Things That Make You Bang Your Head On Your Desk

Seeing the Social Media traffic after the Coca Cola "America Is Beautiful" spot has been the first occasion that I have really wanted to bang my head vigorously on my desk lately.  WHAT ON EARTH ARE THESE PEOPLE USING FOR BRAINS?  Dear God, is ANYONE really THAT stupid?  We are in big trouble if they are.
First off, they don't even know what the National Anthem actually is.  They seem to think America The Beautiful is.  It is NOT.  The Star Spangled Banner (crappy, awful to sing mess that it is) is our National Anthem.  It is sung to the tune of an old British drinking song called "To Anacreon In Heaven."  When Francis Scott Key wrote the words to that song, he wrote it as a poem.  It was during a battle off the coast where he could see the flag flying over Ft. McHenry.  The crew members who saw the poem, started singing those words to the drinking tune to make fun of it, or so goes the legend that I've heard.

Secondly, people are posting that everyone here should "speak American."  Uh, there IS NO LANGUAGE CALLED "AMERICAN".  The language is English.  English, especially as used in this country, borrows heavily from just about every other language on the planet.  Just as this country has citizens from just about every other nation on the face of the Earth.  We are a diverse nation, people.  That has long been our strength.  Our ability to put our very different ideas and backgrounds together to solve problems is what has helped us thrive.  Our very government was put together using bits and pieces of ideas and systems from other places and times.
I suppose some feel threatened by diversity, maybe because they don't really understand it, or because they can't see beyond what's different to see that the most important things are the same.
Don't fear the different, look at it as a resource, a knowledge base, a  new piece of the puzzle that is this wonderful country.  Our forefathers did.  They knew enough to have vision, to look beyond what was obvious.
All human beings need freedom to think, express themselves, learn, grow, worship (or not) and pursue happiness.  That is what makes us strong in our diversity.  Our very human sameness.
Go back and actually read the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  Remember that everyone loves their children, their family, their home.  People who make this country their home love it just as much as you do.  They are people just like you, with the same kind of dreams.  A good life for themselves and their families.  Fear and hatred never lead to solutions.  They only lead to more problems.  Love leads to solutions.  Think about it.

Poems Again

Every now and then, I need to commit poetry.  You don't have to read it, but I have to write it.

Strength
C.K. Armistead 6/14/13
As the days wear on
And things are still broken
The wear and tear on
Some hearts still unspoken

Some try to be strong
They hold the grief at bay
But after so long
It needs the light of day.

What can I be, then
For them to rely on?
I find this one a pen
Give the other a shoulder
to cry on.

It's my privilege to be
In a place where I can provide
Small things for them to see
It's going to be all right.

Some days it has been hard
Not to cry with them
Over baby pictures found in the yard
Or the loss of a friend.

 So very difficult not to cry
With a little girl and her mother
She lost her library books at school
But she got out alive .

Or the older man who
Lost 45 years worth of memories
In one afternoon
But worried about his library books.

All I can do is help where I can
Make fines go away
Maybe hold their hand
And always, I find that I say
"But we are SO glad that YOU'RE still here."

As long as we're alive
There's hope.
It will take time.
But we are strong, we can cope.
We will rebuild our town,
And our hearts
Together.



The Broken Pieces

C.K. Armistead 6/14/13

Most of town
Looks just fine.
Where there was just debris,
It has been picked up
Windows are being washed
Damaged cars replaced.
There are still
Whole neighborhoods of grief.
Tumbled masses of what was left
Of several families' memories.
Those are beginning to be cleared as well
Trucks are moving constantly
All through town.
Taking the broken pieces
Away so we can be healed.
Still there is at least one room
I know of
Full of battered memories.
Boxes of them.
Faces I don't know
Look out from muddied
Photographs
Hoping to see
Their loved ones again.
Kind hands are coming
To clean the muddied faces
And put them online
So those loved ones
Can claim them.
There are also scars
Less visible to the eye.
Broken pieces of our hearts
That cause us to cry
For no visible reason.
Even if our own homes are whole,
Many of us lost
Places dear to us.
Homes of friends,
The pub,
Even the hospital we relied on.
Gone.
We hurt for our friends
And neighbors
Some moved away
At least until houses are rebuilt.
And I had the sad task
Of deleting the library record
Of a sweet man
Who died on May 20th.
One more broken piece
Jabbing at my heart.