The Ballad of Teddy Cruz

Image from Salon.com

Every week there is a dick

who makes the rest of us quite sick.

I realize this is hardly news,

but this week it is Teddy Cruz.

He did not like Obamacare;

he would not like it anywhere.

It made him pace and rant and roar

for hours on the Senate floor.

That’s what he did, this Texan dude

(who makes us think of words quite crude).

He ranted and he quoted Seuss,

The Doctor, who would have no use

For such an application of

His verses we all know and love.

Ted Geisel was a caring soul

Who felt for people on the dole.

He would not like his work misused

by hucksters like this Teddy Cruz

to try to take health care away

from who need it most, I say.

The Senate’s now the butt of jokes

Because of Teddy Cruz-like folks.

It makes us mad, it makes us pissed

To see the Senate used like this.

Teddy Cruz, he wants to be

The President of you and me.

That’s why he played around like this:

Our Teddy is a narcissist.

Don’t be fooled by patriotic

talk: that would be idiotic.

Everything Cruz does and says

is ‘cause he wants to be the Prez.

For Teddy’s buddy Randy Paul

This kind of stunt seemed a good call.

He seemed to take the world by storm

(at least among the Fox-informed).

So why should Ted not follow suit

And launch a stunt that’s just as cute?

Oh yeah! Because Ted cannot win--

You see, Cruz is Canadian.

So all this nonsense, all this bluster,

all this so-called filibuster,

helps our Teddy not one bit;

He just chose to be a shit.

Copyright Ⓒ 2013 by William K. Ferro

All rights reserved

Dark Days

The End of War

I was looking through an old notebook yesterday, and discovered a poem I'd forgotten I'd written. It's called Dark Days (The End of War), and was written in 2006 at the height of our national madness. Due to the perennial nature of that madness, and in light of the latest in the seemingly endless series of gun massacres, I thought I'd share it. -- WKF

*      *      *

image from kliguy38depression2news.blogspot.com 

I weep for the children of Haditha

For the victims of violence every day.

And I grieve for our children with guns in their hands

Who should never have been placed in harms way.

And I mourn for the soul of my nation

Because I don't recognize her anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

I think of the people of Fallujah

Of the families that were forced from their homes.

And I grieve for our children with blood on their hands

For killing turns a human heart to stone.

And I mourn for our great Constitution

Because it doesn't seem to rule here anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

Because there's murder and rape and torture

Being done in my name

And I know that I'm to blame

If I turn a blind eye.

Today I am a prisoner at Camp Delta

The condemned in the hell that men have made.

Five years on now, still no trial in sight 

In the clutches of the free and the brave.

And I weep for the soul of my country

Because I don't recognize her anymore.

And so I light a candle in these dark, dark days

And hope that we will find the end of war.

I hope that we will find the end of war.

Copyright 2006 by William K. Ferro
All rights reserved

Make Joy Your Default Position

Image from mnn.com

I've written in the past about cultivating the habit of contentment, and how this can be a valid goal for the holistic spirituality practitioner in and of itself. It has a great many benefits, of course; making happiness a habit can get you through tough times and make joy your default position in life. It also makes you much more enjoyable to be around, which means that everyone in your life can benefit from your practice as well.

Because we all have problems to solve in our work, homes, and relationships, we can easily get in the habit of approaching every situation from a "what's wrong here?" angle. But in the same way that that response becomes habitual--through practice--the happiness habit can be cultivated as well.

Neuroscience tells us that our habits become established when repeated behaviors create neural pathways in our brains. When we get a payoff for a behavior (through the release of endorphins), we repeat it in search of that same reward; this is how the "grooves" in our brains are created. And yes, there is a payoff for the pessimistic approach: even when the response is negative, our brains are happy with what's familiar to them. We get the same biochemical reward for positive and negative responses to life; it's just a matter of what we've gotten used to. (Anyone who's predicted the worst possible outcome and then feeling perversely satisfied when that's exactly what happens will understand what I mean!)

The point is that conscious living gives us a choice of which patterns to make habitual. This is one of the great tools an active yoga and meditation practice offers-- the ability to make conscious choices about how we're going to respond to events in our lives. It also teaches us to let go-- to release the impossible goal of total control. A great deal of suffering and emotional unease can be traced back to attempts to control things that are by their nature quite beyond our control. There's a well-known quotation that is often erroneously attributed to the Buddha, but which nonetheless is an excellent guide:

       In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Regardless of who originally said this, it's quite brilliant! Love liberally, live gently, and release things not meant for you-- like total control, for instance! Make joy your default position; it will benefit you and everyone who comes in contact with you.