SIMPLE IMPACT, DEEPER REACH
2/1/2012 at 9:32 AM
Commemorating the 110th
anniversary of the birth
of Langston Hughes
A humble wit. The poem
is cast. Spirits call
for Truth to last.
Laugh and learn. Be, or
burn. Spin true with
your song,
or be spun, in turn.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written February 1st, 2012
MODERN, TIMELESS, BEAUTIFUL
12/9/2011 at 12:50 PM
for trumpeter
and composer
Booker Little
Wisdom offers warmth.
Compassion shapes the dare
of a bright life cut too short,
but lived so well.
Heart, scope, and lyrical command
fuel his vital expression. Dynamics
are forged through tradition.
The leaps of faith are his own.
Consider momentous
impact from
the reach
still encouraged.
Canyons, meadows, and untrod paths
converge into the haunting refrain
of his exuberant cry, insistent
upon a deeper Humanity...
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written December 8th, 2011
PLAY ON, JIMI!
11/27/2011 at 2:51 AM
Stirrings occurring
on Mr. Hendrix's 69th
anniversary.
Feel the steady Blues talking Truth
in the wake of each
rising sun
and know that we walk the dance
of a clearing path, more fruitful
ways, and an open sky
waiting to take shape.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written November 27th, 2011
A GATHERING OF STORYTELLERS
11/23/2011 at 4:22 PM
Pianist Randy Weston, Bassist Alex Blake,
Percussionist Neil Clarke. African Rhythms
at The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo NY,
November 18 and 19, 2011
Truth and Thanks are shared and spread
in deep, joyful song. The spontaneous and
the well-prepared gather, now, to focus.
Roots are fueled with hearty passion,
and humble honesty. Blues and Shout
simmer with vision and insistency.
Balladry informs the soul. Compassion
breeds resolve. Quiet spaces hold a
precious volume all its own.
Storytellers gather. Culture strikes
home beyond the shadow of a
doubt... or glare of misdirection.
Warmth and Care prevail despite the
beckoning of Winter, kindling fresh
seasons of Hope, Faith and Wisdom
Integrity essential in attuning and
uplifting the depth, worth
and grace
of the world.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written November 22nd, 2011
attuned November 23rd, 2011
AN AFRICAN RHYTHM
11/20/2011 at 10:38 AM
As an African American sets
the beat. For pianist-composer
Randy Weston, on the publishing
of his autobiography.
Quiet. Resolved. Unstoppable.
Truths brought home in words
strike with the impact
of Music played
as serious as our lives
The offering, essential perspective
expressed in high artistry, firm ethics
and a compassionate outlook. Great
strength gently smiles with the power
to create, to teach. To share.
Those who stifle perception, wreaking
havoc with clueless noise, tremble
at the sound of Justice; reaching
harmonious verdict on an entire age
holding little value for a joyful song.
Witness awakenings of the Spirit, as
slumbering multitudes are touched
by the stuff of Dreams. Reality, in
turn, heeds the deeper call; gathered
through the humble virtue of one voice.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written June 16th, 2010
attuned October 27th, 2011
A PERSISTENT DILEMMA
7/14/2011 at 11:44 PM
Every generation
breeds its own
share of thugs.
It’s often a matter
of how far
they’ll go,
or how deeply
they’ll be
marketed...
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written July 14th, 2011
JUST AN OL' BALL GAME
7/12/2011 at 3:22 PM
Derek Jeter. Hit 3000, and beyond.
Yankee Stadium, July 9th, 2011.
Today, one man faced a personal threshold
and a professional challenge. He stood tall,
stepped up, and swung true.
Long years and focused dedication meet
with burning resolve, and a never-ending
need to help. For all his abilities to lead,
it is his nature to contribute which defines
him. Records are just strolls on a hill,
pointless if you can’t climb the summit.
Today, a man walked the mountaintops, and
took his team, his opponents, and a world
on the path. Horizons form with a serious grin.
The game was well-played.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written July 9th, 2011
BELYING THE OBVIOUS
4/3/2011 at 8:15 PM
The things most often missed...
Welcome to your everyday, where nothing stays the same.
How do you face life? From what source will basics come?
Will Taste be just convenience? Do Ethics even count?
Can Love make a difference? Is Tolerance just a spin?
It matters where you start. Moving on a dime. Basking in
the quiet. Fleet enough to wander. Sure enough to saunter.
It matters what you need. Fulfilling obligation. Satisfying
hunger. Facing down ambition. Searching hard for wisdom.
Ridding yourself of folly. Addressing mist and history.
Shaping scope and destiny.
It matters who you are. The joy you delight in. The pain
you’ve survived. The despair you’ve endured and the heart
which you seek. The priceless worth you share. A soul
which won’t be still.
Be the music that you stand for. Truths you dare to breathe.
Breathe. Feel your body breathe. Respect all around you.
Always be selective. Breathe out. Expound. Never crowd
the air. Breathe freely, and with care. Be greater than all fear.
Be all that you choose. Choose wisely. Be well.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written March 30th, 2011
A LESSON FROM TUCSON, ARIZONA
1/13/2011 at 3:09 AM
The value of virtue
is not defined
in living for peril
consumed in survival
controlled by reaction,
based on blind impulse
molded through
despair, ignorance
and fear.
The value of virtue emerges
in struggle, compassion
challenging our worst.
It emerges in rising
to the best that
we are
to be more
than we can
ever be
and achieve
the greater,
deeper good
for all.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written January 13th, 2011
IN DESPERATE NEED OF CONSCIENCE
1/10/2011 at 7:35 PM
A deep delusion persists
in the eyes of the living
that malice is an ideal
subversion worthier
than conversation
and massacre
a measuring
stick
for reason...
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written January 10th, 2011
NEW YEAR'S DAY à la L. FRANK BAUM
1/1/2011 at 12:17 PM
with additional apologies and respect to
Jerry Siegel, Joe Schuster, and DC Comics.
“Gosh, I hope we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!”
“Well, unless it’s Smallville, Dorothy! Kent farm’s
always full of surprises. Whole lot of fun.”
“You’re right, fella. But I’m concerned. Clark’s
a nice guy, but strange things happen when
he’s around!”
“How so, kiddo?”
“Well, rumor has it he rides twisters!”
“So do we.”
“Without a house?!!”
“Hmm. Maybe he saw the Wizard, too.
Worth asking next time there’s a rainbow!”
“Fair enough. No more meteor showers, though...”
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written January 1st, 2011
SEASON'S GREETINGS
12/25/2010 at 5:40 PM
December 25, 2010.
A dedication
To the day where Peace On Earth
is no longer a phrase to be wielded,
but the creed and practice
of all who live.
Joy for this special day. Resolve
to make fair and hopeful
all the days
to come.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
THE ONGOING DILEMMA
12/12/2010 at 11:45 AM
Those who fight for a nation’s rights
are taken for granted, or thrown
to the side
as the rank and file twist in the grip
between well-wisher’s talk
and hard-liner’s whip.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© Al rights reserved
written December 12th,2010
ELECTION DAY 2010
11/4/2010 at 9:55 AM
Sheppards run aground. Cowpokes run amuck.
Grasslands, gnawed and trampled,
need to be resown.
Will henhouses be better with
the fox, once more, at hand?
Will flocks and herds finally join
to shape a broader step?
The wheel is turning, Destiny yearning.
Community seeks a grip.
Lose the urge to plunder.
Don't wait for the thunder.
The lightning already rolls.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved.
written November 2 – 4, 2010
CALM AT HEART
10/5/2010 at 11:00 PM
Consider the value of quietness.
It speaks in volumes,
gracing sound
with character,
balancing motion
with the responsibility
to pause
and consider.
Thought and feeling
meet in the emotions
only wisdom may attain.
The act of being
gains purpose.
To strive
yields deeper meaning.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written October 5th, 2010
A BASIC, SIMPLE TRUTH
9/8/2010 at 7:46 PM
Bookburning is a time-proven evil.
Bookburning in the name of Faith
and Good is, and has always been,
the Devil's logic.
Only Hell can come of it.
by Michael F. Hopkins
© All rights reserved
written September 8th, 1010
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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sw6rdsch66l
Beth Breeze
Ehtasham
Mar
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