Below are the 15 most recent journal entries recorded in Lyric Poet's LiveJournal:

Friday, March 26th, 2004
9:24 am	No violence under any circumstances? I recently met with my five-year-old son's principal to discuss the possibility of a demonstration at his school. The proposed demo would have been staged by a group with which I am loosely affiliated, the SCA or Society for Creative Anachronism. It is a world-wide group of folks who are interested in recreating and studying virtually all aspects of life during the Middle Ages (much like you see at the Renaissance Fairs). Interests range from costuming, to arts, music, dance, to fighting, and almost everything between. One might suspect my interests to lie in the poetry of the period, but I much prefer the study of 19th and 20th century works. My primary interest is shared with a small, but fanatical sub-group dedicated to practicing the martial art of period heavy weapons fighting. With rattan replicas of period swords, battle axes, and pole arms, as well as genuine steel and hardened leather armor (we ain't totally crazy), we come together basically as grown men who like to dress up and pound each other with big sticks. A very low-keyed presentation of such is often a part of the school and civic demos that the members will enact. Suffice it to say that it is as much fun for we who get to play in the armor, as it is for the kids who are quite thrilled to watch. Ah, but let us not forget political correctness..."We do not encourage the use of violence under any circumstances". Such was the response to my casual offer to the chief administrator of my son's school. Respectfully, I thanked her for her time, took my leave, then began thinking about her remark. No violence under ANY circumstances? Seemingly a good thing, a reasonable posture. A positive message for our children. But is it? Our educators and child shrinks have been preaching this same message and rallying to remove such things as cartoon violence (Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd were weapon-toting thugs) for decades now. What has been the result? Hmmm....seems that violent crimes, particularly youth crimes, are at record levels. Could it be that a totally pacifist message works only on people who are already decent, respectful and law-abiding, and has no effect whatsoever on those who disposed to violent behavior? We seem to be polarizing even further as a society, as it pertains to violence. The criminals are getting more ruthless and violent, while the rest of us good, genteel folk, are becoming more detached, more apathetic, and more self-serving. Here's a radical thought. Maybe violence is appropriate in SOME circumstances, albeit the rarest and most extreme. Case in point: 9/11. Should we put those responsible in time-out, so they can think about their actions and be really sorry? We certainly wouldn't want to encourage any violence against them, would we? Additional cases in point, on a more local and personal level: 1)A woman is pinned against a car in a Winn-Dixie parking lot and is being slapped and abused by four men, 2)A woman has broken down on the side of Interstate 10 and is being chased by a gang of teen-age boys, 3)A young man with a cane has been knocked to the ground to be stomped by a group of drunken party-goers. Such things don't really happen in our everyday lives , or do they? Each of these events, and others, transpired within my vision and reach. In each case I responded with the most medieval justice I could render to the respective assailants. Were I programmed since birth by the politically-correct rhetoric that has made the criminals softer and our decent young men softer, then I too would have done nothing, just as we too often read about in news clippings..."woman is gang-raped while onlookers do nothing..." In such extreme (but not all that rare events in our sad society), I propose that violence is VERY appropriate. If you are a murderer, rapist, child molester, mugger, wife-beater, or just a general all-around thug, there has never been a better time for you to freely ply your trade. You don't have to slink around in the dark any longer. Be proud of what you do and who you are. Bask the sunshine! It's never appropriate for the rest of us to get involved and stop you, though we may give you a wicked tongue-lashing ;-) One more thing, however. Please don't do it on my watch, or I may revert to my propensity to get rather medieval on your ass. And by the way, when my boys are men, I pray they'll do the same. Sorry, Ms. Anderson... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 25th, 2003
8:58 pm	For the first time... Those of you who have followed my journal know that I have loved and lost, as most have who have lived to my "seasoned, but not sagging" age. More than one muse has flirted with my fancy over the years. More than one has broken my heart. I have always believed, however, that the cumulative effect of our life experiences, whether euphoric or tragic, is to prepare us to receive the next blessing God has prepared. Admittedly, this blessing is often cloaked in dark fear, reservation, and doubt. Nonetheless, I believe in the goodness of life. I believe in its opportunities, surprises, and wondrous uncertainties. And above all things, and at any cost, I believe in love. Thus, I am prepared to state that I am in love. And though I have certainly loved before, in many respects I am experiencing love's totality and magnanimous spirit for the very first time. As a poet, I have long written of love. Inspired by my vision of what it could be, I have woven tales of passion and connection that have led some to tears. Yet, much of this intense and honest emotion dwelled only within my heart and my mind, and of course in my dreams. My true muse was abstract--my faith, my vision, my hope of connection with one who would transcend all known experiences of the flesh and all conceived notions of the spirit. In this writing, I hereby declare that she now exists, no longer a mere concept and belief system, but a flesh-and-blood goddess who walks this earth, and occupies my ethereal plane as well. She came to me through my words, the manifestation of my dreams and visions, and abides with me as my partner, friend and intellectual stimulus. To describe the beauty of her spirit and body is futile. Never have such words been coined that can capture her magnificence. Suffice it to say that she is the one for whom I have waited, the one of whom I have dreamed, the one for whom I have always written, even long before God sent her radiant frame to my doorstep to restore me. I am no longer in love with a concept. I am in love with a woman--my physical and spiritual partner. In many ways, I am in love for the very first time. In every way, I am in love for the last time in this wonderful, miraculous life. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 26th, 2003
12:19 pm	War is Hell...Love is Purgatory ;) World events sometimes remind us that there are far more important issues in the world, than just those that involve our direct day-to-day experience. We are indeed in the midst of such a time. As a poet who strives to define love and ecstasy, I also attempt to define the ugliness and horror in this world, as it exists from my perspective. I cannot understand it, nor can I alter or preclude its manifestation; but perhaps I can illuminate its ugly face in some small way, inspiring someone else to rise up and stand against it. In that vein, I will make a few remarks concerning the present and ongoing war in Iraq. While it is popular among journalists, academic-types and artists to universally oppose war on just about any grounds, I feel it is my duty to oppose evil, not war, wherever I find it. I am fortunate that my weapons are my words and my voice. Others, much braver and dedicated that I, are currently opposing evil with bullets and bombs, shedding their blood, not their ink, in the process. I believe we have not only the right, but the duty, to attack elements in this world who seek to render us harm as a society or as a people. In my mind, there is more than enough evidence to link this Iraqi regime to the merciless slaughter of thousands of its own political enemies, as well as to the financial, if not logistical support of those who have murdered, and who seek to murder civilians around the world. I wrote an historical novel many years ago on the subject of the revolution in Iran. During two years of research, I became quite familiar with the incredible ruthlessness and brutality of Saddam Hussein. He has abused and tortured his own people, and any who do not share his views, as long as he has been in power. To glorify himself, he would have no qualms about using any weapons of mass destruction against our people or any other population, if he had the means and opportunity to deliver such a blow. I am a peaceful and loving man; yet threaten the safety and well-being of my children, and I will beat you to a bloody pulp before you have a chance to act against them. The world is an enormous, complex and dangerous classroom. But it is about to have one less ugly and evil bully on the playground. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 11th, 2003
7:24 pm	Absence makes the heart grow fonder... Or some some other foolish poet wrote years ago. My experience in general has been to the contrary. The most beautiful, loving and content couples that I have known have craved to be together. Not that everyone (especially a poet) does not need some time alone to reflect and regenerate himself. But in general, couples who seek too much time apart are merely seeking a gradual and subtle exodus from each other, not quality time together when they do rejoin each other's company. I say this on the eve of an impending trip by my beloved. This is the first substantial time that we will have been separated since she stole my heart, the very same moment she walked into my life. Every subsequent moment, I have craved to be in her presence, longed to hear her voice, anxiously awaited the intoxicating aromas of her Victoria's Secret lotions as she walked through the room. I am certainly not excited about the emotional, intellectual, and sensory deprivation that her trip certainly entails. Yet, I know it is a worthy and necessary journey and wish her nothing but enjoyment and excitement until her return. I pray that God send an angel to hold her in his hand and sheppard during her journey. As she flies high above her earthly cares, concerns and burdens, may she feel my prayers and love carrying her even higher and more blissfully heavenward. Not even the laws of physics, gravity,time, and distance can prevail against such prayers....Absence makes the heart grow fonder? I think not. It does foster prayers of swift returns, however... (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 4th, 2003
11:25 am	Love vs. Reason... As promised, to the few twisted souls out there who give a damn, I am reporting in once more to share my perverse and obscure thoughts with the world. I have had a vision lately (non-alcohol-induced, mind you)of a conversation on high (a Mount Olympus-like setting) between the voices of Love and Reason. Reason asserts that that is no world beyond the physical, mortal existence that we struggle to maintain each day. She scolds Love to "get his head out of the clouds" and join her in her mundane, tangible reality. She argues that emotional or ethereal aspirations are fools' gold, a waste of time and energy, which ultimately lead to nowhere or nothing. She focuses instead on simple, attainable goals: money, career, food, shelter. This is the world as she knows it. If she cannot touch it, then it does not exist. Love listens, smiling wryly, then asks her if her reality has made her happy. "What difference does it make?" she retorts. Happiness, too, is just an illusion, the unattainable goal of fools. "How about fulfillment? Have your pursuits brought fulfillment to your life?" Love continues. Reason begins to become agitated with the subject matter and averts her eyes. "I might accept your argument if you could truly tell me that your belief system has made you happy and fulfilled," Love goads. "But sucking on a gin bottle and the barrel of an unloaded gun at night do not constitute the product of a fundamentally sound belief system to me". "You are an annoying, stupid, prying bastard!" she responds. "Is that a rational or an emotional response?" he asks. "While I might be annoying, I do have a rather high I.Q. and my parents were certainly married at the time of my birth. Hence, I must conclude that even you must revert to emotions to express and define your humanity, simple rational definitions being apparently inadequate". "So what?" she says, "So I feel hatred for you. It is flawed logic to assume that if I can feel one emotion, then I can also feel inverse and opposite emotions. And even if I did, (feel the "L" word) it would be nothing more than a passing blip on the horizon, a falling star that emblazons the sky for a moment, then fades to nothing on a distant, meaningless horizon. It would not change the world or my reality one bit." "Perhaps not," Love responds, "But perhaps it might change you in some small way." "Un-frickin-likely," she says. "Perhaps you are correct," he laughs. That would constitute an actual miracle, and you're certainly not ready to consider that concept!" "Go write a poem or something," she says as she gets up and leaves, her ass bruised from sitting on that bloody mountaintop for too long, "I've got to go do my taxes..." (Comment on this)
Friday, January 24th, 2003
10:12 am	A Winter Morning... It is cold, unseasonably so, this morning in Atlanta. Like the bermuda grass under the frost on my lawn, I have been lying low, in a dormant state for quite a few months now. As the spring emerges, so do my heart and spirit, knowing that the warm breaths of spring air await me momentarily. I am divorced now and have found new love. The death of one relationship has given me the strength and insight to give birth to another. Never has a muse been so entrancing, so engaging, so utterly and wonderfully unpredictable and stimulating. All my life I have longed for an equal, a creative, intellectual and spiritual equal. I hereby report that I have found her. I can never be certain what twists and turns lie ahead on the path that I travel. I do know one thing for certain, however. That is that I want to travel with her. I will be available here more often, henceforth, for those who give a rat's ass... (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 28th, 2002
1:49 am	God is good to me.... Perhaps, I'm back in the old groove...perhaps. I have come through the fire, have been washed by the rain, and I am ready to feel again. Feel joy, feel pain, feel exhilaration, feel my head swimming with delirious ecstasy over a look, a smile, a fragrance, a subtle gesture, or even a thought. Emotionally speaking, I should be tortoise-like, so they say, and plod along in cautious and covered certainty. But that is not my nature. It has never been my style to be conservative and afraid...even when I definitely should be. My heart was born to soar and so it shall rise high above the fray again. If it should fall, I already know that it doesn't break. Oh it does plummet earthward, causing a distinct and very unpleasant thud upon impact. But it does not break. And I can live quite well with a dented heart, thank you...This ain't no circus trapeze act folks--soaring hearts have no nets to catch them when they lose their air. But that is truly the beauty of this glorious emotion--it involves profound risk; hence it offers a potential return that is life's ultimate endorphin and adrenaline rush. I'm thankful that God made me strong and smart. I wish at times He had made me a little bit wiser...But most of all, I m grateful that He has given me courage--a euphemism for foolishness, perhaps. But the single quality I cherish the most. Without it, I would be less than a man... (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 20th, 2002
9:27 pm	Well friends it has certainly been awhile.... Quite awhile since I made the last numbingly painful entry in this journal. There have been quite a few ups and downs in the interim, but more valleys than peaks I must honestly report. True to my nature and disdain for public disclosure, I will utter precious few details in that regard. But I will say this: time heals all pain. Love conquers all heartache inevitably, even if that love is self-love and does not spring forth as the healing presence of another. I still believe in love, perhaps more than ever. I long for its kiss--not a glancing temporal brush of the lips, but a long-lingering intertwining exchange of breath, of life's essence, the kind of warmth, passion and exhilaration that can only be found in true love. I know not where she resides, or whether her journey will take her to this forlorn region of absence. But this I do know: she does exist. She lives, breathes, and moves in soft knowing motions, born gracefully upon this warm Spring breeze. This I know also, that I will stand hopefully upon this optimistic vessel and be ready to receive her with open arms if the winds of fate should be so generous to me once more.... (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 22nd, 2001
4:12 pm	These may be the last words...... These may be the last words that I can muster for awhile. The pain is thick and palatable as rancid peanut butter. I review previous entries here and examine the verbiage in regard to my devotion and passion for the lips that have always loomed in reverence over my soul. Yet, how could I be so blind and removed as to not notice that these same lips have grown cold and blue with silence? The reasons are both legion, and singular. Many perhaps avertable, others inevitable. The pain and dysfunction that seemingly has imprinted her tortured soul from birth has finally ruptured and fragmented not only one, but an entire family of spirits as well. I, in my blinded devotion and eternally optimistic nature, now stand alone, dumbfounded, disoriented, and empty. Must such a death be eternal? Or as with the Christ, can this great stone be removed from the cavern in which she has been sealed and silenced? Only angels have such power: mortals, such as I, can merely wait, plowing the surrounding fields with seeds of hope to confound the rains of despair which are now pouring down in torrential proportions. Tears from above, flowing even from the angels themselves, who must be as pained as I to witness such a tragic metamorphosis. Somehow, perhaps even in the wash of these bitter floods of tears, something good, different yet still sweet, can once more sprout from this forsaken fields. Will I know such a fruit if indeed it should sprout tomorrow? Or will I once again be decieved.....and hungrily eat from the toxic forbidden quince that was once offered so freely and often.....and disguised as love..... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 2nd, 2001
1:49 am	Red Worm Viruses and Other Diseases... What the hell is up with this red worm virus? My PC seems to be intact. But every major site, including my host site at Lycos seems to be slowed to a crawl...appropriately so, I suppose...a worm's crawl. Is this the work of the Chinese commies, or the revenge wrought upon us by red-wiggler worms tired of being used for bait to catch pathetically small fish that we throw back anyway? Talk about a worm dying in vain! Or is this perhaps like a cyber-syphillis, the result of too much cyber sex in chatrooms across the globe? I really don't know, but I do know this...I'm using crickets for bait on my next fishing excursion and I'm wearing a condom on my hard drive next time I enter a chatroom. Oh, and if it turns out it was the Red Chinese after all, well their government sucks anyway... (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 22nd, 2001
11:59 am	My Daughter's Visit.... I am so elated that my daughter is with me to visit this week. She is twelve, but has the grace, intellect and maturity of someone much older. She is truly one of the most innately gifted people I have ever met. She has a gift for music and voice that was evident almost at birth and has continued to manifest itself throughout the years. Her mother and I disagree on so many things in life, but I am indeed grateful that we came together to create such a wonderful child. Someday, the world will know what a special and unique person she is. For now, I just count myself lucky to be her Dad.... (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 15th, 2001
2:49 am	Shopping at Wal Mart... The two most irritating words I have heard lately....Wal & Mart. I confess to shopping there as do the masses on any given Saturday. I do not expect (nor do I receive) world-class customer service. Nor do I expect a clerk to handle the most minor of disputes with any authority and conviction. But where have all the "managers" gone who can make any kind of decision in this world? There was a time when I prided myself on my ability to negotiate just about anything with anyone, so long as they were in proper authority, of course. Today, it seems no one (including these Wal Mart managers) can or will step up to the plate and make a command decision about anything--albeit a $5 item! We live in an age when the greatest and most rewarded talent seems to be avoiding total responsibility. Where are the managers, supervisors, and leaders who step up, analyze the facts and simply say "I'm gonna make a decision, even if it's not 100% in keeping with standard procedure, because they wouldn't have put ME in this position if they didn't value my judgement"?........I don't know where they are because I haven't spoken with them since Reagenomics....I can tell you, though, they sure as hell are not at Wal Mart! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, July 14th, 2001
1:06 am	Blake Butler... These two names evoke a strong emotional attatchment to me...Blake being Wm. Blake, and Butler being Wm. Butler Yeats. Now these words have an even far greater impact upon me, for they form the name of my newborn son, all 5' 14 oz. of him. I wonder if naming him in such a manner will impact his sensibilities in any way. Or will he just grow up to be another professional wrestler. His breath is sweeter than a honesuckle stem, his hair softer than the finest goose down. I pray that he will learn the true definition of a man from his father...and that he will not inherit my character flaws and defects. Should anyone ever plot to harm a hair on his perfect softball head, I will crush them as newly-sprouted grass beneath my boots...That is a behavioral defect of which I am not ashamed... (Comment on this)
Friday, July 13th, 2001
12:48 am	I've lost my virginity... This being my second entry, I suppose I can no longer consider myself a journal virgin. I woke up this morning and still respected myself (though I do not have any intention of giving myself a call)! If, however, no one should ever read this entry, does it mean I have actually been deflowered? As the proverbial tree falling in the forest, does the entry really count if it remains unseen? Such pressing issues weigh heavily upon me at this late hour...Or perhaps it is gas. In any event, I am feeling pleased with myself. I have managed to record two entries without revealing anything substantial about myself. I am in control... (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 12th, 2001
2:44 am	Maiden Voyage This is an unusual departure to say the least. Generally, I prefer to be somewhat of an enigma ("like a chink," as Robert Duval's character said in The Great Santini). But in keeping with Frost's advice ("Don't hide too far away") I have chosen to reveal a bit of my twisted psyche to those of you whose lives are so empty that you might find glimpses of mine interesting or amusing. Don't worry--I'll never show you the best or the worst of me. Just the boring middle ground that shall neither exalt or condemn me. Should you seek such peaks and valleys, it would be more productive to read my poems (God forbid)!But that would entail thought and work, would it not? And those certainly are concepts that lie as relict features on today's landscape of instant gratification--concepts as outdated as the belief that one might stand a better chance of obtaining a word of wisdom by reading and digesting the Scriptures, as opposed to turning on the tube and listening to a rug-brandishing, illiterate prophet offering such enlightenment for a small "love gift" of $25 or more......I doubt like hell that you will find enlightenment here. But if I do, I'll be sure to record it here in simple terms.... (Comment on this)