I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


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Saturday, November 13, 2021

global Illiteracy

 

November 13, 2007.  (I was 63)

 

       global Illiteracy

I’ve never read your country

nor found it on a map

never seen a travel video

don’t know what religion restricts you

what politics suppress you

what customs you inhabit

or foods you will not eat

what resources you hoard

nor the weapons you have built

the prisoners you keep or kill

for the currency you coin

the neighbors you cannot trust

and all the others whom you fear

what artistry is attempted

ideas sanctioned to discuss

If I knew this about your nation

I could tell you were like us

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