“Whatever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man.” – Edmund Burke
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Thought For the Day: Whatever Disunites Man From God, Also Disunites Man From Man
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Tagged Disunite, Edmund Burke, God, Ma, Man From Man, Thought For the Day
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Echo Back
Echo Back
by Michael Doyle
My words echo back into tomorrow
A half-life that's full of sorrow
I'm often sorry for what I say
The demons inside won't have it any other way
If these were the last words I said
I wouldn't want them rolling in your head
The truth of love for you is treasurable
As proof of life, your imprint is immeasurable
Strong regret has led to my solitude
Lost within thoughts that rudely intrude
Of how I might have had better shown
The new thoughts and habits to be grown
I see the pain that you are going through
Wishing me ideal and feeling that I won't do
What kind of father raises his voice
Knowing that there is always a better choice
Don't let my brokenness serve to kill you
Instead, rise above this dismal point of view
Generational sins destroy the path of family
I wish I had served to better your nobility
Sticks and stones serve to break one's bones
But hurt half as much as the words that I own
So many times I wish I had chosen humbly
To undo my part in the hurt hearts of this family
The Bible I believe in pursues paths of construction
Why then is it easier to choose ways of destruction
It echoes back into a deepest pool of blood's regret
Missed and chosen words feel like criminal neglect
When I see how deeply this all truly matters
And see your brilliant mind angered until it shatters
And I see that while I am steps above what I lived in
It's so very hard to hold myself as unforgiven
Dear child know that if I could, I would only speak love
And pursue the righteous ways given to us from above
There are things I bite back against as I've stumbled
But my love for you will never fall heaped and crumbled
Tomorrow is a new day for me to push on to the better
And we are resilient, able to withstand stormy weather
I ask you to please know words that don't build
Aren't meant, and let it be the love that has prevailed
(c) August 17, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Better Choice, Bones, Construction, Demons Inside, Destroy, Destruction, Echo Back, Family, Father, Feeling, Full of Sorrow, Generational Sinds, Grown, Half-Life, Head, Humbly, Hurt, Ideal, Immeasurable, Imprint, Intrude, Kill You, Last Words, My Brokenness, New Thoughts and Habits, Nobility, Own, Pain, Poetry and Poems, Point of View, Proof of Life, Raise, Rise Above, Rolling, Rude, Say, Served, Shown, Solitude, Sorry, Sticks and Stones, Strong Regret, The Bible, Thoughts, Tomorrow, Treasurable, Truth of Love, Voice, Wish, Won't Do, Words
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First Principles: Every Child In America Should Be Acquainted With His Own Country. He Should Read Books That Furnish Him With Ideas That Will Be Useful To Him In Life and Practice
“Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.” – Noah Webster (1788)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Acquainted, America, Books, Country, Every Child, First Principles, History, Ieads, Life and Practice, Lips, Noah Webster, Own Country, Read, Reheasse, Useful
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Thought For the Day: It Is Fortunate To Be of High Birth, But It Is No Less To Be of Such Character That People Do Not Care To Know Whether You Are Or Are Not
“It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.” – Jean de la Bruyere, essayist and moralist (16 Aug 1645-1696)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Are Or Are Not, Care, Character, Fortunate, High Birth, Jean de la Bruyere, No Less, Thought For the Day, Whether
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If It Wasn’t For Courage
If It Wasn't For Courage
by Michael Doyle
On the other side lies paradise
The captain offers his best advice
As his pirate crew readies for the fight
Who knows how many will live until the morning light
Ready the muskets and say your last prayer
As into eternity, the captain and crew stare
The manifest speaks to the power of destiny
As the steps are taken to make this journey
If weren't for courage, there would be no start
That sort of faith begins in a pirate's heart
It's the bravery that comes as a primal urge
It's what gets a pirate through every battle and surge
At any hour might come the greatest trial
That leads to a hangman's noose or bring survival
It's a matter of timing, meaning no grave insult
That leads to the struggle that owns the result
When the battle comes, it is time to fight
To stand one's ground and not give into flight
This is the truth of the pirate's way
And it will stay with his soul until judgment day
If it wasn't for courage, there would be no start
That sort of faith begins in a pirate's heart
It's the bravery that comes as a primal urge
It's what gets every pirate through battle and surge
The sieges that come, fall to the wise and strong
Unless that is, they've been counted wrong
As a man-o-war waits just off the shore
The telling of this tale might lead to heaven's door
Sorry as we are for the lives we wantonly take
There's always a way, make no foolish mistake
As heartbreaking as the pirates are tired
There's one more fight that God and the Devil have inspired
If it wasn't for courage, there would be no start
That sort of faith begins within a pirate's heart
It's the bravery that comes as a primal urge
It's what gets every pirate through battle and surge
(c) August 16, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Advice, Battle, Captain, Courage, Destiny, Eternity, Fight, Flight, Grave Insult, Ground, Hangman's Noose, Heart, Journey, Judgment Day, Last Prayer, Live, Morning Light, Muskets, Other Side, Paradise, Pirate Crew, Poetry and Poems, Power, Primal Urge, Result, Stare, Start, Steps, Struggle, Survival, Timing, Trial
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First Principles: I Beg To Know Upon What Principle It Can Be Contended That Any One Department Draws From the Constitution Greater Powers
“I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the judicial. But I beg to know upon what principle it can be contended that any one department draws from the Constitution greater powers than another in marking out the limits of the powers of the several departments.” – James Madison (1789)
Thought For the Day: The Beginnings and Endings of All Human Undertakings Are Untidy
“The beginnings and endings of all human undertakings are untidy.” – John Galsworthy, author, Nobel laureate (14 Aug 1867-1933)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Beginnings, Endings, Human Underakings, John Galsworthy, Thought For the Day, Untidy
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Returned To the Sea
Returned To the Sea
by Michael Doyle
At the ends of bargains made
Stormy seas leave reason to be afraid
Wondering where it is that one stands
And if a day is as profitable as it demands
Profits are calculated as life's reward
As a new bay is marked to sail toward
By tomorrow, we might be too dead to care
This is the bargain a pirate wager is fair
These are the false moves a pirate fakes
With each next step that he takes
Each is made hoping to live another day
Knowing death will claim him either way
Hopes are manufactured out of thin air
And though fruition is in hand, there is care
That all that has been given has been given for not
Because with one's death, the treasure is forgot
There are no legacies to this life but the sea
There are no monuments but the water we see
There are no great truths, just a handful of tales
Of mermaids, treasures, and giant whales
There are the false moves a pirate fakes
With each step that he takes
Each is made hoping to live another day
Knowing death will claim him either way
The ocean pays us, claims us, swallowing us whole
This is a pirate's life, and its God-forsaken toll
Though it is that we may stand ten feet tall
Eventually, this life will swallow us all
There is a lot of sorrow in a pirate's happiness
None of it would an honest man ever manage to miss
Let there be no regrets nor any trace of bitterness
This razor's edge knows no taste of tenderness
These are the false moves a pirate fakes
With each step that he takes
Each is made hoping to live another day
Knowing death will claim him either way
(c) August 15, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Afraid, Bargain, Bitterness, Care, Dead, Death, Demands, Ends of Bargains, Fake, False Moves, Given, Great Truths, Happiness, Honest Man, Hope, Legacies, Manufactured, Mermaids, Monuments, Pirate, Pirate's Life, Poetry and Poems, Profitable, Razor's Edge, Regret, Return, Sea, Sorrow, Step, Stormy Seas, Swallo, Tales, Taste, Tenderness, The Ocean, The Sea, Toll, Tomorrow, Treasure, Wonder
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First Principles: A Republic, By Which I Mean A Government In Which the Scheme of Representation Takes Place,…Promises the Cure…We Are Seeking
“A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking.” – James Madison (1790)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Cure, First Principles, Government, James Madison, Prospect, Republic, Scheme of Representation, Seek
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Thought For the Day: Without Deep Reflection, One Knows From Daily Life That One Exists For Other People
“Without deep reflection, one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” – Albert Einstein
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Tagged Albert Einstein, Daily Life, Exist, Know, Other People, Reflection, Thought For the Day, Without
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