“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8
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First Principles: Be Sober-Minded; Be Watchful. Your Adversary the Devil Prowls Around Like A Roaring Lion, Seeking Someone To Devour
Posted in First Principles
Tagged 1 Peter 5:8-9, Aversary, Devour, Enemy, Faith, Family of Believers, First Prnciples, Prowl, Resiist, Roaring Lion, Sober-Miinded, Stand Frm, Suffering, The Devil, The World, Watchful
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An American Paradox
An American Paradox
by Michael Doyle
It's always been so much the American way
That we do as we do not as we often say.
An example is found in our national bird,
Until recently, we revered it only in words.
While we drove to the edge of extinction,
We played up Bald Eagle's image with distinction.
While our bird's fate was almost a done deal,
We made it the central figure of our Great Seal.
Majestic and efficient in their agility,
The eagle rules the air with its great ability.
Its powerful wings catch the air with might,
Gliding with minimal effort as if just right.
Our society nearly destroyed its nesting sites,
Even as we admired its survivors in its flight.
We encroached on the areas of their nesting needs
Until we became wise enough to leave these freed.
Still, we would talk about how the eagle would soar,
At the same time, their losses we would ignore.
In one instance, we praised their splendid majesty,
In the other, we would not give them any sanctuary.
Between DDT and the unwashed sea of humanity,
It seemed we would not allow them to live in dignity.
Until at last our wisdom's circle was chased around.
Nearly at total loss, common sense was found.
Clinging today from a lofty perch with a focused gaze
The Bald Eagle lives a hundred years' worth of days.
Blissfully, it seems unaware of our grave paradox.
America finally learns to live as it simply talks.
Soaring above in the wide and windy open skies,
Our bald eagle remains the symbol of us as it flies.
With a wingspan of up to nearly seven feet,
Long may the bald eagle symbolize freedom without defeat.
(c) January 17, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ability, Agility, American, American Way, Bald Eagle, Distinction, Done Deal, Edge of Extinction, Great Seal, Majestic, National Birdd, Paradox, Poetry and Poems, Powerful Wings, Say, Word
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Thought For the Day: A Time Is Coming When Men Will Go Mad, and When They See Someone Who Is Not Mad, They Will Attack Him, saying,”You Are Mad; Your Are Not Like Us.”
“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.'” – Anthony the Great
Quite the sage, he was able to see the coming of The Woke from way back in his days…. 😉
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Anthony the Great, Attack, Coming, Mad, Mankind, Not Mad, Thought For the Day, Time
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First Principles: Common Sense Without Education Is Better Than Education Without Common Sense
“Common sense without education, is better than education without common sense.” – Benjamin Franklin
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Better, Common Sense, Education, First Principles
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Darkness Fallen
Darkness Fallen
by Michael Doyle
Stretching my day past midnight,
I'm grasping toward the morning light.
There's just one more thing to do,
Planting dreams to know what can be true.
Living my freedom in the moment's truth,
I think back on the days of my youth.
Outside the window, the stars burn bright above,
And I find myself thinking about love.
It seems the morning comes around too soon.
I stop and pause, taking in the moon.
Half the universe's truth is still just a lie.
Darkness has fallen with the angels in the sky.
The ticking sound of my neighbor's clock
Tells me the wall is too thin to rock.
But I can whisper a melody across my strings,
And hear what is that my muse brings.
Outside my window, I watch silent stars collide,
And so it is with my earthly stride.
There is so much that I've taken in,
And so much that I'd love to see again.
It seems the morning comes around too soon.
I stop and pause, taking in the moon.
Half the universe's truth is still just a lie.
Darkness has fallen with the angels in the sky.
Ivory towers were built to fall.
It's in the ancient wisdom that we recall.
We find comfort in knowing God's love,
And hope to arrive at death in Heaven above.
Where do broken souls like mine go?
That's a thing I truly need to know.
If you ask, I'll pretend that it's not sorrow
That keeps me awake into each new tomorrow.
It seems the morning comes around too soon.
I stop and pause, taking in the moon.
Half the universe's truth is still just a lie.
Darkness has fallen with the angels in the sky.
(c) January 16, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Again, Ancient Wisdom, Angels, Awake, Brings, Broken Souls, Clock, Comfort, Darkness, Day, Dream, Fall, Fallen, Freedom, God's Love, Grasp, Heaven Above, Ivory Towers, Know, Lie, Love, Melody, Midnight, Moon, Morning, Morning Light, Muse, Poetry and Poems, Pretend, Recall, Rock, Sky, Sorrow, Stars, Stretch, Stride, Strings, Taken In, Tick, Tomorrow, True, Universe, Wall, Whisper, Window, Youth
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Thought For the Day: If Somehow, I Can, Before I Leave This Earth, Combine My Absolutely Mad Freedom and Excitement With Truth, Then I Will Have Done Something
“If somehow I can, before I leave this earth, combine my absolutely mad freedom and excitement with truth, then I will have done something.” – Robert Wyeth
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Combination, Done Something, Earth, Excitement, Freedom, Leave, Robert Wyeth, Somehow, Thought For the Day, Truth
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First Principles: In A Time of Peace There Can, At All Events, Be No Justification For the Creation of A Permanent Debt By the Federal Government
“In time of peace there can, at all events, be no justification for the creation of a permanent debt by the Federal Government. Its limited range of constitutional duties may certainly under such circumstances be performed without such a resort.“ – Martin Van Buren
The Will To Survive
The Will To Survive
by Michael Doyle
In a soldier's final score,
Only the dead know the end of war.
Shrouded in the sadness of despair,
Life is hobbled by a world so unfair.
We keep on fighting shadows
Though each of us is certain and knows
The infernal war ended long ago.
Or, at least that is, we should know.
They sold us a line about glory,
But we all knew this to be a story.
You had fought for me, I had fought for you.
Truth be told, that's all we'd ever do.
Though the enemy would not yield,
I carried you from the battlefield.
Uncertain that we could make it,
I was determined, at worst, to fake it.
The generals told us what to do.
The rest, it seems, was up to me and you.
The battle had started at twilight,
And wouldn't let up until the morning light.
They sold us a line about glory,
But we all knew this to be a story.
You had fought for me, I had fought for you.
Truth be told, that's all we'd ever do.
Rumors said the woods were full of ghosts.
That sometimes scared us the most.
To think that we might never leave,
It was more than we could bear to believe.
Some generals swore by their priority,
As if to hold their place in history.
In another life, this might have been a crime.
This, however, was not that time.
They sold us a line about glory,
But we all knew this to be a story.
You had fought for me, I had fought for you.
Truth be told, that's all we'd ever do.
The chances that we took kept us alive.
Those and God helped us to survive.
We trusted in each other's capability,
And kept our faith to the best of our ability.
We had promises made that we had to keep.
Smile to smile, there were tears left to weep.
This gave us the courage to keep alive,
And through this, the will to survive.
They sold us a line about glory,
But we all knew this to be a story.
You had fought for me, I had fought for you.
Truth be told, that's all we'd ever do.
(c) January 15, 2026 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alive, Battle, Chance, Crime, Dead, Despair, Family, Generals, Ghost, Glory, History, Infernal War, Jesus, Life, Line, Love, Morning Light, Poetry and Poems, Priority, Rumor, Score, Shadow, Soldier, Story, Survival, Survive, Truth Be Told, Twilight, Unfair, War, Will, World
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Thought For the Day: The Heart, Like the Mind, Has A Memory. And In It Are Kept the Most Precious Keepsakes
“The heart, like the mind, has a memory. And in it are kept the most precious keepsakes.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Heart, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Keepsake, Kept, Memory, Miin, Precioius, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: I Am One But Still I Am One. I Cannot Do Everything, But Still I Can Do Something
“I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.” – Edward Everett
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Edward Everett, Everything, First Principles, I, Only One, Something
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 