Arco (TN)

Arco (TN)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Senryu - Belief in Spirits - September 6, 2014

For Carpe Diem Haiku Kai - Belief in Spririts:


 mountain wind

the spirit eye sees
traveling far

sunset
illumination of other worlds
clouds

flute notes
in spirit rocks
answers

© Jane Reichhold

The belief in spirits is the theme and though the theme is directed towards a more spiritual or maybe a supernatural idea of spritis my haiku today are dedicated to the spirit of an age;  the brief peace and civil rights movements of the young people in the United States in the 1960s. The song below by Crosby, Stills and Nash talks about another age still ... the soldiers killed during the Civil War. 

It would seem that the leadership of the United States throughout the ages has not been immune to the sirenes of war, imperialism, and intollerance towards those different  from themselves. Our songs, literature and our history confirm this.


flowers in the wind
people being killed on TV
napalm on Vietnam

money's important
a man's worth is his bank book
nothing else matters
 
don't enter - you're black
this restaurant just serves whites
in Alabama

3 died in Kent State
thousands more in Vietnam
but still nothing changed

people believed
in the spirit of freedom
the power of words

make love not war
lay down your weapons friends
everyone is equal
 
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ù

in twenty-fourteen
the world still fights senseless wars
poverty breeds hate
politicians and preachers
goad the people for profit

gone the illusions
of peaceful flower power
gone ideals of love
the spirit of this age changed
where are the freedom marchers





10 comments:

  1. I hear disillusionment. I share that at time, too.

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    1. Yes, sometimesI guess I feel a little disillusionment Janice ... it was a heady moment when youthful asperations seemed to be enough to change a world.

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  2. Goading the people for profit, indeed -- keep 'em confused, distracted, and fearful. And Find the Cost of Freedom has got to be one of the saddest songs on earth. A very thoughtful post here - how little we learn.

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    Replies
    1. Ah .. history. There are always powers behind the visible power .. moving forces behind a king or president, so much we don't know. The ideal would be to become aware but what history is chosen to be taught in schools is the history of those who are in power and its interpretation is often biased. But a spirit of a time cannot be completely hidden and if we want to lear and see we can. I agree ... Find the Cost of Freedom is one of the saddest songs of all times ...

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  3. Awesome series of haiku and tanka Georgia

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  4. It's easy to loose ones spirit when we see hate raising again.

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    Replies
    1. Of course I know that the hate has never been defeated ... it was quite a vision to see the young people occupy Wall Street a few years ago. The young and the old push for change I suppose, even if their vision is different. The first instintual the second based on experiene. But the world keeps spinning whatever we do ... who knows maybe one day we will overcome the hate.

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  5. Just in the news a famous comedian is offering a reward for an awful prank. Some teens destroyed the Ice Bucket challenge (which was in good spirit to raise funds) and dumped a disgusting bucket of debris on a differently abled child. I cannot imagine that those offensive children were brought up to be so disrespectful.
    And yet as you say very little has changed. But I would still hope the scales of justice are filled with hope - I hope those nasty teens are caught and have to preform thousands of hours of community service!

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  6. What an aweful thing ... once those teens would have been put into a reformatory ... or maybe not. Times do change. Not always for the better though.

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harmonious words ... like crystal clear water ... pure ectasy

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