CHEAP SHOT IN THE SMALL OF THE BACK
8/31/2010 at 4:32 PM
A shout-out to the perennial betrayers
of trust, and the price we all pay.
One day a grievance will be
sounded out about those who
often covertly
use grievances as a bludgeon
against the very victims
they claim to help.
Cup of Joe to kill
the flow? Blockage
in the mix.
Lackwits profit. Everything
hurts. No one seems
to learn.
Rights. Justice. Truth. Ethics.
All continue to burn.
Time is very tight.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written August 30th, 2010
attuned August 31st, 2010
THE CALM WITHIN THE STORM
5/11/2010 at 12:20 PM
A Passage For The Incomparable
Lena Horne (1917-2010)
She walked tall, spoke straight, and spread
sunshine from her heart and soul. Rhapsody
was her birthright. Rhythm fueled the creed.
She touched our silent reaches. She gave
our struggles voice. Style and substance,
deep beauty and sure toughness
shapes the stand of a special life. Stage and
screen paled before the realities she would
not forsake. The most ill of winds
only made her more determined to spread
harmony, and encourage healing. In the
midst of tin whistle jingles, a melody
fierce and wonderful shaped the coming
hour, preparing us for the day. No more
easing down bumpy roads, backs bowed
eager to brownnose and backstab and
bleed grinning, kissing, living deaths
for ourselves, and our children.
“Believe In Yourself” the sorceress said,
defining her lifelong call. Believe in
yourself, though you stumble and break
you never, ever crawl.
She stood stock still, and shimmered with
movement. She beckoned, and audiences
caught their breath, gripped in the drama
of her every moment. She stood,
and taught generations
how.
She sang. Truth testifies.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written May 10th & 11th, 2010
A World Perspective. An American's Concern.
10/13/2009 at 1:09 AM
IN SEARCH OF ALTRUISM
Everyone
wants
rights.
Who stands
up for
Justice?
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written October 6th, 2009
attuned October 13th, 2009
So Far We Have Come. So Far, Yet, To Go...
7/22/2009 at 12:31 AM
POPLAR TREES
The specter of strange fruit, still.
The dubious history reflected
by what happened to Dr. Henry
Louis Gates in his own home...
profiling or not. Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
July 16th, 2009.
Forget about the perils of stepping out. Just when you thought it was safe to go
into your own home, along comes gross misconception, aided by a blind eye
to basic sense. 400 years, it seems, isn’t enough.
All it takes is careless instinct, focused bias, frayed nerves and
authority lacking balance for honest folk to be mistreated,
all actions misinterpreted,and injustice to take callous control.
That Sam Jackson-Nick Cage film about an acclaimed Black author harassed
for entering his own house? It became the tale of a Harvard professor,
coming home from overseas. A police report on suspicious men...
Palm Beach, Florida, as late as 1985, required Blacks and Hispanics
to carry a special pass at all times, or be subject to arrest. Took a
comic strip, Doonesbury, to paint the serious picture for all to see.
It was a legendary Jazz trumpeter beaten in New York City, 1959.
Miles Davis, taking a break from bringing Heaven to audiences
at Birdland, catches Hell for standing in front of his own workplace.
For me, it was April 20th, 2008 in Buffalo NY; front doors broken
down by screaming officers disrupting Sunday dinner, and what
had been my peace of mind. I‘ve received no apology to date.
All things told, we hear about “post-racial” America.
How civil rights have been won. Civility isn’t the issue.
Having the right to be equal means nothing
if equality is measured by those who forever take it away.
Rights are a great balance if the common denominator
is stepping up, not dumbing down to “business as usual”.
Once more, we must all establish the great precedent, written
in blood and sacrifice, clarity and dream. Post-racial? Centuries
of struggle have barely formed the starting line. Time for Truth.
Culture is who we are, what all can share for all that’s right.
Not hype to push divisive might. Linton Kwesi Johnson said it
best. Get it done. Be the test. Not to preach. Not to teach.
Time to show you.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written July 21st,2009
attuned July 29th,2009
October 12th & 13th,
2009
The Nature Of Busybodies, Know-It-Alls, And Other Frogmouths
7/12/2009 at 9:52 PM
THE NATURE OF BUSYBODIES, KNOW-IT-ALLS,
AND OTHER FROGMOUTHS
A taste stays in the mouth,
its council charged
with the potency
of castor
oil,
its ingredients ripe
from the can.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
attuned July 8th, 2007
and July 12th, 2009
Elegy For The Glove (1958-2009)
6/27/2009 at 9:42 AM
ELEGY FOR THE GLOVE
Say a prayer for the boy
with golden voice
and happy feet
who never had a childhood
was confounded by
adulthood
and never found
the man he should
have been.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written June 25th and 26th, 2009
All The News That's Fit...
6/14/2008 at 1:50 AM
TIM RUSSERT
Honoring The Master
Commentator Of
MEET THE PRESS
(1950-2008).
Gentleman. Scholar.
Peerless Journalist.
World Class. Buffalo
NY’s Very Best.
Chipper. Calming. Ever Congenial.
Always Comprehensive.
The sharpest point
brought home
with a smile.
In a time of blind extremes
and far too many dumb
mouths, he always
knew
what to say, and how.
In an age of prejudiced zealots, selfish
lackwits, and dogged brownnosers,
here walked a man who heeded all
with a fearless grasp and
a gentle touch.
Humble wit accents the most
pointed jab. Serious resolve
fuels the heartiest of laughs
and the most urgent news
to be shared.
A moderator advocating moderation
from everyone, he acted as only the
best of risktakers can – quietly,
truthfully and
in the open
Never forget the rarest of treasures –
a speaker wisely invoking the need to act,
and our right to listen. Heed the town crier
who encourages our conscience
as well as our voice.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written June 13th, 2008
Taylor
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Beth Breeze
Ehtasham
Mar
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