A Vacation In the Reflective

Birthday Weekend Photos At Eiteljorg and Indiana State Museum
A Vacation In the Reflective
by Michael Doyle

It seems to me that there's one thing
Covid has brought and its the thriving
That comes in knowing it's not really destination
Giving us the best of our family vacation

It does not hurt in thinking location
But, it's really in making the best of each situation
From the foot of Mt. Rushmore to Statue of Liberty
It turns out it's really exactly about the family

It's the measuring of ages with a trip of the shutter
As we collect first one photo and then yet another
We have the candids to keep things justifiably real
And the thoughtful expressions to remind us to feel

The sky is too big when it is grey and dingy
But there might be something to save some dignity
Like focusing a bit on the skin of architecture
Getting the curves and edges in all of their texture

Despite the blown ego of our wounded pride
Such a day might be best taken to the inside
Where everything found is in its different perspective
And can offer contrasts as we draw on the reflective

Top down view offers a moment quite creative
Instead of being stiff as a board and restrictive
A marbled floor is ripe for building our memory
Laid out as it were by a handholding family

It's a great big world filled with potential
A billion waiting images to be collected as visual
All the standard images can be done differently
Still keeping the ambience expressed eloquently

Doing something entirely all too familiar then
But finding in it a new angle or spin
There's something to be said in being early rising
It's a whole other world and often surprising

Twice a day, dawn and as the world slips into twilight
Are the best times to catch the light just right
A lattice shown in all of its intricate inter-lace
Bring us intimacy on which to linger and embrace

Life is filled with these moments of snapshot opportunity
Where we get a moment to share the beauty and lunacy
It is up to each of us to make these our marked difference
It's to this that I hold the highest degree of reverence

(c) September 16, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved

Decisions of the Heart

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Principles: History and Experience Prove That Foreign Influence Is One of the Most Baneful Foes of Republican Government

“History and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.” – George Washington (1796)

Posted in First Principles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ghosts of A Daddy’s Duty

Weekend With the Girls 0911-132020
Ghosts of A Daddy's Duty
by Michael Doyle

Spent the weekend
Hoping for the Godsend
That of finding a ghost
Or, at least making the most

Of finding a haunted house
Quiet like a church mouse
Creeping around a shadow's home
Wondering if we are alone

We didn't find any spirits there
But gained maybe a little less fear
In doing this for my young cuties
Perhaps, I've done this daddy's duties

It was a lot of fun
Driving around before and after sun
And in all those driven miles
I believe I saw one or two dozen smiles

(c) September 15, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Weekend With the Girls 0911-132020
Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thought For the Day: Tolerance Is A Better Guarantee of Freedom Than Brotherly Love

“Tolerance is a better guarantee of freedom than brotherly love; for a man may love his brother so much that he feels himself thereby appointed his brother’s keeper.” – Everett Dean Martin (1880-1941)

Nocturne - Vampire the Masquerade - Blooze Brothers

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Principles: There Are Certain Primary Truths, Or First Principles, On Which All Subsequent Reasoning Must Depend

“In disquisitions of every kind there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasoning must depend.” – Alexander Hamilton (1788)

Posted in First Principles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Tomorrow Comes Your Day

When Tomorrow Comes Your Day
by Michael Doyle

Wrapped up in the depths of your soul
As we talk along our evening's stroll
I see my heroes inside your heart
Easily seeing what sets you apart

Your words as you touch me deep
Whisper you are who I should keep
Always beside me every single day
As we stop and we kneel to pray

Your love is simply God's reflection
I feel the strength of our connection
The love shines in your sweet eyes
That shone upon me to my surprise

Thank you, my dear, for my peace of mind
Yours is the pleasure I was hoping to find
I know these words come as you're sleeping
But they're strong enough to not be fleeting

Keeping until tomorrow comes to your day
Please tell me you'll be the one to always stay
I feel my heart fill with growing love
And know you'll be who I always think of

just before I lay my head down on my pillow
Drifting off to sleep dancing in our shadow
Even then whispering a quietly put prayer
That when I wake up, you will always be there

(c) September 14, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Hannington Endowment of the Arts  -Snuggled Into The Trees

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Keeping Our Truth

Triple Play Praise & Worship Center-   God Is... The One Truth  Path
Keeping Our Truth
by Michael Doyle

Reaching out in my cognition
Hoping that my thoughts and perceptions
Might find a little recognition
And from that grow some reception

Living life under another's definition
Points in mockery at the deception
As we walk this world in disguise
Keeping our truth from that other's eyes

It's not that we really chose this path
But, really when you do the math
Do we have any other choice
But to restrain our inner voice?

I shake my head stumbled into laughter
No longer certain what I should be after
Yet, knowing that in each step of my journey
I am hoping the best outcome for my destiny

There on the edge of my creativity
Is the path to emboldened originality
I have only to explore my imagination
And in it find my way to my destination

(c) September 14, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Hannington Endowment of the Arts  - I Had A Dream and You Were There

Posted in Poetry and Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Educated Mind Cannot Be Enslaved

“What is the one thing [slaves] were not allowed to do?” Learn to read. Learn to write. The punishment would have been severe for that. And the reason for that is simple: It’s because an educated mind cannot be enslaved.” – Candace Owens

Posted in Thought For the Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

First Principles: Neither the Wisest Constitution Nor the Wisest Laws Will Secure the Liberty and Happiness of A People Whose Manners Are Universally Corrupt

“Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.” – Samuel Adams (1749)

Posted in First Principles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment