Diary, . . . “ without fear of 

Public disclosure since it appears

Nobody reads these. Fighting off

The urge to spill a few beans, I’m

Going on to discuss what I hope

Will be a neutral subject, if not

Inflammatory. (Oh, who am I 

Kidding?) This’ll be a rant on

Obama’s behavior at the cenotaph

Of the vaporized, incinerated,

Mutilated, and fatally irradiated

Dead of Hiroshima. Generally I

Am in favor of Obama at the site

But I am thoroughly disappointed

At his not making an apology for

The killing in World War II. 

Certainly there are all sorts of 

Reasons not to make an apology

If you accept the notion that we

Of humanity are here only to grab

As much as we can, to shove away

As many as we can, and to secure

Awesome sovereignty over all

Others as long as we can. That’s 

Not my idea of humanity. If I

Can state my case without appeal

To my religious beliefs, I totally

Foreswear our treasured belief

In our “exceptionalism,” our

National delusion. If anything

Makes us exceptional it is our 

Noted readiness to kill every 

And any one around us. It is not

Enough to lay a wreath at the 

Grave of innocents, proclaiming

Nuclear war must be avoided

In the future while back home

Advocating refreshment of our

Hideous overkill capacity for

A trillion dollars to be taken 

From the mouths of our own

Innocents, from our poor, and

Our uneducated for another

Thirty years and, when of the

Recognized nuclear powers,

We have been reducing our 

Stockpiles slower than all the

Others who have so pledged.

Imagine for a moment what 

President Obama could have

Said at this auspicious opportunity:

“I want to apologize on behalf

Of the people of the United 

States for the cruel and wanton

Killing of so many thousands of

Japanese citizens, not just through

Atomic bombing of this city 

And Nagasaki, but also for all

The incendiary bombing of so

Many of your cities which killed

Far more of your innocent aged,

Children, and non-combatant

Civilians than those who died

Here. Inspired by these dead I 

Will return home, committed again,

As I once so prominently was, 

To the elimination of these

Weapons and of all war as a 

Way to settle disputes among

the nations of the earth. We

Are soon to remember our own 

War dead, the war dead of all 

Nations, and there is no better

Way to honor those who gave

Their lives than to end the reign

Of demonic power in the 

Relations of nations all over

The world.”

c. J.S.Manista, 2016