"Both Sides Now"

(with thanks to Joni Mitchell)

Ignorance
Apathy
Hypocrisy
Delusion… Insincerity

Knowledge
Empathy
Awareness
Reality… Authenticity

Cruelty
Violence
Vitriol
Assumption… Oblivion

Kindness
Compassion
Benevolence
Understanding… Generosity

Pick a Side…
Ruthless, or Humane?
Fiction or Reality?
Even from the same window, 
people’s viewpoints may not be from the same perspective.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 5 January 2015

“Nobody living can ever make me turn back... ‘This Land was made for you and me’” (with thanks to Woody Guthrie)

The year in review:

The worst hypocrisy is condemning in others what one does oneself;

To cast accusations, denunciations, indictments of others’ motives and actions just because you don’t agree with their opinion is one thing.

To use the same rhetoric, behaviours and tone as those you decry in the process is a double standard not to be taken any more seriously than that with which you disagree.

Categorising, grouping, defining people by their “designation” with no regard to what they actually believe is tantamount to defining by race, creed, colour, gender, sexuality, or age.

We are generally more alike than different…
It is unfortunate when that similarity although all-encompassing highlights the bad instead of the good.

RS-M
31 December 2014

“When will we ever learn…?”

(with thanks to Pete Seeger)

Where have reason and tolerance gone?

Why are so many eyes closed tight while claiming to see the other side; 
only seeing their own blinded view from within?

Where have discourse and discussion gone?

Why do voices all shout and demand acquiescence to their opinions; 
hearing nought but the sound of their own words?

Where have consideration and generosity gone?

Why do words preach benevolence and hope
when empathy, compassion, and charity are now deemed aberrant?

Where do we go from here?

Where is humanity, where went human kindness; 
when all that’s left is avarice and shame?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 19 December 2014

Suspending Belief..."It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it"

Do you believe in what you do?

Do you trust what you believe?

Do you understand resulting actions?

Do you comprehend the meaning of your words?

Do you repeat the speech of others?

Do you research what you read?

Do you take their words as gospel?

Do you echo what you hear?

Do you appreciate different values?

Do you grasp what others say?

Do you know how to evaluate?

Do you consider or maintain?

Are you capable of empathy; 

see into someone’s pain?

Can you be swayed by reason; 

will your convictions ever change?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak   

© 17 December 2014

"Circus of Sours"... with apologies to Donovan Philips Leitch

I don't get it...
I don't understand...
Someone, please help me make sense of it all.

We're supposed to be on constant alert against Terrorists.
We are warned to report suspicious packages in depots
and on trains,
We are told we should understand, and not be upset when our data is read;
"It's just to keep us safe from potential danger".

Yet, People carry guns and semi-automatic weapons openly in public,
People threaten others openly in social media and on-line.
After an attack, mass shooting, rape, abuse, any egregious (sic)
act of violence everyone goes on about prior signs of danger and madness, unaccountably missed warning signs. 

But... we're supposed to overlook the glazed eyed person armed to the teeth at the grocer, 
the people carrying pickets with violent or racially charged depictions of the President,
the "Sovereign Citizen" rhapsodising about violently overthrowing the government,
the lunatics posting threats of violence, death, and terrorism online.
Because... "Freedom of Speech"... The lawyers petitioning the Supreme Court say so.
What if the Supreme Court agrees?

Someone tell me how we are supposed to recognise the deranged, violent, or the extremists speaking out from our neighbours, or the police?
Anyone?


Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 2 December 2014

We Gather Together to ask…

We always think we Need what we Want
We never seem to have enough:
Money…Things…Status… Power.
We frequently forget the Less stuff that others Have
especially in balance with what they Need;
Less Food… Less Shelter… Less Health… Less Time.
We believe we are entitled more than the ‘others’ to all the Benefits of a Life well lived.
Some work hard and get by, some work harder and don’t…
Some let others do their work for them.
Remember that life is like a savings account,...
One should be able to access what one has put into it…
Not withdrawing upon the Spirit that others have banked.
May your days be full of bountiful blessings;
the awareness of them, and never forgetting  the sharing of those gifts with others

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 26 November 2014

“Teach your Children Well”… “and you of tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by”

(with thanks to Graham Nash)

Is the Earth round?
Do her oceans’ tides fall and rise?
Does her atmosphere support life?
Why do we doubt what we see?
Do our chests rise and fall with life’s breath, do our gills open and close?
Do we see the stars that died before as light or as pieces of ourselves?
Are the colour variations of plants and flowers so different than the hues of Man?
Was Man designed to be dissimilar; did we grow to match our boundaries and not our expanses?
Is the Zebra shunned for its two-toned stripes by the Lippizaner or Friesian?
Is the mind of Man so different than the other beasts?
If the Lion can lie down with the Lamb why can Man not find similarities amongst his own diversities?


Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 11 November 2014