SEEKING A UNIVERSAL GAMBIT
Penni Livingston
I own a quick smile while being niggled by the neighbor’s horse
this windy Sunday
as I feed him bites of carrots I chopped on the board beforehand;
petting his large cheeks and neck covered my hand in a cake of dirt
that came off in the gloves I donned to plant a cactus limb that had fallen.
The wind is whipping strong here,
the volcano cannot be seen through the white sky
where clouds look to be above, not low where the view is “clearly obscured”
Nothing is clear yet I know the volcano is there,
behind and in the midst of the mist that obscures it.
Often things are hard to see and we do not notice
that they are missing from view
like justice and fairness, peace and harmony, good will to our neighbors,
good will to republicans and democrats
and even to those who do not give a shit
that some attempt to burn our country to the ground
by burning our government to the ground.
What would George Washington think?
What would Thomas Jefferson say or write?
Oh John Adams, give me wisdom like yours!
Could Benjamin Franklin negotiate a better pact than he did with Canada?
To think the chomping horse’s name is Sisco- the same name as that enemy General that retired to form that innovative and dynamic City of Montreal.
What if old Ben had been more successful in getting the help we needed
in the first American Revolution?
The system endures when it is seen to be fair and to have right outcomes, just results. Right?
What is the creative possibility of new ways to rule with fairness? To prevent harm!?
To live in a just society that honors the highest natural and human-made right-
to be free from the harm created by others.
Ah, that is true freedom- to not be gunned down.
Amazing connections can be found when we look through the blurred sky
into our memories and imagination with clear eye,
into our collective history and the essence of what it is to be alive.
What contribution can we make today to bring about betterment?
Are we not all native to the planet? Is Socrates not the father of our philosophy
even if we have never been to Greece? Or lived ancient times?
Can you even imagine to feel the grief from poisoning and murdering that gentle genius?
What the fuck people of the past!
We pick and choose what we think and do.
Yet we do not always learn or apply what we learn.
We hide- sometimes from ourselves, sometimes we hide in concepts or beliefs
that do nothing to aid our entrance into enlightenment, by whatever decorated gate.
We know we must maintain systems,
as cycles take care of themselves.
What is the need in these systems that work for coherence,
that yearn for equilibrium?
For example, what must we do to maintain earth’s many ecosystems?
What are we doing to Protect the planet? To protect the planet’s people?
Even the ones we disagree with or even hate,
the thieves we bar our doors against.
What are we doing to prevent the murders of children
and teachers, shoppers, parishioners, emergency responders?
How do we stop hatred, heal mental instability, and curb the fear
even so we can prevent murders by responders, by wayward youth?
What have we learned? What will we do? What can we do? Will we?
Who will police the police is an old question still not answered satisfactorily.
But hey- no one is effectively judging the judges either-
just look at our previously precious Supreme Court;
we thought we agreed on the rules, we use to respect rulings based on law.
when the rules are gamed to gain power,
even in the gaining of that power to set the rules,
we get a taste of how power corrupts
where absolute power corrupts absolutely. Don’t we?
What if we all maintained our democracy as a priority?
Yeah- not just us lawyers on the front line fighting your wars for you.
Wake up Indie! You have been poisoned and mesmerized. The children need you!
The mothers and fathers grieve- How can we make that but unnecessary?
Injustice stirs my blood yet so many fellow citizens do not seem aware of injustice-
too many are too busy making sure they get their views heard
views filled with poisoned snot masquerading as words of concern
when the words are words of contempt- contumacious thoughts and words that spill into deeds
and self righteousness- that sister sin to vanity,
Oh my! do I suffer from that one! Bet you do too, at times.
Too many a soap box is now made of petroleum’s plastic.
Mental, physical, emotional, societal, and verbal instability seem to abound.
Yes I daily grieve- for the people in the system.
If you are in court- you are already a loser.
Otherwise you would not need the court to rectify the situation.
You have already lost something, hopefully not your dignity.
And what of our respect for others that reflects our self-respect?
I have no respect for the fuckers who harm others for their own gain.
I am only one guy who has sued mere hundreds while a million harmers persist.
When I call them out as sinners, liars, law breakers, they file motions to strike my words.
How can I help heal the contempt for the law and the system
when I hold my own grudges against the purveyors of injustice?
Not just defendants and criminals- Judges and opposing counsel.
Are they not children of divinity as much as I am?
Sometimes I reach out to the founding fathers in my thought.
I just know they would not abandon us even through their seeming deaths.
After I apologize, I say: I know you continue to support our system of society
you set forth with struggle and stamina, even as you have moved forward in a new realm.
Then I reel back my line in remembrance so I can catch a needed insight in a better light.
I acknowledge and appreciate the struggles that attest to the value
of pursuing happiness through systemic freedom.
I think- Oh the struggles that must have been far greater than the ones we have now.
well- maybe- we have some harder demonstrations to make!
What about that existential atmospheric threat
of species and habitat annihilation
from our collectively created carbon based climate crisis?
No way we would have deliberately done this! Right?
Who would have thought that dinosaurs would continue to harm our home
long after they were destroyed so we could be brought into existence?
Damn coal- so useful in the beginning, so harmful in the end.
Of course I must put any “creative” writing aside now as a brief is again due
in yet another appeal, to stop the tracks of yet another bad actor who harms-
this time a bank, not my usual, but I must keep it out of the pocket of my flooded farmers,
I guess it is creative writing to argue for a change, even a change in the law,
an advancement toward the founding father’s vision,
the lawyer and Judge made mission-
the yearning of all true citizenship-
the bringing about of Liberty and Justice, best I can.
About this Poem: I wish I could figure out margins and lines at medium to have the spacial effect I desire but I wanted to publish my thoughts recorded today. I need to write a reply brief against the bank who won rents as I tried to collect a partial judgment in a case where justice continues to escape the levee district I represent in my last active litigation.
