Holy Shores

Ocean waves

crack

thunderously holy

on the breakers

revelation from

Saint Ignatius

patron saint of bruises

and fine wine.

Port Said on the Red Sea

where the 4 prophets waded

ashore.

Jesus ascribed as Inka

Mohammed, in drag as the

anti-Christ looking raggedy

wild-eyed as Charlie Manson

said, “Dinka!” Rolled

a joint and passed it on.

“Allah Akhbar indeed.” said

the J man while blowing smoke

rings through a cliché.

Lord Krishna claimed Dinka

cavorted lustily with his

maidens in the 998 1/2 positions of

the Kama Sutra. The ½ pike

for the one legged boy, fish piked and

polled, Plato swam with the

naked boys and proclaimed Agape

above Logos.

Soap on a rope invented by Athenians.

Buddha worked as a short order

chef in a Reno brothel

was only to glad to accommodate

transcendence,

“One with everything?”

(Please, please, this is a serious tale

and no time for your verbal buggery.)

“Stand tall!” called the captain, “Seal the

bung holes! All these assholes will

be tight as a frog’s bung – water tight.”

Have you ever seen a water logged frog

floating inconsequently away,

leaf like swaying down stream?

“Row! Row! To the farther shore.”

said the Israelite Jacob. “Inconsequentially sailing to

redemption as the sea of reeds parts—Her legs spread wide

in the August sun!” said Ishmael to Isaac. Each sailor bent down to the shrine and kissed

the delta Venus as tenderly as they would the Madonna’s cheek.

What say the thunder to revelation?

“Higgly higgly higgly pog.” said the Po ‘bo to the ho. “Weed the garden!”

“Hoe to the ‘hoe. Land ho! Called the lst Mate. While the boatswain’s

mate swung high in his love nest by the moon, passionately engaged with

the cabin boy, rocking joyfully. ”

Voluptuous moon ripe as a virgin’s clitoris,

shadows cavort on the forecastle, while they sailed down from Aqaba to Hodeidah. Moon light’s dance on the phosphorescent waters burst diamond thrilling effervescent across the water, we made love in the languid tide, mercury silver alluring with each parting of the wave.

Captain jealous, impotent as spilled gin, could only hold the boy in his

imagination

“Ibbidy bibbidy bop.” said the prophet Fred

“Fiddly, fiddly fidly pop.” said the

poo bear to the pope.

Walking backwards, looking for the thread of the argument,

the integument that binds the story, weaves shadows and light,

a butterfly turns in the widening gyre, a pearl spun from the gossamer

threads of simple desire.

Seagulls

shriek, a feast

for the sightless. Alms given at St Paul’s and the orphan

pigeons from Trafalgar Square perch like vultures on Black Friar bridge waiting for

the next victim of scandal. What bonny blue eyes shall be tasted?

Desires are the room for the holiest of desires.

Inka

Dinka

Dinka

Do.

Bring the Draft Back?

BRING THE DRAFT BACK?

I am a card carrying member of the ACLU and Green Peace, a Quaker, a Vietnam era veteran, and opposed to the war in Iraq, all of that aside: Is is it time to bring the draft back without exemptions? The rich, poor, cross dressers, college students, sons and daughters of politicians, and all those who had been exempt in the past would be up to serve. Liberals whine about how the burden of war falls unfairly on the poor and underclass, but don’t volunteer for the army or national guard. Republicans (especially the chicken hawks—those gun-ho armchair warriors who ducked the last draft) think that the Iraq war is a great idea and, while we’re there we should nuke Iran, but they’re too busy making money off the war to actually fight. War, ideally, is an equal opportunity employer and everyone should have the opportunity to put their ideals on the line. In short, it’s time to bring back the draft. Not a tiny little sniveling asthmatic draft, but a big cyclonic wind of a draft that brings all US Americans into the rank and file.
Though the Vietnam draft did NOT help the outcome of the war, it did level the playing field a little. For example, GW our gun ho president who made a brief appearance in the Texas Air National Guard declined a tour of Vietnam: Would a tour of duty in ‘Nam as a combat soldier wading through the muck of the Mekong delta carrying seventy pounds of gear have opened his eyes to the reality of war? The burden and consequence of war usually falls on the poor and disenfranchised, those with little education or ability to navigate in the new economy. It’s time to bring back the draft without deferment or waivers, fit, disabled, pacifists or not, rich or poor, everyone gets a chance. War, in the best of all possible worlds, is an equal opportunity employer.
I would prefer that those who want the war the most-- Halliburton, the Military Industrial contractors, the generals and their tribe at the Pentagon should fight, but they don’t; they hide behind computer screens and algorithms of combat. The next best thing, in a world filled with bad choices is the draft. Instead of everyone moaning what a terrible deal the National Guard is getting with their four plus rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq, we spread the pain among the children of the upper middle class and wealthy. If the draft was an equal opportunity experience, we might get GW Bush’s daughters in the Army or Dick Cheney’s kids on the front lines. Do you think there would be any change in attitude on the part of the administration or congress if their kids were stuck in the middle of a civil war being shot at by both sides? Would the health care improve at the VA hospitals if their kids came back as shell shocked quadriplegics?
The draft, though an imperfect tool in an imperfect world, would be an ideal way to draw children from all levels of society into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When the body bags and troop ships with the crippled soldiers come home to Scarsdale, Georgetown, or Grosse Point, there may be a pause, and parents may consider that the sacrifice of their children is not really such a smart way to resolve conflicts.
The burden and consequence of war needs to falls equally on all members of society, rich and powerful, poor and disenfranchised, and one way to ensure that is a draft. Perhaps, to seriously consider the even more absurd notion that war is not a viable way for nations to resolve conflicts and ideological differences, and that diplomacy and negotiation may be a more viable way to resolve disputes