Looking through the warmth of my window My eyes chase after the moonlight shadows Stopping to soak in the colors along the way I'm excited to think about the coming next day
Like a final curtain, November answers the call In a shortness of days that leads to star fall Filling the nighttime skies that blissfully tantalize The year sparkles to a close before our grateful eyes
November quietly arrives to become our attitude Hearts lighten as the season brings new gratitude With the turning of the calendar's thin pages We know our faith is as solid as the rock of ages
There are a lifetime's joys that we openly share Echoed memories of pleasure dream away our cares Cinnamon sugar dusts the edges of our apple pie We relish the beauty of change right before our eyes
Sleigh bells ring as off to grandmother's house we go These fleeting moments never last, and yet we know That these traces will always be held in our memory As we keep Thanksgiving in our hearts full of family
Like a whisper, gold and crimson dance and unfurl Twirling in the night's air as they gently swirl First frost laces the traces as it kisses the ground And the child in us all smiles at what we have found
(c) November 1, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslav’d. This will be their great Security.”– Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779
This quote is from Samuel Adams’s letter to James Warren on February 12, 1779. Virtuous and knowledgeable people easily recognize and resist tyranny. Our republic’s best and strongest guarantee to continue our freedom and liberties is to ensure virtue and knowledge are widespread. Those in society most able need to safeguard our nation focus on morality and that the people in our republic are knowledgeable. This is the foundation of our free and secure society. From this letter, it may be easily discerned that our founding fathers believed it necessary to preserve our nation’s first principles, manners, and morality to best keep our republic. This letter may be read at: Samuel Adams to James Warren (February 12, 1779) – Conservapedia
“The wisest man is he who does not fancy that he is so at all.” – Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux, poet and critic (1 Nov 1636-1711), in Satires, also known as Satire 4 (1716)
The most authentic wisdom is humility, which recognizes one’s limitations and the limitations of others, too. In these days of instant social media access, arrogance is a blinding factor. The humble remain open to gaining new experiences and knowledge and continuing to grow. This is the best path to becoming wiser. The Socratic paradox is that the more we know, the more we usually realize that we do not know.
Socrates knew that and believed he truly knew ‘nothing.’ Recognizing this ignorance is true of us all is a significant step toward learning. With eyes wide open, we can take our first steps toward understanding and gaining self-improvement. It behooves us to stay from the crowd, clapping ourselves on the back. Instead, let’s seek to constantly educate ourselves.
In the broadest sense, we should always question authority and reject the notion that expertise (be it found in individuals or government agencies) should be blindly followed. Instead, we must ask questions that lead to different perspectives and remain open to new and challenging ideas. It is okay to be ‘wrong.’ This provides needed opportunities to learn, grow, and create a better world by starting with ourselves. Healthy skepticism is an invaluable best practice in our society and our world.
The beginning was an image of all A modern miracle held in mystified awe Until life's illusion lost its intensity And the desire for death grew in complexity
The face of horror pulls at mankind As though in this darkness we would find The shadows necessary for man's story And in the blood, mankind's rotting glory
Death is found between the audience's gasps Often times we have found it plays for laughs The angst felt as we seek to somehow persevere Is the substance that makes us come to fear
This is the big bang that perverts the universe Into the world's horror at the charmingly perverse We too often seek the mirrored twin of salvation As we have become somehow fascinated with our damnation
Diabolical forces are just around the corner of night And are only kept from us by the power of light From the leaves of the Book of Satan we learn to read Of all those things that life tears from us but we need
The crucifix becomes the talisman that provides protection Interestingly wrapped in the eternal punishment of imagination Good and evil seem forever limitlessly bound together Creation and destruction are joined in making life better
The spirit of darkness is invoked to show itself As we draw literary greatness from life's shelf If only we might finally know what it truly means Why the children of the night come to life each Halloween
Mephisto himself creeps up to rise each passing year And tread darkly on mankind's worst, bringing us tears Each metropolis holds evil at good's close proximity As our desires claw at us drawing us to immorality
(c) October 31, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
Is it true that only fools Cast aside all the rules? And what kind of wreck Does life become living by the deck?
A spooky basement points the direction That reveals the cloth of divination Hand painted arcana mixes with astrology It is needed to forecast what becomes our history
Candles are lit and the reading begins These are the risks taken between friends As twelve cards are circles in a zodiac reading It won't be long until the friends are barely breathing
A thirteenth card is centered between for clarity The cards are then shuffled with tainted sincerity As the High Priestess looks and patiently knows That drunken children will suffer horrendous blows
Each child gathers in wait of their own story Nonbelievers find humor in this painted glory The cards begin to lay out the demonic tale Only the High Priestess knows who will prevail
There's always one who cannot wait Opening doors to curiously investigate A magician's bag of tricks brings deception A lack of control snaps through the connection
Impulses should be resisted in the name of trust Keeping close to those with whom we surely must Following the wrong light to a false track Can take you down a path from which there is no turning back
Some of us are prone to pour gasoline on the fire Talking more than listening as we're led by our desires Love might be the death of two becoming one But the power of the two can make this path undone
It you're brave enough to face your fears It doesn't mean you won't shed true tears Step by step, the evil known patiently grows When you play with magic, there are crushing blows
The Devil plays along without sympathy While his High Priestess knows no pity Quietly, she creeps in death and darkness You cannot change fate, or its harshness
One by one their lives are taken When you dare the magic, you are forsaken Evil comes at you like a runaway train The things seen leave their traces on the brain
Accidents that align are more than coincidence And point to murderous design incident after incident We stretch to make our readings come true Crazy is as crazy does is one point of view
There is a dark design behind our waiting fate The stars align with Hell in their equal weight Astrology and tarot are the most powerful combination When it comes to the dark art of divination
(c) October 30, 2024 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 