World War III

Who knew that World War Three was going to start
with the 2014 Russian reclamation of The Crimea
from modern Ukraine, a mere 70 years after
Russians reclaimed all Ukraine from Nazi Germany
who invaded Ukraine between 1941- 1944.
Russia got their third bite at Ukraine from 2022,
where they propaganda/excuse became that they
were seeking to de-Nazify Ukraine as if they had failed
to de-Nazify Ukraine before and had to hide their failure.

Presently the third world war is being extended as a cyber war
over European air space, and airport control, where drones
are making the skies unsafe, for planes to the degree
where the public's plans for peacetime travel are being increasingly disrupted.

How Anonymous Can Authority Get ?

'Who's image is on the coin*?'
is an increasingly unanswerable question,
for ascertaining who is in actual authority,
when over seventy years, money has gone
from paper and coins, through to cheques
and then credit cards through to being an app
that now stands in for all that stood before it
in situations that are so far beyond counting
that we hardly know who is in authority
at all, never mind where our taxes go.

*Jesus answer to the trick question
about who to pay taxes to in Israel
when it was a Roman province,
Matthew 22:15-22; Luke 20:19-26.  

When The Hand Connects...

    ...to the mouth that is hungry for food,
for the belly further down to grumble less, 
then that meal saves the day that day, at least.

There are many days when provision for the least
is yet more poverty, when want is left unmet. 
Whilst across a world, wars fill the news
that is self supporting from advertising
where wealth increases by unearned means,
whilst hiding from taxation, via schemes
out of reach of government regulations.

Where the hand connects to the mouth
I am grateful, but I have to learn to live
with feeling that I must live un-listened to.

The Vanity Of Optimism

works best when the optimist
is at their least reflective,
when they are at their vainest,
and their most deceptive
in such a flattering media. 

1939 Syndrome

I used to measure my happiness
by the length of time I was at ease
with listening to the serious news
in the mornings, the worse the events
reported and the more smarmy
the 'strong man' political acts
the shorter my tolerance of them.

Particularly Margaret Thatcher.
Nowadays I think of this measure
of un/happiness as '1939 syndrome',
since that is what such news reminds me of. 

Great Turn Offs Of Our Time (41)

When we hear the latest outlandish
public statement from public figures
known for their way with monetising
their lack of vigour towards the truth,
and making lies sound so entertaining
then the obvious thing to do is turn them off.

But when life repeats itself that often,
and that objectionably, what are we left with? 

The Discomfort Zone

Many times in public places I hear exhortations
that we should 'get out of our comfort zones'
by creating acts of faith and public positivity
that will 'change the world'. But the zone I live in
is one where I never quite know how to speak
with confidence, it is a zone of discomfort,
where I can speak but positive words fail me.