“Pope Francis says that the church should
be ‘a field hospital on the edge of the battle-

field,’” the theologian wrote. In today’s world
that is such a refreshingly true and rare state-

ment in the face of the fear that harbours deep
in hearts of Christians who scream the battle

cry and call for death to the enemy, whoever
that may be, and so as Saul slew his thousands

and David slew his tens of thousands, Christians
cheer on the David who in retaliation slays

thousands upon thousands to the hundreds slain
by others and in so doing raises up enemies

numbering like grains of sand in the deserts
of the Middle East and war goes on and on and

on and the battlefields get bloodier and blood-
ier with expendable lives while American Christ-

ians cheer from the sidelines of the battle-
field and go home in fear and trembling past

that field hospital.

I bought an electronic tablet,
And now I’m trying it out.
It has gotten the best of me
And I am about to shout,
Let me out!
Where are the
Quotation marks on the
Tiny keypad? You see;
All this technology
Is quite beyond me!
The older I get,
The less I do fret.
If I’m left alone
With my flip-top phone
To make outgoing calls
And sit back and receive calls
To a soothing ring-tone minuet.
Ah, the simple life.

He winds his way among the autumn leaves
leaving thoughts behind that bother him
and cause disturbances to his own peace.
And yet it is within that peaceful place
that he confronts the pain in his own soul
that caused another pain and pains him so.
Ah, the cleansing walk within the woods
has left him with the will to do what’s right
and make amends if it does not cause pain
to the one offended by his words.
If it should only serve to exacerbate,
he will offer penance to the One who waits.
The way will be revealed in time, no doubt.

Half his blood is approximately 60
Degrees north latitude and 18 degrees
East longitude, the other half 51
Degrees North latitude and .1275
Degrees West longitude and 52 degrees
North latitude and 5 degrees East
Longitude. He actually hoped some of
His blood was 31 degrees north latitude
And 30 degrees West longitude for strange
Reasons having to do with his IQ be-
Cause smart Semites historically live
In that area, but it is what it is and
Now he knows why he is able to endure
Cold weather quite well and why he can
Take quite a bit of Vitamin D without
Overdosing and why he is pretty good at
Skiing and why he likes to wander in the
Woods and fish not to mention liking lut-
Fisk, the Swedes spelling it without an
E.

He saw a preview of a soon to be released
and much anticipated video game and it
was then he understood what the
theologian/priest meant when he wrote
of Western Civilization’s loss of hope
in the wake of perpetual war since I and II.
Such loss of hope is in our
bones through and through:
Genocides are surely a symptom of deep
self-loathing and fear.
And this is what the children hold
near and dear out of fear —
the destruction of the other
not caring that the other
is a child of a mother
and father and maybe a
sister or brother.
Obliteration is the answer
the politicians cry,
“Wipe them out
before they give it a try.”
From virtual to actual,
oh, my, oh, my.

The rain flies by in sheets,
straight up, perpendicular
to the ground like stiff
backed race walkers,
hips swaying,
resolutely heading for the
finish line.
Dune grass blows rhythmically
back and forth and round and
round like something is
whipping it in a bowl.
Tree limbs sway then lurch
violently like arms reaching
for other arms to hold them
up and give them stability.
He looks out the window,
hears the waves crash against
the shore like bombs
blasting in the early dawn
of a World War II attack.
He wonders if sirens
will start.
He sits mesmerized by
the awesome power
of the wind and he knows
that nature gives him no
more thought than he gives
the ants on the sidewalk
when he strides by.

There are super strong winds blowing today.
Erosion of the sand could take the beach away.
Giant trees sway and may break today.
More damage could be done along the way.
People’s property could be blown away.
Hopefully no loss of life will come this way.
Nature gives and nature takes away.
The birds fly away and other animals scurry away.
Humanity always manages to get in nature’s way.

Some say synchronicity;
some say providence;
some say prayer;
some say quantum air;
some say simply mystery.

Some say bad history;
some say intolerance;
some say they don’t care;
some say despair;
some say piss on thee.

Some say fortunate history;
some say tolerance;
some say dare to care;
some say work to make life fair;
some say I and Thou and me and Thee.

We are all connected in energy’s way
and thoughts make a difference every day.
Some thoughts lead to war’s way
and other thoughts lead in a peaceful path’s way.
Choose life, the Good Books do say.

Some of those who hiked regularly through the
woods complained vociferously the summer the
red pines were cut down. That fall, complainers

would see each other around town, in coffee
shops, on the street, places other than the
trails and they would say to each other, “I’m

not going there anymore. They ruined the woods.
I’ll be long dead before it is beautiful again.”
It did look awful, in the modern understanding

not the original. Some said a bombed out, war
zone. The rationale given was that the trees
were not native to the area and would only

become diseased so they should be cut now to
salvage wood for commercial use with the pro-
ceeds going to the county parks. “Oh, sure,”

the former hikers said, “The parks will never
see that money.” The next spring the hikers
were back, the woods looked pretty good,

though different and nobody was talking about
the money. Two years later there were more
hikers than ever and the woods looked like they

were supposed to look, natural to the ecosystem
of the area just as was said. Sometimes things
work out, especially when it comes to nature.

A young man
writing therapeutically
about great loss
wondered, how in
the darkness of his
soul’s night,
he could get up
in the morning:
by adopting a dog.