“The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery.” – Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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Thought For the Day: Capitalism Unevenly Distributes Prosperity; Socialism Evenly Distributes Misery
Samson (XI)
Continuing in this humble retelling of the story of Samson and Delilah as originally set out in The Book of Judges:
Samson XI by Michael Romani XI Delilah torments and taunt her precious Samson Desiring the secrets that make him a better man Insisting that it's a matter of utmost trust And that if he loves her then clearly he must Tell her everything, or it's naught but a lie Using cunning and trickery at his every reply There are no secrets between those truly in love And just who is this God who rules from above? Samson knows in his heart that is not her right But, reluctantly reveals that he is a Nazirite Owed to God were three simple secret vows No wine; no touching of dead; no cutting hair … and now Two vows are standing as solidly, stolidly broken And with his secrets revealed, he knows what he's spoken And as sure as she's a Philistine, she practices deception Yet, Samson has given Delilah his demise in its inception Delilah gives Samson a drink containing a sleeping potion She's a Philistine not withstanding her womanly emotion As he sleeps, she cuts off his sacred, long hair But, she does this lovingly and with the greatest care Lock by lock, his hair is quickly, quietly sheared For her ready deception, he was less than prepared Hair shorn, Samson is taken in bonds and alive Seemingly certain that he'll be lucky just to survive As the Dark Prince seeks to taste and hold Samson's power He believes his brutality will win and has won this hour Samson is blinded by him at the point of heated sword And then to the palace, he is dragged ever toward Into the dark dungeon, he is then powerlessly cast Where he confesses to God what his pride has lost His over self-reliance has cost him all he holds dear And all that is left to him is what he very much fears Brokenhearted is he; but then; so to her depths is she As she realizes the extent and fullness of her treachery Tortured by the edge of his life to seek his secret's source Samson tells the Dark Prince that it's a gift from God of course Angered, the Dark Prince, demands the price of his pride Ushered on Samson with beatings and curses, he derides The worth of Samson, who suddenly knows the flail of barbarity And reveals again that the only way to true power is humility But being humble is more than the Dark Prince will give It's certainly not the path he has chosen to live No respecter of any god or of his fellow man The prince intends to use his trophy as he knows he can Killing his own father for his assumption of Philistine throne The Dark Prince believes in himself and himself alone Delilah suffering attempts again to find a way to free her man Sadly, alas, she finds that her pieces of silver no longer can Though in chains, Samson finally hears at last God's voice And he knows only his humble sacrifice as the wisest choice Seeking only to once again become and live as God's servant Samson at last reaches true humility before all eyes observant (c) January 26, 2019 Michael Romani All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Bliind, Book of Judges, Cast, Chain, Confess, Cunning, Cut, Deception, Delilah, Dungeon, Fear, God, Hair, Humble, Humility, Lie, Lock, Love, Nazirite, Philistine, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Power, Pride, Prince, Samson, Secret, See, Self-Reliance, Servant, Shorn, Sleeping Potion, Trust, Voice, Vow
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Surviving the Ride
From Socrates to Rush’s Neil Pert to observance of every day life, we all learn one thing fairly early on, conform or be cast out.
Surviving the Ride by Michael Romani Time and again, it's the same story All sorts of things for all sorts of glory To prevent questions that are unneeded There are functional rules to be heeded Individuals it seems cannot be trusted Without their souls' fingerprints being dusted So many things are there to be learned In a chainsaw's pruning that must be discerned Too much thinking of our own thoughts Brings troubles we never wanted or sought Some invisible judge hands down this sentence Fit in and conform even if it's simple pretense Step out of line and you will be busted Innocent or not, you cannot be trusted Keep your hands, legs and minds inside If you don't, you won't survive this ride (c) January 26, 2019 Michael Romani All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems, Uncategorized
Tagged Bust, Cast Out, Conform, Discern, Fingerprint, Functional Rules, Glory, Individuals, Innocent, Inside, Judge, Learn, Own Thought, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Pretense, Questions, Ride, Rush, Sentence, Society, Socrates, Sought, Soul, Step Out of Line, Story, Survive, Think, Trouble, Trust
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Wishing The Maybe
Do you ever have moments where you stop and pause and think on things like maybe things might have been different or maybe this or that? I do. Those are the moments to be quiet and listen in. Trying to figure out what it’s all about can lead to some important lessons. Other times, it’s simply about accepting our lives as we find them and squeezing for that bit of lemonade…
Wishing the Maybe by Michael Romani Wishing that maybe we could Never really did anyone any good But as a remembrance of things past Throwaway lines that are miscast Pleasure filled moments of conversation Filled without the slightest hesitation But filled with no real deliberation Just idle moments of consideration Of hunger for our lost yesterdays All of the things that seemed so throwaway But now, we'd give all to relive We did too much taking with nothing to give Late nights hoping not to spill into sleep Contemplations of all slipping into deep Until the world closes our weary eyes Out beneath the majestic, starry skies Hiding seek moments spent in plain view Morality plays that played but won't do As though anything was really up me or you We've all got watched balances left to do Unobserved we live this dark, cold city Wishing for compassion but finding no pity Every day lived surely leads to tomorrow As though life lived is something we borrow Finding the gift that is found in each other God's truth is earnestly known in one another Like a game of cosmic chess we've played Finding one too many innocent dragons slayed Maybe we should have just let them be All of this in the name of sacred family It's like a loss felt in its travesty Hiding as outcasts from a lost society Keeping back from that society of fools Who believe they break all the right rules Believing God is a commodity to be bought We spend the true treasure we should have sought (c) January 26, 2019 Michael Romani All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Balance, Borrow, Bought, Chess, City, Compassion, Consider, Could, Deliberate, Dragon, Eye, Family, Fool, Gift, God, Good, Hesitate, Hiding Seek, Late Night, Let It Be, Lines, Maybe, Moment, Morality Play, Nothing, Outcast, Photograph, Pity, Plain View, Pleasure, Poem, Poetry, Relive, Remembrance, Rule, Sky, Sleep, Society, Sought, Think, Throwaway, Tomorrow, Travesty, Treasure, Truth, Wish, Yesterday
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First Principles: A Government of Unjust Laws Cannot Stand Before An Armed People
“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.” – Noah Webster (1787)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged America, Disarmed, Europe, First Principles, Force, Noah Webster, Rule, Standing Army, Supreme Power, The People, United States, Unjust Law
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Thought For the Day: Do Things For Others Not For Benefit But Because of Who You Are
“Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” — H. Kushner
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Change, Do Things, Harold S Kushner, Kind, Others, People, Return, The World, Thought For the Day, Who You Are, You
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First Principles: Honest Friendship With All Nations; Entangling Alliances With None
“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” – Thomas Jefferson (1801)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged All Nations, Alliances, Commerce, Entangle, First Principles, Honest Friendship, None, Peace, Thomas Jefferson
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Thought For the Day: Self Reliance Is the Only Road To True Freedom
“Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one’s own person is its ultimate reward.” – Patricia Sampson (1921-1998)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Freedom, Patricia Simpson, Person, Reward, Road, Self-Reliance, Thought For the Day, True, Ultimate
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Sweet Talk
For the first time in 160 years, those tiny little conversation hearts will not be available for Valentine’s Day. There’s something tragic in that. Still, the relief is that they’ll be back in 2020.
Sweet Talk by Michael Romani Sit down now please I don't mean to tease But, there's something tragic A temporary loss of magic Slow shock Sweet talk Conversation start There on a candy heart But they won't be there Nor this year anywhere To ask if you'll be mine My darling, precious Valentine Sunshine Won't you be mine Be my Valentine We walk this line This line of true love From God above No push, no shove Talking about true love Kiss me Miss me There in this assortment Is the question of what's meant Be good Like you know you should Spice it up and start Memories made by candy hearts Spice it up, sugar pie Feel the heart cry As the top chef skips a year Melt my heart with no more tears (c) January 24, 2019 Michael Romani All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems, Uncategorized
Tagged Candy Heart, Conversation, Heart, Magic, Photograph, Please, Poem, Poetry, Start, Sweet Talk, Sweetheart, Tease, Valentine's Day
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Samson (XI)
Continuing in a series of poems depicting the story of Samson and Delilah as told in the Book of Judges:
Samson (XI) by Michael Romani Staying their course, steady to fight For their land and what is right Even if Samson proclaimed he wouldn't The Hebrews stood firm, even when he couldn't Believers in God's promises of a home The Jews knew that they were not alone Not had their God ever forsaken them They would have their promised land again Samson felt he was done with failing Certain that God was no longer willing But, the men of Zion, needed him to lead And to take example from his noble deeds Certain death was not the best direction Samson felt himself to be following God's correction And instead chose Delilah as his loving pursuit While she, a Philistine, beguiled her brute Quietly romancing as they playfully walked Exchanging lovers pleasantries as they talked Samson slowly revealed his points of weakness And Delilah listened in her half feigned meekness Whispers of bindings that could tie him To be ordinary and subject to her every whim Gazing with love, she listens to his surrender Receiving this and knowing his heart as tender Still, she knew he would never be ordinary This man, Samson, was a man born extraordinary And though she was there as the Prince's snare She found herself slipping into honest care For this man after all was not her people's enemy Just a humble servant of his people and their legacy The Prince saw her desires and wish to be free He barks out a warning of consequence, ever so sternly (c) January 24, 2019 Michael Romani All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Believe, Bind, Book of Judges, Brute, Care, Consequence, Correction, Death, Delilah, Direction, Enemy, Extraordinary, Fail, Feign, Forsake, God, Hebrew, Jew, Lead, Legacy, Lovers, Noble, Philistine, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Prince, Promised Land, Right, Romance, Samson, Servant, Snare, Stern, Surrender, Weakness, Will, Zion
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