Numbers
for Hedy 45 phone calls on 8.15 82 guests at birthday party 1948 arrival in USA 5 attempts to reach people in Gaza 2 grand-daughters 20+ years working fair housing 1982 wake-up call 2 parents…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Presence
I had a shrine for a while A photo collage of the greatest hits of your life I meditated on it on those bright desolate winter days Your effervescence somehow emanating from the black and…
Soul’s Soundtrack
Before coming to tonight’s writing class I listened to a song from my youth George Harrison late 1970 My Sweet Lord I think I could go far in mettā If I allowed that song to penetrate…
Boeing/Gaza (“It’s Not Personal; It’s Strictly Business”)
The Boeing Company must have been thrilled this past month Its warplanes performing so expertly in front of the world And Boeing is proud of its “products” and its customers Conflicts, massacres, wars They’re all…
Share the Wealth with Penny Smith: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems
In our modern American culture, is it possible to make counter-cultural choices in your career and lifestyle – working less hours, living more simply, etc. – without going so far as living on a commune? How…
For Eileen
The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka. Memory does not Pass away so easily. –Yamabe no Akahito, 8th century translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Corporate Citizen/2 (Products/3)
Dear Carla What’s it to the CEOs of the corporations happily ensconced in the Military-Industrial Complex If their “products” are used to burn flesh To burn it to a crisp Specifically 34 year-old father flesh…
Hamas and Ourselves
1. U.S. critics refer to “Hamas’s genocidal charter” as odious. No doubt it is. Of course, the U.S. was a practitioner of genocide of the indigenous population across this land. Perhaps a few of those…
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
Practitioners of nonviolent struggle have an entire arsenal of “nonviolent weapons” at their disposal. Listed below are 198 of them, classified into three broad categories: nonviolent protest and persuasion, noncooperation (social, economic, and political), and…
Stating the Obvious
for Savannah Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem “The Good News” is good news Universal Design is good news Sunday potlucks are good news Song lyrics dedicated to a friend are good news Vigiling for Palestine is…