"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
Life Rhythmspoetry blog
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
- William Shakespeare
Welcome to a poetry and quotation blog, edited with original work by Jonathan Mark
This page will be updated, revised; new poems will appear, plus quotations, which can be like condensed poetry full of meaning that can explode into awareness.
Human Being
Sound level come to me home While the thought elopes with unreality, as it all becomes too simple
to secure
The untidy bed we laid to cover the sun misshapens the clouds and confusion where a bleeding necessity quickens, albeit too slowly; time is running out & truth is within us while the void and nothing blend into some sort of a living consciousness.
– Jonathan Mark 19 November, 2015
"And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being."
- Black Elk
Feelings thrive on mixed results, the shattered dream, the undeniable consequences..
where what wants is buried in disbelief as we separate from one another
where the burden is believed to be lightened, as the world gets shattered.. in endless transformation in what love demands, or will no longer exist in the eye of the beholder.
- Jonathan Mark 24 November, 2014
"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."
- Albert Einstein
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: Not going all the way, and not starting."
- The Buddha
"In all the world there are only two kinds of people those who know, and those who do not know; and this knowledge is the thing which matters.. Those who are on the side of wisdom and knowledge know why they are here and what they should do, and they are trying to do it; all the others do not yet know what they should do, and so they often act foolishly, and try to invent ways for themselves which they think will be pleasant for themselves, not understanding that all are one, and that therefore only what the One wills can ever be really pleasant for any one. They are following the unreal instead of the real."
J. Krishnamurti
Warrior of the Wind
As an Indian child I wept and cried To feel the hatred, the reason my father died; I dried my tears as I grew older And with my bow became bolder..
To protect my mother of this world and of nature, As buffaloes were slaughtered and the Indian hungered; The fish gave us strength to survive, Yet we knew we had to do more to remain alive.
As we struggled the White men kept coming, Building towns and railroads with sticks that kept exploding.. Chasing us to grounds that were barren, Our most sacred lands by strangers were taken.
Some of the younger braves, angered by these maneuvers, No longer respected the way of peace elder and became warriors. They hid and ambushed and the numbers of our people grew small, My family became mourners, it was then I heard a call..
I went to my place beside a flowing brook. Here it was peaceful and as I sat the water spoke: "Young brave, warrior of the wind.. Let go and carry the message within."
There was no need to fear at this place, But as I opened my heart I felt it shake. I leaned toward the water, but did not fall, I flew through the woods to the source of the call.
Here I saw buffalo and the warriors of old, They sat in a council of peace and here I was told: "Young brave, true warrior, the fighting is not free, But you must complete the lessons that will let you see."
I came back to the brook and felt good, But was confused as to what I should do. Then I smelt fire and heard thunder from guns.. Back to my four legged and back to my home.
My mother lay there, with a young one in the ashes of ruin. My tears bitterly dried by the heat of my village burning. All friends, women, children lay in darkness.. My confusion and not knowing became like a sickness.
Nothing I could see but anger and scalping. I rode my pony feverishly attacking. With others I yelped, burned, and killed until peace was lost, I could not return to my place over that hill.
But late one night before sleep a spirit said, Look above, way above your head And like at the stream I went with the wind..
Yet sleep overcame my spirit, In the morning I didn't remember. I hopped on Sacred Fire and rode as a warrior. Charging in a cloud of dust, my throat struck by a bullet, Breathing became difficult, I fell And rolled and rolled; still not breathing I looked up. Hoofs ran wild, but way, way above my head I saw clouds opening instead.
I rose to the land of buffalo and friend And understood why we all had to ascend. The land we left needs to serve another, Though the Whites hardly respect the Earth Mother.
They'll cut the trees, drain the soil, sicken the water, Their destructive forces will come like a wind of fire. Yet a cleansing will come to purify all the spreading diseases, And HO, nature will replenish the Earth with changes.
For peace will be for all kinds of tribes And for those with the strength to remain alive, Without tears of rage nor loss of dignity, But for those that have or will see Earth and her children living in complete harmony.
By Jonathan Mark Mitakuye Oyasin - All My Relations 12 July 1978 - Tree-Root Press
Grandfather's Prayer - 21 June 2010 - Solstice
Thank you my Creator for allowing me to be different, but may I always remember - "We are all one Tribe"
To most of us these words make logical sense. When we look at our brothers and sisters of the human family we are pretty well the same. We are born with two arms and two legs, we all have a head on our shoulders. We all need to eat and go to the toilet. We all also have part of the Great Spirit within us. Maybe it is this sameness that gets us into trouble and we tend to take it for granted.
In this world we seem to concentrate on the differences we perceive, which lead to separation. We are all very quick to be judgmental about the differences, be it religious beliefs, cultural background, language, ethnic origin, where we live, and the colour of ones skin.
The old ones gave honour to the differences in each of us. When they sat in circle they acknowledged each of us came from the same source, but each person saw every situation from a different perspective. Sitting in a circle enables each one sitting around the circle to see everyone from a slightly different angle or perspective as well as the centre itself. A hologram is similar, it looks slightly different depending on the angle you are looking at it, but the image is the same.
When the ancestors sat in circle they gave honour to everyone's point of view and there being a right to have a variety of opinions. Everything could be discussed, resulting invariably in the right decision being made that benefited the whole and everyone.
Next time we are quick to voice an opinion or judge another maybe we should imagine ourselves in that person's shoes and try to see the picture as they see it.
We may see we are pretty much the same after all!
GRANDFATHER PETER Skennen kenhak O:NEN! Let there be Peace NOW
Love Creation and Created Honour Moon, Sun, and Planet Obey Time and Space Obey Sound and Light Honour Earth, Star, and Comet Love Finite and Infinite
We have inherited more than the wind.
We have a measure of Man's mind.
- Bart Jordan Excerpt from: "Measure Man's Mind and Mind Man's Measure"
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
- George Orwell - [Eric Arthur Blair] (1903-1950) British author
abomination obama nation
abomination obama nation declares war under false pretense too horrific to ignore while tens of thousands (no longer people), but troops, ordered to preserve poppy plants, dark economies, energy resources, while law takes order a foot, or two..
soldiers crawl under site - killing being killed, and told that to justify such a decision to invade and occupy 9/11 is implicated into mind altering imagery, denial is its deadliest sound, as people are told to trust untruth, or we will and can kill you.. or better yet, don't think of it.. live day to day..
i remember buildings falling like no other time.. i remember resistance to investigations and overt cover-up.. i remember non-existence of science in its manipulation, government reports miss smoking gun evidence.. i remember anthrax sent to media and Democrats.. i remember seeing explosions, plumes over Baghdad, heated depleted uranium pressing on populations infiltrating generations destroying innocence forever.
the fool's errand is to rescue the queen, while we know nine eleven scorches truth within usa sponsored terrorism, home grown, Able Danger, or patsies as the mission goes dark and deep
from world war 2 to endless war, CIA, smoke-screening kennedy killers with those bought to serve.. the devil doers.. sheeple sleep, and every so often wolves raid the cavern dark and deep to control secrets.. but genocide on the way to abyss is not logical thinking.. while Shakespeare said it so simply,
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
where have we gone; and what have we forgotten?
By Jonathan Mark 02 December 2009
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
"If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.... If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Let us forgive the worst among us because the worst is in ourselves, the worst lives in each of us, along with the best.
Let us forgive the worst in each of us and all of us so that the best in each of us and all of us may be free.
- Leonard Peltier PRISON WRITINGS: My Life Is My Sun Dance Published by St. Martins Press, NYC; 1999
The Earth Wondrous
My greetings and thanksgivings I extend to the Earth Mother; her nourishment though invisible is felt by the rushing four winds, the seasons have purpose, the sun, glorious; life as spread forth by trees feeds the continuing healing forces of purification. I am endowed with beauty and my arms stretch forth in openness and gaiety to the music of the heavens. The Earth is wondrous.
Jonathan Mark
"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense."
-- Mark Twain
A sunrise takes us by surprise yet never delays its coming, its turning, its yearning to mix life with color and turn on the crystal ball of Earth.
Jonathan Mark
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."
-- Albert Einstein
Birth
In the awakening of birth I felt an overwhelming love. Pure and simple, the dream, the floating, the freeness to touch and stretch and to be touched while still glowing in ecstasy.
Jonathan Mark
"It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
- Emily Dickinson
Death
The unknown journey tells us of lives past, What's behind the sky and how long we can last.
Blight and perish, then return Creation to your chore never ending, Though it appears dim sometimes because the tunnel winds, But beyond the next bend the illumined mind might find a permeating ray.
O' divine mystery, naked before my thoughts, Such grandeur and majesty, am I truly worthy?
Embracing life, colors blend, light filters through, I am what I am. The only death that came to be was to that of mystery, as life has a way of renewing and cleansing, and with the purpose of growth, the spirit will always be unending.
Jonathan Mark
"The individual is the true reality of life. A cosmos in himself, he does not exist for the State, nor for that abstraction called 'society,' or the 'nation,' which is only a collection of individuals."
Night allows death's sorrow to tear drip weep beneath its sublime essence. While contrary to thought madness rages on with sight even feeling the stench, masking what one says or does, the writing on the wall has fallen into an abyss where countries are plundered, the tapestry of life torn into shreds, I am amiss with its sorrow and dread and only hope integrity crawls through before its too late for another new day.
Jonathan Mark
"When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon."
- Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Precarious
A grounded bird Perched feet from sheer faces, Freefalls and deadly drops Flying on jutted thrusts of rock I suddenly feel boreal And pseudo-alpine.
The wind rustles steadily In lower reaches of this chasm, this monstrous ravine. Clouds puff and duplicate In the sun's constant spread.
Mountains engage the eye From every dimension Beyond the third Into a timeless fourth. Time eased away In the day's anxiousness. Next is annexed to now You are the impermanence of moment.
Ned Green wrote this beautiful poem on the Appalachian Trail in his Journal in 1997. On February 18, 2001, at only 26, doing what he loved most, climbing, his support on an ice ledge gave way where he fell into a deep chasm on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire.
"When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic."
A voice, a sound, an idea Floated over my head Came through my brain And as a picture said, Your thoughts were revealed.
Loving reality we must fly To where world never end Or at least try and be a true friend.
A flower dies only after It has gone to seed, Spreading its image forth As a newborn memory.
Ah, no death can forsake the truth As life knows no end, And we are alive, aren't we? And we have come together again.
What trials and tribulations bring us forth To spread our knowledge of the skies, What is within this mighty life To make us bear witness To the destruction of many lives?
Are we the seeds the flower sent forth To replant the kingdom of love? Has not negativity lived long enough To be purified back into the ash it's made of?
Oh nature, our mother, We weep and will try To rebuild the structures Of love, simplicity, and respect - And trust to understand why.
Jonathan Mark
"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group or by any other controlling private power."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
New Beginning, New End
Time forged in mystery Flowing to drips of anxiousness Sweating out toxins and breathing in space Where none existed before, Except in our minds; now Trembling into a disappearing act – Frozen in fear as glaciers melt away And consumption is on its last binge.. Where tomorrow holds uncertainty And logic is confined in its space Between denial and insanity, Or perhaps science is on its last breath and voyage From the perspective of humankind-nature, And yet, a new day begins.
Jonathan Mark
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
-- Desmond Tutu
Morning Star
If there was a morning star and I found a path to a mountain reservoir, And viewed the past in moments of today, I must say, I have found a way. Chosen, because I choose to do what I came here for, Realizing I have seen it all before, a deja-vu from a morning star; Reawakening love to a planet which has strayed much too far.
Jonathan Mark
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
Robert F. Kennedy Capetown, June 6th 1966
Happiness
Happiness comes from a large garden full of the fruits of the most sacred things.. The delicate flowers unfold a fragrance to behold the image worth living. O' purple majesty, violet rays of God's tranquility, tell us about compassion, and the green depth of grass and pines do heal, swirling leaves in the wind say, "Come out into the sun and feel." And air currents carry the moisture, in its core the life force, absolutely pure, and we bathe in light and color and learn to see the positive behind everything.. and the backdrop of blue, blue sky, brings the heavens closer to the real world of dreams and visions that one can fly.. and to understand the shapes of clouds creates an artistic eye . . . to know the spiritual wonders of illumination, to be on Earth and reach out ever so high.
Jonathan Mark
"I'm very much in favor of the space program, but I think the use of plutonium in space is a manifestation of organized insanity."
John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D. 18 August, 1999 Professor Emeritus of Molecular and Cell Biology
O eons of darkness, eternal night you are only a backdrop for wondrous light. And here I might find through the core of self the entrance to illuminate, to perceive, to flow with atoms expelling light, as a river of purity in the deepness of night
"You can never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."
-- Buckminster Fuller
Thought
I thought and saw a cosmic flash of laughter, Bedazzled, I circuited the miscellaneous thoughts Connecting truth with the umbrella of peace Perpetuating the existence of awareness, Never-ending, always going, flowing, all knowing, Life, a wonder of wonders Creating an immortal self for we are as we are comforted by the Creator of creators Beyond a time that was or is or ever will be. I AM in a sea of totality.
Jonathan Mark
"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness."
- William O Douglas
Questions
What if we crush against the pit of war and out bursts its bitter counterpart, destruction? What if tears and pains unbearable are curses because of lack of food? What if death won't unlock the door and we stay alive in misery?
Would we comprehend the meaning of existence? Did it mean much before the war? Could it mean more now in these days of panic-stricken homes?
O' the emotions lose control; who the fuck cares who wins the war? Who's on the side of fate? Could nuclear radiation wipe out hate?
What if we lean against each others shoulder and profess a liberty that can't be beat? What if our hearts melt openly in the sun and declare a unity that makes all one? Can the bleeding call of mass hysteria conquer simple trust? Can innocence bow down below an inferior lust?
Jonathan Mark
"Terrorism is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death."
"Marcus Cicero, over 2000 years ago, defined freedom as participation in power. If you don't participate in power, you are not free. Whoever has the power owns you. If you want to be free you have to participate in power.."
- U.S. Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska, 1969-1981)
The White Christmas is a symbol of more than we can assemble, it is the heart that hurts when that is broken. Jesus the man, Christ his symbol, came with love but became an idol. With joy he gave, he spoke, a truth to live, more than just hope; but, as Centuries went by man manipulated truth into lies stating that heaven or hell awaits those who do or do not realize.. yet death is just an opening door to allow us to go on with the thoughts we lived with and for.
Jonathan Mark All My Relations – Mitakuye Oyasin Published by Tree-Root Press 1980
"Evil does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of heat. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
- Albert Einstein
9/11 Birthday Wish
In a birthday wish I find myself contemplating decisions from a pattern of thought, ideas of righteousness, or stumbling upon a more comfortable situation; the memories come blazing in anyway with the current events setting the stage on fire.. and we can hide from the fierce winds of destruction.. or sail upon the ocean's back.. breaking it into pieces with man's chemical contributions.. geopolitical greed, shaped by Centuries and deception trying to buy humanity.
Dark generations profit from war, resources bought and owned from death weapons to corrupt financial systems.. owning media, pharmaceutical-health-food-energy-water, infiltrating most every government, intelligence slips a notch around the world; and we, the people.. hear the corporate supreme court justices say that they own us, and our minds could be for sale.. or tricked, while those denying science can firsthand witness 9/11 world coup in broad daylight, cameras catching things that could never happen before or since, and yet, for some, denial is too thick to realize.. or hear.. and that loss of freedom for others is too high of a price.. especially when wars are justified and the situation slips, worsens, and can become too dark to see or think even for a birthday wish.
Jonathan Mark
"He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust."
- St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."
In the methods of self discovery I searched here and there and came across a burning bush; singed by fires of purification I stepped into this holy light and as truth would allow became one with a universal sound, Om Mani Padme Om.. the jewel is within the eye of the lotus..
Jonathan Mark "Man is deeply vulnerable when faced with overwhelming evil. Instead of consolidating his energy to fight it, he wastes valuable time and effort puzzling over it, insisting it is not, cannot possibly be, what it seems."
In a lodge we danced in a pool of sweat, Fiery rocks sent splashes of steam to release any thoughts unclean; heat filtered through our bodies overwhelming in intensity, but it was good to do..
Where are we? We wondered in a womb of darkness, Yet comforted by molecules electrified by spirit. Why are we? We pondered in a womb of trust. How did we come to be? We laughed in the middle of all misery..
It seemed endless, this sweat with rocks spitting fiercely into the air, but by speaking to the four directions, we found peace and purification.
The Indian sweat was doe. We crawled out, the blazing sun Sparkled as never before.. colors were vivid, shades beautiful hues, the wind sweet, the earth soft, and trees moved their leaves..
Goodness came, exhilaration, unspeakable emotions.. and in the silence awareness arose to the heights of clarity, purity, and individual goals.
Jonathan Mark
"He who learns must suffer And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget Falls drop by drop upon the heart, And in our own despair, against our will, Comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God."
-- Agamemnon
This was quoted by Robert F Kennedy in his speech announcing the assassination of Martin Luther King on 4 April 1968; and the epitaph his family inscribed on his grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery.
In this dream of water
One night I was enchanted by spirit's sweet embrace, One after another we dove into the current's swift pace..
The water rushed gallantly, curving with each bend, Folding waves sparkled white brilliantly and then blend..
The trees marked the soaring heights which beauty may climb, The sky of heaven must have touched the Earth to share its color, And the rains had gathered to perform its music With thankfulness to the Creator.
..My friend Kenny entered first, then Kathy, (whose body that night lay next to mine), then I, Off a rock sailed in this wonderful dream To enter water's sweet substance, its translucence Within a mighty stream.
Not a breath was needed in this weightless dimension - Only love given by every motion..
Kathy glided towards me in this special place. Deeply we touched the joy, the warmth, The serenity below the turbulent surface..
Suddenly cleansed, refreshed, and sparkling I awoke from nature's dream still feeling spirit's sweet embrace.. its effervescence from an all mighty stream..
Jonathan Mark
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
The delicate essence filters through while the divine horizon opens up to a path in the now, unafraid, yearning for magic or truth; Yet shadows cast a darkening horizon with Corexit and oil mixed in deep with ocean water where currents transfer heat and life blood movement in Mother Earth, raped in front of our eyes, helpless-semester mysterious-blend not taken in by the darker soul, With imagination springing forth, engaged, deep within oneself, perpetual motion takes flight while the dark elements encompass all reason transferring its impression into each soul man woman our path moves along together.
Jonathan Mark
"When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always."
- Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948)
Passion's Fruit
Passion comes from life with winds both gentle and strong and trees leafy and bare, with wild creatures old and young and joy and sorrow's tear.
Nature's bounty is passion's fruit nourishing both earth and humans continuing life's existence with a force of two, who come in passion to feel oneness and join with compassion on this sacred land.
Jonathan Mark "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."
-- Alice Walker Within a Sunset
O' Great Spirit Gently breathing within me, The sunset horizon of western sky touch my mind, I feel its flow and see an indescribable picture; And the most I can show, the poetry of my nature, Not less than nor more than the above, But a force one with the horizon of love.
O' Great Spirit, Force through all nature, Maker of the universe..
I AM.
Jonathan Mark Mitakuye Oyasin - All My Relations Poetic thoughts and stories by Jonathan Mark Published by Tree-Root Press (1982)
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