ENKINDLER

Find out who you are

and then deny it.

Subtle satisfactions in sickness, if you try it.

Firestorms come, waging war upon raging souls

Keep running… thinking that the soles of your feet will not burn for long…

Yet , no one can run forever.

Find a prudent place to stay and wait until a better day,

until the fury subsides

Until the air is easily breathed again

Then the past creeps in

like a shadow escaping a massacre

Despite best efforts to sustain love

Blindness calls to take her

The fires of turbulence begin to turn

turmoil into the proper catalyst for devastation

Substrates of multiple irrevocable changes…

Dig deep, Dig deep,

to find out why you weep?

Don’t stop believing ,

until the blackness of despair

chokes the trickster to sleep

and you identify the source for which you weep

Strength comes only after the death of self;

this paradox of paradise lost

dry eyed and catatonic

a razors pleas to kindle sadness bubonic plague like remedies

that savor a man when he is on his knees

this too will recede in time

when burdens laid at Holy feet

Hold on until morning comes

Until darkness and light are one.

admin Blog This!, Poetry

The first “World Laughter Day” gathering took place in Mumbai, India, on 11th of January 1998. 12,000 members from local and international Laughter Clubs joined together in a mega laughter session. (www.laughteryoga.org)

Published by Reggae Festival E-Guide 6/14/06

Not much in life is free. We are charged for almost every kind of entertainment. We are taxed on our pre-taxed dollars and then taxed again for the things we buy. There are interest charges, finder’s fees, license fees, document fees, transitional fees, convenience fees, escrows, mortgages, education expenses, insurances, uninsured motorist insurance, registration fees, late fees, parking meters, bridge tolls and the list goes on. It would seem that everything has a price. Yet, one of the most beneficial things we can do for ourselves mentally, spiritually, and physically is totally without cost. Laughter is priceless.

Finding the good, it would seem has tremendous health benefits according to many recent studies. It improves health and immunity according to Dr. Madan Kataria of the school of Laughter and Yoga (www.laughteryoga.org). It also may help protect vital heart enzymes according to researchers at Cornell University. Laughter is the true homeopathic medicine and it’s free. If you find the news is just too much, try taking a break, watch a funny movie, see a comedy show, or just hang out with good friends. Whatever you do, find a place to laugh! Until next week, consider this short list of oxymoron, they’re good for a few chuckles.

Act naturally
Found missing
Resident alien
Genuine imitation
Airline food
Good grief
Same difference
Almost exactly
Sanitary landfill

admin Published Articles, Short Stories laughter, reggaefestivaleguide.com

Published by Reggae Festival E-Guide 6/7/06

They say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. In every culture and tongue there are versions of this age old proverb. Basically, this means beauty is determined by the individual who does the looking. It is based upon individual perception, value and attitude. Shakespeare said, “Love adds a precious seeing to the eye.” We see this in art all the time. What is beautiful to one person, may be ugly to another. Everyone has there own idea about where beauty lies. An art collector friend of mine told me that during times of war, the monetary value of art rises. This speaks volumes to the true value of beauty in the world. During dark times light remains patient knowing that renaissance will occur again. Beauty makes our world brighter. Sometimes it is necessary to search for beauty; consider what is beautiful to you. Here’s a list of a few of my favorite beautiful things that I am grateful for…

admin Blog This!, Published Articles, Short Stories Poetry, reggaefestivaleguide.com

Who cares?

the deception is in the perception

that anyone cares beyond their own persuasions

the reality is no one can convince anyone else that what they

care about really matters

at all to anyone else

but themselves

and we don’t listen to each other anyhow

admin Poetry

These recordings resonate wiith the walls

of my brain

Yet I am not insane, enough

to claim to be

the last of the lonely monks

nor am I of the Original Punks

second generation X’r

scaled down Hemmingway exerpt

live my way through pain and pleasure

respiratory therapy expert

functional father of dysfunctional flavor

stood in a crowd once with Flava Flav’ r

Love my wordplay,  like I love my neighbor

admin Poetry

Give this life a second look,

don’t fear what history mistook

Ask,  if you dare to ask…

What feels like this?

take a moment,

but don’t reminisce

too long…

Experience the emptiness

of entropy

perceptually

from a vessel emptied,

but once full

or experience the hollow shrill of droughts pull

either way, never sever

loiter or lull

dare to sleep through this compassionate nightmare

to wake , then weep

with heavens stolen thunder deep

beneath

the ever desperate bounds of deceit

admin Poetry

Seaworthy

I travel in a spiral
with the Earth
with the Universe
I travel unrehearsed
with love dispersed
I don’t plan on ending this symphony
of light unbound
Who really knows if there
is really ground?
Besides the pain,
all else is illusion
for the residential masses
distribution
living among the dead
not with
not of
not withstanding
seaworthy if not noteworthy

admin Slam Poetry

Published by Reggae Festival E-Guide 6/21/06

Last Sunday evening I attended a funeral for a young man who had died ten days earlier. Frankie was nineteen when he died. He was an avid acoustic guitar player who could always be found in front of the local grocery store strumming tunes from the band, SUBLIME.

Frankie hardly ever drank alcohol, but he was riding in a car with someone who had been drinking and paid the ultimate price for his decision. According to Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD), alcohol-related fatalities among teens account for thirty-six percent of all fatalities of people that age. While overall teen drunk driving has decreased three percent over the last few years, the general population of people driving while intoxicated has risen. Around forty percent of people who die in car crashes are alcohol-related.

As a father myself attending the funeral with my son on Father’s Day, I thought of how hard it must be for Frankie’s father to accept this tragedy. At the memorial he used the opportunity to remind the teenagers of the importance of sober driving. Especially in this season of gathering and celebration we must be aware and designate a sober driver.

I pray that everyone would have a great time attending festivals and make it home safe and sound, and remember… * “Lovin’, is what we’ve got!”

*Sublime tune, “What I Got”; Sublime lyric, “lovin’, is what i got, i got, i got”.

“Blending a love of dance-hall and rock-steady reggae rhythms with an aggressive punk ethic, SUBLIME spread its garage hall gospel all across America, creating a rabid, grass-roots following everywhere they went, especially in the surf/skate/snowboard communities.”

admin Published Articles, Short Stories MADD, reggaefestivaleguide.com

Published by Reggae Festival E-Guide 5/31/06

Our prayers, blessings, and thoughts go out to the families and survivors of those affected by the earthquake in Indonesia this past week. It seems that every time we open the paper, watch the news, or log on to the Internet, we are bombarded with statistics of death and destruction caused by natural disasters. With the recent loss of five thousand people in Indonesia, nearly twenty-one million people have died worldwide because of natural disasters over the last century. While this is a staggering statistic to comprehend, consider that three times as many people have died in wars over this same time period.

As television newscast focus on the latest terrorist activity or the Avian Bird Flu, the most serious of dangers facing humans remain to be disease that has been around for a long time, starvation, and poverty. Nearly seven and a half million people die yearly due to these factors. Sooner or later, these things will affect us all. Unfortunately, these social problems only account for half of deaths to humans.

So, what is the greatest threat to humanity? Statistically, the answer is government. While it is necessary to be aware of the frailty of life on planet Earth, the numbers of people misplaced by natural disasters, disease and starvation pale in comparison to the actual victims of man’s inhumanity to man.

This is probably the most disturbing piece of evidence I gathered in the writing of this article. Democide or murder-by-government killed one hundred and seventy-four million people in the last hundred years. This equals from head to toe, humans circling the Earth four times! Meanwhile, the media spends it’s time on a Bird Flu that has only killed one hundred-sixty people worldwide.

We truly need to learn to love each other and not tolerate leaders who rule by domination, coercion, and violence. We must strive towards positive cultural and social change. How else will we continue to coexist?

A wonderful organization that actively supports humanity and protests war since 1980 is “Food Not Bombs”. Click here for their Current Actions & Events page.

admin Published Articles, Short Stories reggaefestivaleguide.com

Published by Reggae Festival E-Guide 4/1/06

In the scriptures of old we are taught that wherever two or more people are gathered together in Jah’s name, the spirit of the creator is present also. The gathering of people invites this creative force. It is when we gather that ideas and burdens are shared with one another. It is at these times that we are changed, enlightened, and encouraged. While we all appreciate our connections via e-mail, nothing can replace the benefits of community.

When we come together at festivals to worship, pray, dance, or discuss life, something magical happens within us. We walk away with new inspiration and renewed passion. Let us remember that we are the conduits of the Creator’s love here on Earth. Gathering is truly the expression of our collective hearts. It is how we become one love, one people.

Also, the gathering of people is what most frightens oppressive government. Wherever freedom reigns in the world, there is open communication amongst people. When we gather, we gain power. When we fail to gather, we only fail ourselves. Therefore, let us not forsake the gathering of ourselves together. It is vital now as much as it has ever been.

admin Published Articles, Short Stories reggaefestivaleguide.com