Autumn on the coast...

Autumn has arrived on the Pacific coast with a flourish of blustery storms and downpours.

I am making a valiant effort to experience the beauty of the season in brightly colored trees and fallen leaves. Yet steel gray skies and rain intrude on my psyche. I yearn to write of endings instead of cheerful copper creations peeking out among the hemlock.

I sense myself turning into a hermit. I seldom leave my six mile long by two mile wide sand spit out on the coast ... Autumn draws me inward.

Before I go down the rabbit hole entirely, I offer readers a brief respite:

Pantomime

She’s changing clothes, shifting wilted camisoles
thrown off exposing youthful skin and bone.
Her fashion once concealed bare naked innocence
revealed among her neighbors stately forms.

She’s blushed and flushed though still she stands
desire to fade and hide rooted to the ground.
Her laundry list is deep discarded at her chilly feet
showers wet her crown, shivering she frowns.

She’s safely kept her shapely place amid the rest
never spread nor shed a seedling underneath.
Her pose is spare though purposeful in due respect
can’t a limb react to shield her from neglect?

She’s numb with frost, turned to inward thoughts
of careless growth in showy summer frocks.
Her brittle frozen skin begins to sense a tiny brush
of clever sister cedar’s gentle warming touch.

I offer you one more quick glimpse of the beauty of south-central Washington from my rainy rearview mirror:

Oh, Take My Picture Please

Dreamland settles in around the bend,
I pass through upland hills as fall expands
among a wonderland of gleaming gems.
Skipping beats, my eager heart stands still;
indeed my eyes deny the glimpse I see
of autumn clothed in gold amid the green.

A treasure trove of shiny copper coin,
alight in graduated beams of warming sun
on glowing statues cast in gilded bronze.
Fairies in our midst; my imagination twists
and turns in swirls to revel in them all.
Bright red maples blaze beside a waterfall.

A drive in dreams I want to never end.
I slow as passing strangers leave the scene
they may have never even known before.
Along my way a mix of yellow hued arrays
of wily willows caught in passion plays
escape cascades of blushing poplar leaves.

Visions fade away as rural roads divide
to shoo us through with scalding overdrive.
One parting burst survives; cherry limbs
wave gaily in a crèche of concrete medians
sweet sugar kisses dancing on a breeze
flying after me. Oh, take my picture please.


Ok - Readers cannot say they haven't been warned. My next post may arrive from among slimy rocks and roots shivering below ground. Perhaps we should migrate, strive to follow the sun to the southern hemisphere.

For those who share my malady, stay strong! Don't let "Seattle gray" get you down.

Letter From IVAW...

Letter from Seth Manzel,

Iraq Veterans Against the War Board of Directors

Dear Friends,

Since the election of Obama the public perception has been that the wars are winding down and that the objectives of the peace movement are now being embodied in the Administration's policies. A common myth that is being perpetuated by the media is that we are preparing to withdraw from Iraq.

These lies that Americans are telling themselves may make them feel better about the Obama Administration, but they are of little consequence to the Soldiers who are being deployed at a rate not seen since the surge. The lies mean nothing to the families left behind by soldiers going to spend a year deployed in the most dangerous period of the conflict yet. They mean even less to the widows who will never see their partners again.

We have forgotten the people of Iraq who have to live under the corrupt and dangerous puppet government that Obama is supporting, and we are all to quick to look the other way at the dead bodies piling up in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Iraq Veterans Against the War has not forgotten these things and we are one of the few groups out there who are still speaking out on these issues. One only needs to open major publications like the New York Times, The Army Times or the Stars and Stripes to see that we are getting the word out.

But we aren't just talking about the problems. Recently, IVAW sent a delegation to Iraq to help bolster Iraqi oil unions fighting back against corrupt and exploitive oil companies. Our members were participating in direct action in the latest round of G20 protests. Some members are actively involved in pressuring politicians to end these ruinous conflicts.

IVAW needs your support to continue our work. Without continuing help from the Peace Community we could not continue our work. Please, become a sustaining donor for IVAW and help us bring about an end to these wars by clicking on this link

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/t/7584/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1131.

Thank you for your support,
Seth Manzel, IVAW Board of Directors

P.S.
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