Enlightenment!

No one walks anywhere anymore.

My self portrait

_________________________________

Waves rolled across the horizon

through afternoon darkened black sky

The world we came to know shut down

as storm winds counted time gone by

 _________________________________

I walked outside just for awhile

to see what the damage had done

Only to find neighbors talking

it was so nice to meet each one

 _________________________________

We lead cold insulated lives

tucked safe and away from others

Too many electronic toys

to visit with our own brothers

 _________________________________

I noticed we don't build sidewalks

no one walks around anymore

Too afraid of the evening news

to dare visit our neighbors door

_________________________________

My friends keep their children hidden

schedule play-dates with one and all

To visit with their playstation

just to await their friends next call

 _________________________________

All you see in the news is fear

"be afraid foolish, there's no hope

Don't build friendships with your neighbors

they might just give your children dope"

_________________________________

We watch as our children grow fat

pretending we don't fear the truth

Yet we remember riding bikes

through the creek that ran in our youth

 _________________________________

When was it that we stopped running

then gave up hide and seek till dark

Too afraid of our own shadow

to let children play in the park

 _________________________________

I don't know what we were thinking

sitting with friends all day at work

Where we hire our private trainer's

to make us look like we don't shirk

 _________________________________

But that one day the power died

I knew the depth of our mistake

We should turn off the fear mongers

for salvation of our souls sake

 

Tate

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Author's Note

I find that great moments of enlightenment often come in the times we least expect them. Then in a moment of Zen brilliance things are made so clear. This is one of those times. The United States news organizations in my opinion are all about fear and ratings of the same. If you subscribe to their theory Susan Smith could be your neighbor. We spend litteraly billions on defence to allieviate our fears over the present state of terrorism. Yet more are killed by our own guns in our own country every year than have been killed all together through our history from terror. Here's an idea quit giving money to the rest of the world. Bring home most troops. Spend those billions finding a way to keep us from accidently killing ourselves! If the rest of the world wants to kill themselves, let them! The tribes of Afganistan have been killing each other for at least 1500 years. We cannot change the way they think or act anymore than we change another in a relationship. I see this all the time people thinking they can change their partners through their influence. It never works it never will, anymore than abstinance has been able to stop pregnancy over the centuries. Meanwhile we go into recessions that effect the entire world. Think of what a great life it would be if we could fund humanitarian aid to our own country, our own retirees. There are as many baby boomers ready to retire soon as all those who are already retired. We need to let the immigrants back in. We need them to support these new retirees. The Government has swelled to twice the size it was in 2001. These people don't pay Social Security taxes. They are payed by us and they invest in a different way for retirement. If this keeps up the only good retirement will be a government job spying on your neighbors.

Reviews

[Bud]

I'm sure I have enough thoughts and opinions on this to fill a novel or two. I'll save you the grief, here. LOL Man, Tate! How you have hit such a crucial, critical, and most detrimental point of truth here, my friend. I feel no pen could capture the truth of today's society any better. My heart jumped a time or two recalling how I, myself , have pondered this very thing. I'm as guilty as the next. Letting the news and like media dictate, brainwashing me with fear to the point of nearly being a recluse. Yes, I hear the cry, my friend! Indeed I do, for I am crying with you! I remember that wonderful park two blocks away, with a beautiful creek running through it. The one I used big truck inner tubes to float down, with the homemade paddle I fashioned out of an old pair of cross country skies. The tail ends nailed to an old shop broom handle. The same creek I spent many hours alone...when even then danger was known to lurk in the evening times before and after dusk. My second home that taught me many, many things concerning life for an innocent young boy. Lessons that last a lifetime for the better of good. I remember unscheduled (excepting for when it was school time) playing times. The only time mentioned was how long I could stay. I pushed to the limits there. I remember never having heard of supervised play times, outside of recess at elementary school. Sad times, that an understatement concerning what has been lost, and rendered being a mere memory for the more fortunate of us. When did we lose that control? How did we let it happen before our very eyes? What were we thinking, as you Masterfully asked here? No apology to our children or any other to follow them is enough to forgive us of our detrimentally grave error. A shame we are sure suffer judgment by those of the Highest Creed! We deserve it, though we knew not what we did. To think, that is just a slight memory of one particular area I claimed my stomping grounds. Doesn't even include the res to the neighborhood and the many, many places I traveled alone. By today's standard, the police would be looking for me with the expectations of the worst. I was out getting the most important and most valuable lessons anyone can learn...form life and nature. The Master of Masters. I do not mean to carry on, but obviously you have one of those with this one that just begs to hear a response from the readers who do remember. This is, also one of those Magnificent pieces that makes a reader yearn to go back for just one day, one hour if that is all that is allowed. Never mind any heartaches or the like. Give one hour of those days, and that would last me forever! How lucky and blessed we were. Who would have, who could have ever thought or imagined times would come to this so damn fast! Keep up your usual and most Delightfully Outstanding works of art!

[ROSALIND]

Another truthful write about the unfortunate desperate times in our world

[Tate Morgan]

Hi Rosalind thank you

[Marie]

THere are sidewalks in my neighborhood, and people take walks. If one of my neighbors is a drug dealer and the other is a paranoid neurotic, at least I know them

[Tate Morgan]

I want to live in your neighborhood

[Michael G.]

Great write and great opinion on the status of today's world.
Well penned, sir.

[Tate Morgan]

Thanks Michael. You and I are old enough to remember when things weren't this way. maybe its the constant connections to everywhere but home that have made us so paranoid

[Michael G.]

Whenever we achieved live news around the world as it was happening... things changed. I well remember the freedom my kids did not totally share.

[Tate Morgan]

yeah me too

[Baby Ricochet]

Another classic Mr Morgan

[Tate Morgan]

Well thank you Ric. Coming from a man who has seen the world as it truly is I appreciate that.

[quinfinn]

i absolutely agree with you and fox news is the very worst offender. there is a sense of despair and fear in this country, all fueled by the media and their rash sensationalism. our people sit in their homes getting fat and lazy and too frightened even to go to the door after dark for fear of home invasion....an excellent and relevant write.

[Tate Morgan]

Sad isn't it . Our chjildren are attached at the hip to their devices spewing this poison. It makes them introverted .They have fewer interrelationship skills. They ask their friends on Facebook for advice and get rid of any who disagree their view point.This is not the way to learn how to live.

[Coyote Poetry]

The poem told a sad truth. Where I live. No side-walks. I remember as a kid. We had sidewalks and open doors for us to travel. Today little conversation and people are trying to survive only. I remember when my mother and me had nothing. The old woman of the neighborhood brought food to our house with a smile and a hello. We need the old way again. When kindness and conversation was a part of life. We allowed liars to create fear. 99.5% are good. Thank you for the outstanding poem. Made me think my friend.
Coyote

[Tate Morgan]

Thank you Coyote. You know in 1976 we took our shot guns to school to shoot skeet in FFA. Imagine that and nobody shot another person. But life was precious and we were it's emisaries. What went wrong since then?

[Coyote Poetry]

It had always been murder. Look at the total killed in Detroit in 1976. Over a thousand were killed in the city. Today around 400. There will always be bad people. Obama hometown of Chicago been dangerous for 100 years. I will keep my gun. We still live in the USA? I would like to see this President take the guns out of the South and Texas. In WW2. Japan wouldn't attack the coastline. Japan knew would be big fight they couldn't win against armed USA.

[Tate Morgan]

I dont think anyomne wants to take on the united states we have enough guns in the hands of the private sector to drive them into the sea

[AlchemicPlutonian]

Haha, the only good retirement will be a government job spying on your neighbors.
What happend to that being the normal passtime?
People used to do that s**t for free.

On a more serious note, the entire fearmongering zeitgeist that's swept the nation and many others in the course of the last decade has obviously been a tragedy.

I was thinking on this last night: I come from an interesting generation, we were induced into this world at just the right time to experience the fall of frivolities; until about the age of ten, I spent eighteen hours a day outside, riding my bike through the woods to get to blueberry fields, or just to find somewhere I hadn't been. Then it was the incline of fear, where suddenly you weren't even safe to do that, because you didn't know what type of rogue militant groups may have set up camp in your back yard. And finally the finishing touches of the foundation of the information age, the founding of social media, and vanity web markets. Where suddenly, everyone's rewarded for indulging in their narccisstic tendacies, without actually making any form of societal impact. All the while the media companies and hollywood helped to taper the streams, and keep this entire ordeal flowing it it's desired direction.

Talking 'bout my generation.

[Tate Morgan]

That is a great insight and one I share. Social media is all about narccacism. The love of self. I often wonder why facebook only has a like button .Here's an idea how about a dislike button? Or perhaps heaven forbid somneone actually spell out why they disagree. Social media is not looking for opinions. It is looking for cheerleaders to make others think their own lives have meaning.

[AlchemicPlutonian]

Everyone's special!

[AlchemicPlutonian]

Especially me.

[Tate Morgan]

lol thats hillarious. No need to teach cursive writing anymore .There will be no reason to . Why try to teach something like that to children who cant read. I am not one who shares the philiosophy that finishing 3rd or 38th is winning.

[AlchemicPlutonian]

The entire grading scale of this country has been lowered to incorperate the losers into the winner's circle. The only fight left in kids these days is when it comes to sports, and even that's being sucked out of them.

[Tate Morgan]

Painful isn't it?

[AlchemicPlutonian]

I had a writing class in high school, it was either Short Stories, or Newspaper, I don't remember. Regardless, I was constantly getting lower grades than a few kids in class, and we did alot of peer editing so I'd read their work, and vice-versa. Not that I thought myself particular better, but the work was self-evident of having been created with more effort. I confronted my teacher one day, and he told me the reason I was getting a lower grade, was because I had more potential to create solid pieces than they did. He was actually grading us each on an individual, completely baised scale.

[Tate Morgan]

imagine that lol

[David Scott]

I never ever watch the news! Your poem explains why so well.
You have a sound thought here Tate!
The poetry was flawless as well. BTW... ;-)

[Suheil Kapadia]

This is outstanding! Totally relatable! Its a good lesson explained in the best possible way.

[Seashell]

I totally agree and find it so sad for my next generation and indeed the one after that. They will never know what it feels like to have freedom in a country village, to swim in the stream at the farm then take the donkey and cart further down the road to pick up a few more friends for a picnic in the field, or play on the tree swing in the woods till dark, or play kerb games under the street lamp light till parents simply opened doors and called their childrens names to return home for bath and supper, and with rosie healthy cheeks, we did just that.
Great discussion here....but we could go on all night.
Thank you Tate
Babs x