Riot at the Mint Patch

Riot at the Mint Patch

 

They are having a riot at the mint patch

And they don’t seem to care

If I stumble around the periphery of the party

With my dog

My half eaten bag of pretzels

Or my half a bottle of beer.

The hornets

The wasps

The bees

And the butterflies

All coexist

In the fragrant mist of the mint.

I am only a passing shadow

I am not the answer to any of their needs

I am not the start, the middle or the end

Of their riddle

I am not even a hint.

I am not the nicanoid killer

I am not a spray can of poison

I am not a link in the chain.

The wasps and hornets and the butterflies

Are gathering juices and pollen

Before the coming rain.

The riot at the mint patch

Will go on without me.

I am beginning feel quite vestigal

Like the tissue

At the end of the bowel

Like a molar

Like a useless limb

That’s how I feel right now.

Like the acknowledgment

At the end of a book

Or an after dinner mint

Or a puzzle that has already been solved

There is no need of a hint.  

 

If It Ain't Fixed, Don't Broke it (Part 2)

 

 More on the subject of United States Postal Service, Established in 1792 with Benjamin Franklin appointed first Post Master General in 1795. (Quotes by B. Franklin in italics included below).

In light of the recent controversy re: 2020 election vs. dismantling the Postal Office in an alleged attempt to skew the election results, I am reconsidering my appraisal of the USPS.  (Please,  refer to my post dated June 5th, 2014)  It would seem that I have ignored, in my original post, the needs of millions of Americans whose contact with the outside world would be greatly affected by the loss of physical mail delivery. Receipt of drug prescriptions, bills, supply-chain delivery and product delivery for small businesses, all hinge on the Postal Service. Now, in the time of plague, we are dependent on the service for delivery of ballots as well if  we wish to give all Americans an opportunity to vote.

While I still think the institution is outdated in its operation and there are better ways to do a lot of the things the post office has always done this is a wake up call to me to realize that I don't know it all. That the internet can be a shortcut for my ignorance sometimes. That I should be more considerate of the complexity of situations.   In effect I have been quick to jump to conclusions and disseminated these conclusions to my millions of followers just because I could. Not Cool. Not cool for me or for all the wonks who have a voice and a soapbox from which to scream. Not cool for politicians who don't let cooler heads-smarter more scientific heads-deal with the policies that may control the life-or death-situations that confront us in our hour of plague. Not cool for people who have the ability to video and disseminate scads of information instantaneously around the world, but lack the compassion to understand how that information can hurt and destroy. 

The internet can be the most amazing tool for Peace and Love and Understanding or the worst imaginable weapon of Hate and Ignorance. I pledge to "tread lightly" from now on and speak as best I can about what I know. How few there are who have courage enough to own their Faults, or resolution enough to mend them!

In Conclusion, in the words of Mister Franklin,

 Let no Pleasure temp thee, no Profit allure thee, no Ambition corrupt thee no Example sway thee, no Persuasion move thee, to do any thing which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollily; for a good Conscience is continual Christmas. Adieu.