“If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.” – Abigail Van Buren
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Thought For the Day: If You Want Children To Keep Their Feet On the Ground, Put Some Responsibility On Their Shoulders
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Abigail Van Buren, Children, Feet, Ground, Responsibility, Shoulders, Thought For the Day
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Syncopated Anticipation
Syncopated Anticipation
by Michael Doyle
The music, any music, has its own flow,
Leaving behind the day as we dance.
We enjoy the moments as these flow,
As if inside a fluid sense of trance.
The audience is part of the show.
The thunder roars across the road.
We share a laugh as if we know,
Maybe it is a mystery that didn't need told.
Sleeping sitting up as the day goes,
Somewhere into the nether world of shadows.
These were the rituals of transference
That breaks our way, despite its appearance.
Despite the days that seamlessly roll on,
No one ever really dies if their memories go on.
Our hearts are revealed in every audible line;
Music caresses our ears like a forever Valentine.
I look into the loneliness of the night,
Wondering if tomorrow will be all right.
My soul has peeled away into the darkness,
No longer able to hold back life's harshness.
No one writes the diary of the endless road,
Except page by page, it cannot be foretold.
There's bound to be a nightly miracle displayed.
If you listen closely, you'll hear it in every note played.
Tapped into the gospel's not-so-hidden slipstream,
Its improvisation becomes our fulfilled dream.
Everyone's moments spill into bringing pause,
As hot jazz slides past its own regal laws.
We never know past the contrarian fascination,
How it will come out beyond the syncopation.
Approached with madness and deliberation,
The sum of all parts is felt with dedication.
(c) September 4, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Anticipation, Audence, Dance, Darkness, Day, Flow, Harshness, Heart, Loneliness, Memory, Moments, Music, Mystery, Night, Poetry and Poems, Shadow, Show, Synocopated, Thunder, Tomorrow, Valentine
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First Principles: The Peaceful Transfer of Authority Is Rare In History, Yet Common In Our Country. With A Simple Oath, We Affirm Old Traditions and Make New Beginnings
“The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings.” – George W. Bush
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Tagged Authority, Common, Country, First Principles, George W. Bush, History, New Beginnings, Old Tradition, Peaceful Transfer, Rare, Simple Oath
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Thought For the Day: A Painter Paints Pictures On A Canvas. But Musicians Paint Their Pictures On Silence
“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.” ― Leopold Stokowski
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Tagged Canvas, Leopold Stokowski, Musician, Paint, Painter, Picture, Silence, Thought For the Day
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Making Early Connections
Making Early Connections
by Michael Doyle
Growing up, living in the shadow of war,
There was hope, but little more.
Utopian dreams grew from anxiety.
There was no surrender to the complexity.
America offered her roots, rock, and blues.
Trains were rolling over blue suede shoes.
Memphis electrified its rocking guitars,
While young British boys dreamed of being stars.
Lonnie Donegan with his skiffle beat,
Took the folk into rock, lifted off the streets.
Transfixing country and blues into freedom,
It was an offering of hope to the United Kingdom.
Allowed or not, guitars brought music to the rise,
And with a few melodic runs, there was no real surprise.
Vaudeville and music brought the boys from the start
Until it caught on in their stalwart hearts.
With no disrespect meant to the fathers,
Little Richard's voice knocked it out of the water.
Shaking all over as the girls moved closer to connect,
It was a shuffle that came to dramatically affect.
There were songs played with a sultry roll,
From out of the backbeat, the Shadows stole the show.
The church of the corrupt souls led to the slam,
Most of it was an improvised, deeply felt jam.
Something was rocking and always going on,
From the rhythm to the harp of Sonny Boy Williamson.
No one could keep this business to themself,
And records kept selling like hotcakes off the shelves.
James Brown's drums held the feel of the hard beat
That brought a musical riot to the city streets.
Two sticks beat the tempo, pound after pound.
John Bonham knew exactly what was to be found.
Here came the players with their electric guitars,
With stars in their eyes, they dreamt of being stars.
Whatever it took to find the height of that beat,
These boys would rock, hanging out on the streets.
Studio sessions were magical and somewhat legendary
To be played out accurately and with efficiency.
Cutting teeth with improvised parts in the section,
This was the beginning of many a connection.
(c) September 3, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Affect, America, Beat, Blue Suede Shoes, Blues, British, Business, Classic Rock, Connection, Cutting Teeth, Drums, Efficiency, Electric Guitars, Freedom, Guitars, Harp, Jam, James BRown, John Bonham, Little Richard, Lonnie Donegan, Memphis, Music, Poetry and Poems, Records, Rock, rock-music, Shadow of War, Shaking All Over, Shuffle, Skiffle Beat, Song, Stars, Studio Session, The Street
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Thought For the Day: One of the Most Sincere Forms of Respect Is Actually Listening To What Another Has To Say
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” – Bryant H. McGill
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Tagged Bryant H. McGill, Form, Listen, Respect, Sincere, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: We Are A Nation of Immigrants. But We Are Also A Nation of Laws
“In the budget I will present to you, we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.” – William J. Clinton
The Rock of Life Still Rolls
The Rock of Life Still Rolls
by Michael Doyle
There's something across the river.
A sense of magic that makes me shiver.
Shiva dances and plays in a spin,
It's as if it's yesterday again.
None of us really knows
Before the glory of our best shows,
What it means to be tested.
Our best love songs are uncontested.
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
But there's a tale to be told
As the songs begin to unfold.
The defiance felt has an urgency.
It provides life's continuity.
The pressures of life struggle for breath.
Each of us is inching toward our deaths.
Would we have saved it in a letter revealed?
Or would it be better to remain concealed?
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
Life is a mix of sunshine and rain.
In our happiness, we find our pain.
Our love allows this, expressed to each other,
And that is to say, given to one another.
Then it is you who is the splendor in my eyes
The beauty of this is that it is no real surprise.
From the moment we met, we have been in love
As if it were decreed from our God above.
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
From the stage, we turned life's page,
Feeling like gods in this latter age.
Someone said, 'Pull the plug,' and we laughed.'
We all look at each other as if we were daft.
As the band played us across the floor,
We knew we wished we'd walk across time's shore.
Hand in hand, we'd walk radiant in the moonlight,
And the songs of our youth would make it alright.
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
The show came to an end with great applause.
It was a beautiful thing that made us pause.
Listening closely as our hearts roared,
Rock is the feeling that can't be ignored.
And if it were, it would be something tragic.
There's nothing like our diamond's magic.
Sparkling like a wine that won't let us down.
I don't care if I wear your jester's crown.
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
I see it in your eyes; there on your face.
It returns me to that special place.
We'll dance to love's music until we die.
It's that anticipation that always makes you cry.
The roots of our consciousness hold the power,
It's the sense of our love burns in this hour.
From the moment that you allowed me your dance,
I have been lovingly captured and entranced.
As sleepless as the eyes of the seer,
It was destined to be our best year.
Until the piper took his ransom,
And just as suddenly, we were undone.
(c) September 2, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Faith, Glory, God, Love, Magic, Poetry and Poems, River, Roll, Show, Stage, Sunshine and Rain, Writing, Yesterday
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First Principles: Let All Americans Remember That No Problem of Human Making Is Too Great To Be Overcome By Human Ingenuity, Human Energy, and the Untiring Hope of the Human Spirit
“(L)et all Americans remember that no problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit.” – George H.W. Bush, First State of the Union Address (1989)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged All Americans, Energy, First Principles, George H.W. Bush, Great, Hope, Human Spirit, Ingenuity, Problem of Human Making, Remember
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Thought For the Day: By All These Lovely Tokens, September Days Are Here. With Summer’s Best of Weather and Autumn’s Best of Cheer
“By all these lovely tokens, September days are here. With summer’s best of weather and autumn’s best of cheer.” – Helen Hunt Jackson
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 