Truths Seen

Juneteenth Celebration - Eiteljorg Museum - Proclaiming the Truth
Truths Seen
by Michael Doyle

Silent cries
Strident alibis
Truths seen
For human beings
Can be mortifying
As we live death defying
Taking risks at every turn
We live as we learn
Careful from feeling the burn
Yet, it is that we still yearn

The world keeps on turning
Never certain what we're learning
Coming to terms with what is done
In flying too close to the sun
Each the other's dancer
As we struggle to find the answer
That we almost never find
Burnt fingers left to remind
We should be careful with the fire
As we lose ourselves to things we desire

(c) August 18, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
The Village  - Truth of Dining In A Socially Isolated World
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First Principles: An Unlimited Power to Tax Involves, Necessarily, A Power to Destroy; Because There Is A Limit Beyond Which No Institution and No Property Can Bear Taxation

“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.” – John Marshall, McCullough v. Maryland, 1819

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Thought For the Day: Dreams Heed No Borders, the Eyes Need No Visas. With Eyes Shut I Walk Across the Line In Time. All the Time.

“Dreams heed no borders, the eyes need no visas. With eyes shut I walk across the line in time. All the time.” – Gulzar, poet, lyricist, and film director (b. 18 Aug 1934)

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Thought For the Day: The Taliban Is Not the…North Vietnamese Army. They’re Not…Remotely Comparable In Terms of Capability. There’s Going To Be No Circumstance Where You See People Being Lifted Off the Roof of an Embassy

“The Taliban is not the … North Vietnamese army. They’re not … remotely comparable in terms of capability. There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a[n] embassy.” – President Joe Biden, July 8, 2021

A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.

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First Principles: It Is A Principle Incorporated Into the Settled Policy of America, That As Peace Is Better Than War, War Is Better Than Tribute

“It is a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute.” – James Madison (1816)

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First Principles: A Person May Cause Evil To Others Not Only By His Actions But By His Inaction, and In Either Case He Is Justly Accountable To Them For the Injury

“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” -John Stuart Mill, philosopher and economist (1806-1873)

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Thought For the Day: The True Civilization Is Where Every Man Gives To Every Other Every Right That He Claims For Himself

“The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself.” -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (11 Aug 1833-1899)

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Kaleidoscope

Burn2 2016 - Da Vinci's Workshop -  Burnt Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope
by Michael Doyle

India offers her vast diversity
Simply put, a wealth of complexity
Filled with peace within her kaleidoscope
As harmonious coexistence offers hope

Slumdog lords are opulent in a history
Of a people struggling with poverty
Pluralistic in a free market democracy
As a metaphor lived in tolerant multiethnicity

Three hundred languages asking to give peace a chance
Absorbed and integrated into Shiva's dance
The forests of Gaya provided their noble truth
And Siddartha's kinship live it from their youth

Right knowledge and conduct lead to right belief
Where surrendering attachments releases from grief
There is the recognition that each soul has equal weight
And higher love will always be greater than hate

Some choose not alignment but to choose respect
Setting their sights on something higher than neglect
Then that which would be rejected for sake of creation
And bare the heart that is the soul of India's nation

Picked clean of impurity in towers of silence
So many having learned that goodness rejects violence
A heritage built strong from Aryan forefathers' tradition
And renewing itself in each age's newest edition

Regardless of selection of the deepest devotion
Each festival offers its colors within emotion
There in India's network of rare reciprocity
Is the needed tolerance of spiritual integrity

Holi bonfires inspire a powdered celebration
Far and wide across the breadth of the India nation
Reborn within the sparks from holy fires
Until with charity and love their understanding inspires

Love of mankind as brother, sister and true friend
Cyclically progressing and yet never reaching end
The world it seems is one that keeping on turning
Wishing only that mankind was just as ever learning

(c) August 15, 2021 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Sundarban -Bengal Tiger With Mangrove Snake To Its Back
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First Principles: If We Were To Remove the Bible From Public Schools We Would Be Wasting So Much Time Punishing Crimes and Taking So Little Pains To Prevent Them

“If we were to remove the Bible from public schools we would be wasting so much time punishing crimes and taking so little pains to prevent them.” – Benjamin Rush

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Thought For the Day: Solitude, Though It May Be Silent As Light, Is Like Light, the Mightiest of Agencies; For Solitude Is Essential To Man

“Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone; all leave it alone.” – Thomas De Quincey, writer (15 Aug 1785-1859)

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