“Power”‘s That Be

“Aging Power” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Power … it’s an amazing and amazingly useful thing.

From a simple think like electricity that give us the easy life – heating our homes, cooking, keeping food fresh … it’s wonderful. I think if people went back to the old days where you had to go to market daily or, well, kill a chicken here and there on your farm for food, etc people would very much appreciate how much less than simply power is – when applied in its correct context.

Then there is the other “power” – political and otherwise. Many times it’s a power that starts out for good – freeing people and otherwise, many times from tyranny.

So, why many times does that good power “go south”, get rusted, and eventually possibly become what it was initially fighting to correct?

Here is what I think:

Power is useful when used with good guidance. When that guidance is ignored or no longer sought out, it becomes like an older part of a power grid – the rust takes over and no longer efficiently transfers electricity across that part of the grid (holding back services from those that need it).

Lot’s of time checks and balances are in place, the rusting is noticed, and replaced with new sections – and the power flows again to those that need it.

The other reason … we just don’t to even start discussing a subject like this because people are “tired of dealing with it”.

Well, sometimes you have to deal with things … in a positive manner.

Sometimes those dealings take time.

Sometime with baby-steps so small that you may never see the end result in your life time.

So, next time you want to vent on Facebook on another popular social media venue – maybe take a day to cool down and email or write to someone that can get that rust that is impeding whatever power problem you have removed or remidiated. It may not happen that day … but maybe your children will have a much brighter future because you took a few minutes to put somthing in motion.

Save the world — talk to someone, write a letter, care. Baby-steps are still steps.

-SWB

Just something to think about.

 

Once The Living

“Living Was Once” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Living was once a thing,
treasured by all.

Then we forgot,
forgot all.

Waking to light,
was savored by the mass.

Leading a life,
helping the less.

Living was once a thing,
that all beings did.

Forgetting about self,
remembering all others.

Lifting a finger,
giving an arm.

Powering a light,
for many without sight.

Living was once a thing,
that we all remembered.

Raising children,
for families distraught.

Feeding a void,
that should never be empty.

invigorating a need,
by planting a seed.

Living was once a thing,
that we all once did.

-SWB

Natural

“The Leaves” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Natural to listen,
voices in the leaves.

Songs being whispered,
within the trees long wise.

Command to all,
how to avoid the fall.

Wind giving wishes to the crowd,
honoring those spoken aloud.

Natural to think,
ambition speaking wild.

The worlds amongst the branches,
living unknown, seeming complete.

Passing to the right, blind,
talking reality to those unseen.

Working the words from times prevailed,
wondering the thoughts from mistakes.

Natural to all,
natural to fall.

-SWB

Broken Doors

“Doorway” (c)Lawence A Capozzolo

Broken Doors sitting alone,
once to freedom now to blight.

Open in past finding chance,
now hanging unto slowing rust.

Pathway once to dreams,
creating nightly imagination.

Things once better through a door,
today all questions – not much more.

Walking through is a job,
will the rust hold on?

Will the door fall,
ending the dreams and all?

Broken doors, everywhere,
seldom noticed, always feared.

-SWB

Escape

“Rusted Escape” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Escape when I can,
to another land.

Running away in a dream,
allowing me to be.

A life botched,
i’m trying to live not.

Corrections to be made,
directions lacking the way.

Eluding some say,
responsibilities of the day.

Wanting nothing new,
avoiding and delaying change.

Escape meaning much,
when life seems out to lunch.

-SWB

Used To Be

“Used To Be” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

I used to be important,
shaping the land.

Paving ways,
for plants growing tall and grand.

Now sitting lost,
my used seems none.

I fear my life become,
rusted and done.

-SWB

Memories Unbroken

“Beehive SouthSide” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Clear in my mind,
words spoken enter the light.

Smells of fresh flakes of coffee,
grab the sounds romping in my mind,

The colors around,
from life being poured by the pound.

Many a state of mind,
created in the midst.

Memories that bind,
enduringly enrapt in my mind.

-SWB

The Movies

“The Warner” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Warner Centre in Pittsburgh PA. Click here for a great article from The Post-Gazette on it.

Basically where I first viewed “Empire Strikes Back”. Memories.

I remember standing in line with my mother waiting to get in and hit the snack counter. A Star Wars fan … but still a kid. Sweets trumped getting a good seat. Besides – like everyone else I would see it at least 75 times (today’s cost over $800).

“The Movies” are something everyone remembers, and although they are coming back, today they lack the same sentimental memories. I mean those memories of friends huddled in the theater  annoying the other patrons, your buddies throwing popcorn at the back of your head during the film, and occasionally getting kicked out – which is why you probably needed to see the movie 75 times (you weren’t a fanboy or fangirl – you just saw the movie a few minutes at a time … and you could afford to do that in times past).

The movies also lost a little bit of art in them.  The art of physical editing, photography based on the chemical methods of development and how it affected the end result on the screen (still done today for specialized shooting), and the low clicking and hum you could still hear from the projectors in the back of the room. It all added to the experience.

Even with theaters popping up in communities new it’s still a little different. Drive-ins are still recovering (the ones that can with the forced upgrades to digital projection). New film makers are finding their footing (all digital, back to film, or hybrids). “The Movies” are truly in a transitional stage – which will last for years.

Maybe things will reset … new isn’t always best, or always desired.

If you see “The Movies” coming back in your community … support them. They may be the sentimental memories you need when you end up in that rocking chair on the front porch.

-SWB

 

Bridges

“Connecting” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Bridges long and small,
connecting the short and tall.

Traveled by many,
looking to collect their plenty.

Pathways to new relations,
gateways to ending strife.

New beginnings for those becoming bold,
a road to comfort for those now old.

A lift for the wary in flight,
empathy for those in need.

Bridges us humans truly need.

-SWB

City overshadowed

“Forgotten” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

SWB Series: Nonsense and Such

Do you live in a place that people seemed to have forgotten about?

Do you remember when you were young you lived in the hottest, coolest place on the earth?

Now, your pretty sure you live in a retirement community … overshadowed by the latest and greatest cool cities.

… or you live in Silicon Valley and you just traded your $3 million house for a 1970s custom van so you can  buy groceries this week.

Maybe not … if you’ve living near me you didn’t create a start-up that good.

So, one day you take the telescope you bought your kid because you thought it was ultra-cool (you’re a parent now, so you were really wrong about that which is why it’s in your closet and not their room), and point it across the river and see someone on the other side taking a picture of your city.

You figure out where they are and contact them (Big Brother Google makes this easy these days). You ask them what they are doing (you are curious, but vigilant too – so you want to make sure your city doesn’t have a stalker … remember there WERE children here once).

They tell you they are taking pictures and video clips for their YouTube series.

You ask, “What series is that?”

“Abandoned cities in Pennsylvania”, they reply.

… and then reality quickly sets in, and the truth comes out – ur just old, so is your city.

Welcome to middle age … it’s the new ancient.

-SWB

 

Remembering Times Past

“Times Past” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Remembering times past,
realizing things won’t last.

The lack of clarity,
at this age – sharpness a rarity.

Through a tunnel of memory,
wishing I were there.

A time of comfort,
memories of unbounded fun.

To the last,
remembering times past.

-SWB

The Target

“On The Rise” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Sunlight beaming bright,
searching after it’s newest target.

Chasing dark back,
in it’s view a day new.

Daily mark,
life devouring the night.

Scurrying around, light bound.

-SWB

Door Paint

“Writing On The Wall” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Door paint – a truly exciting vice,
waiting for it to fall – mimicking us all.

I wait for a flake,
to add excitement to my day.

Yearning for it’s life,
i listen to it’s words during the morn’.

Seeming still – but alive,
mastering a slow-motion noon.

All discovery in a single place,
no reason to extend interest.

A single slab – invisible layers,
guiding in time a stretched image.

Wondering with age,
if there was really only one day.

-SWB

….. an attempt at legitimate poetry. We’ll get back to the bad stuff later. Then again, you may think we never left it.

Foggy

“Distracted Light” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Foggy at night,
the air seems lost.

I can’t find my way,
i swore i think this is me.

So far in this murk,
listening hearing a friend.

Light delayed,
as seems all this age.

Suspended it seems,
the glow many a dream.

-SWB

 

Frozen Ponds

“Core of a Cold Heart” (c)Lawrence A Capozzolo

Frozen ponds,
frozen hearts.

Many lies,
from days gone by.

A smile once worn, fades away,
once thinking it would stay.

Many needs, many wants,
on the hunt for a lost dream.

Walking frozen, cold as can be,
the warmth drying up inside of me.

A world that once was a place of the sun,
has been made devoid of any fun.

Friends of the past, frozen in that place,
almost now seem like a complete waste.

Rivers of thought now end in white crystals,
the only thing heard is a faint distant whistle.

A mini ice-age has come to town.

-SWB

The latest in our series of poetry from people who have absolutely no business in writing it.

Pretty bleak, huh?

Well, I’m doing my best to paint a picture of how many people see the world now (or how we’re feeling in Pittsburgh when it’s Spring, and there’s still ****** frost on the car in the morning … not sure which). Of course I could just be getting in touch with my inner-Poe.

I’ve always found darker poetry interesting because it can indicted one of three things: 1. You are crying out for help because you are depressed and hiding it (basically in a dark work where nobody cares anyway) , 2. You are getting useless destructive emotional crap out of your system so you can function as a normal person, 3. You’re a technical person … in which you are just documenting the fact that for you getting anywhere near normal is just a useless attempt at avoiding a nice comfy padded room, which is your destiny most likely in the near future.

…. a little bit of sarcasm there, maybe.

Writing does have therapeutic value – which is why the healthcare industry hates it. Stress is very lucrative. It incites depression and a multitude of other profitable health issues.

Imagine if we all wrote (and maybe found a few suckers to pay for the stuff) de-stressing us enough to very rarely be sick. I mean to a point where everyone’s blood pressure is down to perfect, heart disease disappears, our immune systems function top-notch and naturally rid our bodies of cancer and other diseases. Wow!!

Now think of what that would do to the economy. Tragic!

Your doctor friend down the street would lose his job, and have to take back his BMW.

Your BFF that works as the pharmacist at the local Big Bird store gets moved to cashier in the grocery department losing a ton of pay and has to take back her BMW.

The next down neighbor who sells the blood pressure meds and chemo supplies to the hospitals that over-charge for them loses his job and has to take back his and his wife’s BMWs too (he sold a lot of stuff so they could afford two).

Just because of you …. inspiring people to write and de-stress (instead of getting them to de-stress in a way that get them some kind of transmittable disease), BMW has now gone out of business. As the iconic status has disappeared, people are even less stressed because they don’t have to work ninety hours a week to afford their BMW to indicate that they made it in the world, and now have even more time to write, de-stressing them more and more.  An abumdance of medical issues fade away, and more jobs are lost.

People eventually are no longer sick, and the worldwide economy collapses … people go back to living in huts and caves realizing they are completely happy without any economy.

All because of you ….. a writer that inspired many to de-stress through words.

How dare you!

-SWB

A first … a really crappy poem paired with a really crappy mini-essay/commentary (or whatever you are calling it at this time). Did we do well?