It is my privilege to know Art Davis, the "Ogden Nash of Port Charlotte."
Art has given his permission over the last couple years for me to publish some of his poems. Most of the ones I've posted do not demonstrate his gift of turning words into hilarious twists. I hope he succeeds in gathering his body of work into something that can be published and shared far more widely than my little blog.
But Art's gifts also extend to twists of phrases which leave me breathless because of what words he connects to describe what he sees and feels. He does it in all his poems, the humorous ones and the serious ones.
Here is a list of the dates I posted his poems so that you can go back and enjoy/be moved by his work:
May 24, 2007
August 27, 2007
November 4, 2007
July 13, 2008
April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
More from Art Davis
This poem by Arthur H. Davis is submitted here by his permission. At the end of his poem, he hand-wrote, "Too Long?" Our writers' group unanimously said it was just right.
Art is a gentle soul who is as proper as one can be and still be warm and human. He also wrote at the bottom, "This is from my Dark Side twin." We knew it was from the Art who stays up late, alert to his wife's "every sigh, every move . . . ."
His imaginative mind plays in those dark hours of the night in place of "unfettered sleep." And my 43 year old son would love where the 92 year old Art takes his creativity. Both love a variety of music, including this one!
Flatulence --- Excuse me!
Flatulence? Yes, the passing of gas,
is one of the gifts of growing older.
Everyone faces some
degree of embarrassment
in their daily rounds,
but, the passing seems to increase
as those "Golden Years" approach.
It has been suggested
that the elderly are a
prime cause of Earth's warming,
so they immediately write to AARP
to contact their friends in Washington
that we the elderly might be
exonerated.
Most of the Congressional people
are quite elderly, so must
be careful no legislation is voted
upon, regarding the elderly
on this matter.
If and when they do sit
in those chairs of power,
they probably face similar dilemma.
I often wonder if it affects their vote?
One of the problems, if you care,
if you were brought up in a relatively
civilized environment,
is the suppressing of these
tuba-like emissions.
Now "tuba-like" isn't everyone's gift.
There are those among us who emulate
the oboe or the flugelhorn,
a bit higher pitched.
The clarinet?---I don't think so.
The thrum of cello, a possibility.
Drums, particularly the timpani
could typify pressure, but,
I do perhaps, venture too deeply
into instruments of the classic realm.
Flats and flatulence have nothing in common.
Living among a predominantly aging
group, I've often thought of going to my
buddies to see if a quintet of us could
try some ensemble work.
We'd be known as the
Fanny-Fare Five.
Such an idea was voted down sans
debate and I should have been
aware the idea would be doomed.
Of necessity, all rehearsals would have
to be held outside!
A foul idea if ever one.
At the height of my exuberance
for such an experiment,
I had already selected
Hold that Tiger
for our first endeavor,
and as my detractors ambled away,
buns swaying to the cadence
of the amble,
my selection was vindicated.
To retrain or cover this predicament,
most find it, more times than not,
difficult to do.
Pressure makes it almost impossible
to avoid the embarrassment
because fate ordained
someone always be nearby.
In the process, if you are
in the proximity of the player,
you might detect
an apoplectic behavior,
or the flatulentee furtively looking
about to determine if someone
is tuning in to this gaseous concert,
the while searching spastically
for a secluded space.
If I may insert a word of warning
to the reader,
Summer is at hand.
Should you be grilling,
or working around an open fire
and a bit of flatulence seems imminent,
don't turn your back to the fire!
To do so, you run a very high risk
of getting hot, very cross buns.
In closing, I modestly confess
my contributions to this common bane.
At my age, I am well aware
the social consequences,
but, when in territory wholly devoid
of my friends, or fellow citizens,
the happening is in a more carefree
mode of gratitude
and I march uninhibited
to French horn virtuosity.
(Copyright: Arthur H. Davis, 1/17/09, 2/9/09, 2/27/09, 3/3/09)
Art is a gentle soul who is as proper as one can be and still be warm and human. He also wrote at the bottom, "This is from my Dark Side twin." We knew it was from the Art who stays up late, alert to his wife's "every sigh, every move . . . ."
His imaginative mind plays in those dark hours of the night in place of "unfettered sleep." And my 43 year old son would love where the 92 year old Art takes his creativity. Both love a variety of music, including this one!
Flatulence --- Excuse me!
Flatulence? Yes, the passing of gas,
is one of the gifts of growing older.
Everyone faces some
degree of embarrassment
in their daily rounds,
but, the passing seems to increase
as those "Golden Years" approach.
It has been suggested
that the elderly are a
prime cause of Earth's warming,
so they immediately write to AARP
to contact their friends in Washington
that we the elderly might be
exonerated.
Most of the Congressional people
are quite elderly, so must
be careful no legislation is voted
upon, regarding the elderly
on this matter.
If and when they do sit
in those chairs of power,
they probably face similar dilemma.
I often wonder if it affects their vote?
One of the problems, if you care,
if you were brought up in a relatively
civilized environment,
is the suppressing of these
tuba-like emissions.
Now "tuba-like" isn't everyone's gift.
There are those among us who emulate
the oboe or the flugelhorn,
a bit higher pitched.
The clarinet?---I don't think so.
The thrum of cello, a possibility.
Drums, particularly the timpani
could typify pressure, but,
I do perhaps, venture too deeply
into instruments of the classic realm.
Flats and flatulence have nothing in common.
Living among a predominantly aging
group, I've often thought of going to my
buddies to see if a quintet of us could
try some ensemble work.
We'd be known as the
Fanny-Fare Five.
Such an idea was voted down sans
debate and I should have been
aware the idea would be doomed.
Of necessity, all rehearsals would have
to be held outside!
A foul idea if ever one.
At the height of my exuberance
for such an experiment,
I had already selected
Hold that Tiger
for our first endeavor,
and as my detractors ambled away,
buns swaying to the cadence
of the amble,
my selection was vindicated.
To retrain or cover this predicament,
most find it, more times than not,
difficult to do.
Pressure makes it almost impossible
to avoid the embarrassment
because fate ordained
someone always be nearby.
In the process, if you are
in the proximity of the player,
you might detect
an apoplectic behavior,
or the flatulentee furtively looking
about to determine if someone
is tuning in to this gaseous concert,
the while searching spastically
for a secluded space.
If I may insert a word of warning
to the reader,
Summer is at hand.
Should you be grilling,
or working around an open fire
and a bit of flatulence seems imminent,
don't turn your back to the fire!
To do so, you run a very high risk
of getting hot, very cross buns.
In closing, I modestly confess
my contributions to this common bane.
At my age, I am well aware
the social consequences,
but, when in territory wholly devoid
of my friends, or fellow citizens,
the happening is in a more carefree
mode of gratitude
and I march uninhibited
to French horn virtuosity.
(Copyright: Arthur H. Davis, 1/17/09, 2/9/09, 2/27/09, 3/3/09)
Art Davis poetry
Arthur H. Davis and his dear wife Margaret are spending time with his family up north for the summer. Our writers' group met with Art before they left. We were moved especially by his poem on life with someone requiring succor:
Caregiver's Lament - - -
Days drudge down to uneasy calm.
Night arrives draped in fear
of what might happen--
based upon what has happened..
How I long for unfettered sleep....
The sun sets again on the undone.
The moon rises,
red from the warming,
Dimly lights my place,
this spit of sand.
The one I've loved so long
sleeps fitfully,
A body racked by age and Rxs,
Systems confused and dosed
by Science's fiction.
The night is kidnapped once again
by Dawn -- relentless the routine.
The loved one wakes - -
the one upon whom I shower care,
The one who reacts in temper to the
"Please Dear do's and don't's,"
My admonitions, attempted guidance,
Questioning, "Who prescribed that?"
Of what reward is this?
The battle of therapy continues unabated,
Therapy the enemy,
Pills the dwarfs of repair,
The caregiver, ever the necessary evil,
The bane of days -- Vigilante 24/7.
Visitors visit. Prayers vented.
Love brings sustenance.
Mail brings love.
The Children come,
bless them each.
They bring gifts, do things,
make decisions.
They cook, they clean, they depart.
The Caregiver remains, to wonder,
fear, mop, launder, cook -- HA!
React to every sigh,
every move, as the past is recalled....
Sleep still eludes each glue-footed
moment--every one. Searching
Heavenward I pray -- mutely ask
God, Have you heard my prayers?
So far, no thunderous response, no
burning bush, no prick of brain.
But dawns another day of survival, in
reasonable comfort. Another day to
care, to love, to hope.
He must have heard
(Copyright: Arthur H. Davis, 5/30/08, revised 3/25/09 -- used by permission)
Caregiver's Lament - - -
Days drudge down to uneasy calm.
Night arrives draped in fear
of what might happen--
based upon what has happened..
How I long for unfettered sleep....
The sun sets again on the undone.
The moon rises,
red from the warming,
Dimly lights my place,
this spit of sand.
The one I've loved so long
sleeps fitfully,
A body racked by age and Rxs,
Systems confused and dosed
by Science's fiction.
The night is kidnapped once again
by Dawn -- relentless the routine.
The loved one wakes - -
the one upon whom I shower care,
The one who reacts in temper to the
"Please Dear do's and don't's,"
My admonitions, attempted guidance,
Questioning, "Who prescribed that?"
Of what reward is this?
The battle of therapy continues unabated,
Therapy the enemy,
Pills the dwarfs of repair,
The caregiver, ever the necessary evil,
The bane of days -- Vigilante 24/7.
Visitors visit. Prayers vented.
Love brings sustenance.
Mail brings love.
The Children come,
bless them each.
They bring gifts, do things,
make decisions.
They cook, they clean, they depart.
The Caregiver remains, to wonder,
fear, mop, launder, cook -- HA!
React to every sigh,
every move, as the past is recalled....
Sleep still eludes each glue-footed
moment--every one. Searching
Heavenward I pray -- mutely ask
God, Have you heard my prayers?
So far, no thunderous response, no
burning bush, no prick of brain.
But dawns another day of survival, in
reasonable comfort. Another day to
care, to love, to hope.
He must have heard
(Copyright: Arthur H. Davis, 5/30/08, revised 3/25/09 -- used by permission)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
No Accountability?
For eight years we watched George W. Bush and his administration take us into unnecessary war, screw up our economy, violate our rights, and all the other things reasonable people like us resented and tried to change.
When the stories of torture came out, we could not stand it. We could not get a new President and Democratic Congress soon enough.
Now we have the Democratic President and all but two Democrats of the sixty necessary to control the Senate, and the President is resisting any holding of the Bush administration accountable for their terrible acts.
Why in the world would he back down from a campaign promise? How can he allow one of the cruelest insensitive Presidents ever to get away with it?
He says it would be taken as retribution and partisan.
But the law is on our side! Ask nearly any constitutional lawyer and each will say the former President and his people violated the law. A Spanish judge, the UN legal minds, several European courts, all point out the illegality of the torture we did and how the Bush policies violated international law to which the U. S. was a signer.
And the Obama administration is refusing to even have a special prosecutor to investigate.
What is the problem here!?
Let me suggest some things that might be involved.
Forgive me for going anthropological on you but Americans think in binary fashion. Things are right or wrong, black or white, win or lose, true or false. Not you, of course, or me. We think in plaids, shades of gray, multiple factors.
Do you have any idea how hard it was for our teachers to get us to think independently and break from bifurcated thinking?
And do you have any idea how many kids never caught on to that? Guess how they voted?
How many of them are there as compared to how many of us there are?
Which leads me to a second thought: How patient are we? How respectful of their lack of information are we? How successful have we been in giving them enough information to catch up with us? Whose fault is it that they do not respect us and our opinions?
Do we really understand the world of folks that think that they are in danger of socialism from that man that wasn't even born in the United States?
You know some of those folks, the ones you do not want to engage in conversation because they will be off and running on politics no matter what you offer for conversation.
And you know they have two things that keep them living in that world: Rush Limbaugh and not much interest in news, even the kind that we see on the major networks which never talk about depleted uranium (used to harden bunker busters) that contaminates much of urban Iraq.
And you know they are passionate about their opinions.
They already do not want President Obama to be President. It is not enough to say they lost. Their world has been taken from them and they are grieving for what they thought President Reagen brought them, "morning in America."
Is this the time to tell them their leaders were criminals? Is this the time the new President pushes in any way questioning the character of the former President?
The atmosphere of the country not only has the know-nothing toxicity that has grown since schools were underfunded in the early 1980s, it faces the grief of major change overtaking close to half of the nation.
Okay, when can war crimes be brought up within our judicial system? When the grief-stricken finally hear from one of their own, someone they trust. Probably someone they elected to the Presidency. Otherwise, they would never believe that a challenge was not partisan.
And is it irrelevant to ask, "How many AK-47s have been sold in the last few months?"
You be President and face that set of dynamics.
What would you do?
When the stories of torture came out, we could not stand it. We could not get a new President and Democratic Congress soon enough.
Now we have the Democratic President and all but two Democrats of the sixty necessary to control the Senate, and the President is resisting any holding of the Bush administration accountable for their terrible acts.
Why in the world would he back down from a campaign promise? How can he allow one of the cruelest insensitive Presidents ever to get away with it?
He says it would be taken as retribution and partisan.
But the law is on our side! Ask nearly any constitutional lawyer and each will say the former President and his people violated the law. A Spanish judge, the UN legal minds, several European courts, all point out the illegality of the torture we did and how the Bush policies violated international law to which the U. S. was a signer.
And the Obama administration is refusing to even have a special prosecutor to investigate.
What is the problem here!?
Let me suggest some things that might be involved.
Forgive me for going anthropological on you but Americans think in binary fashion. Things are right or wrong, black or white, win or lose, true or false. Not you, of course, or me. We think in plaids, shades of gray, multiple factors.
Do you have any idea how hard it was for our teachers to get us to think independently and break from bifurcated thinking?
And do you have any idea how many kids never caught on to that? Guess how they voted?
How many of them are there as compared to how many of us there are?
Which leads me to a second thought: How patient are we? How respectful of their lack of information are we? How successful have we been in giving them enough information to catch up with us? Whose fault is it that they do not respect us and our opinions?
Do we really understand the world of folks that think that they are in danger of socialism from that man that wasn't even born in the United States?
You know some of those folks, the ones you do not want to engage in conversation because they will be off and running on politics no matter what you offer for conversation.
And you know they have two things that keep them living in that world: Rush Limbaugh and not much interest in news, even the kind that we see on the major networks which never talk about depleted uranium (used to harden bunker busters) that contaminates much of urban Iraq.
And you know they are passionate about their opinions.
They already do not want President Obama to be President. It is not enough to say they lost. Their world has been taken from them and they are grieving for what they thought President Reagen brought them, "morning in America."
Is this the time to tell them their leaders were criminals? Is this the time the new President pushes in any way questioning the character of the former President?
The atmosphere of the country not only has the know-nothing toxicity that has grown since schools were underfunded in the early 1980s, it faces the grief of major change overtaking close to half of the nation.
Okay, when can war crimes be brought up within our judicial system? When the grief-stricken finally hear from one of their own, someone they trust. Probably someone they elected to the Presidency. Otherwise, they would never believe that a challenge was not partisan.
And is it irrelevant to ask, "How many AK-47s have been sold in the last few months?"
You be President and face that set of dynamics.
What would you do?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Rep. Rooney's mistake
Under current law, unions may ask workers if they want to unionize by signing a card which goes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) who certifies the results. The employers do not get to see who signed the cards.
If 30% of the workers want a union, the union may ask the NLRB to hold a secret ballot. Unions tend not to do that because they really need 50%.
If 50% secretly sign the card for union representation, the employer may then ask for the secret ballot. Since it takes at least a couple weeks before the NLRB can set up the election, employers can “persuade” workers or hire specialized companies who will do that for them! It is not uncommon for workers to be scared out of voting for a union.
The EFCA bill is designed to minimize corporate manipulation by allowing the secret card signing by 50% of the workers to be the vote to unionize.
Unions would be much less necessary if employers had their employees’ interests at heart.
While the St. Petersburg Times fact-checking website (www.politifact.com) says there would be fewer secret ballots under EFCA, their description indicates the card signing is kept secret from the employers and other votes, though secret, would be less needed under EFCA.
Rep. Rooney made the mistake of using a “talking point” about EFCA without reference to what is involved in current labor law and practice.
If 30% of the workers want a union, the union may ask the NLRB to hold a secret ballot. Unions tend not to do that because they really need 50%.
If 50% secretly sign the card for union representation, the employer may then ask for the secret ballot. Since it takes at least a couple weeks before the NLRB can set up the election, employers can “persuade” workers or hire specialized companies who will do that for them! It is not uncommon for workers to be scared out of voting for a union.
The EFCA bill is designed to minimize corporate manipulation by allowing the secret card signing by 50% of the workers to be the vote to unionize.
Unions would be much less necessary if employers had their employees’ interests at heart.
While the St. Petersburg Times fact-checking website (www.politifact.com) says there would be fewer secret ballots under EFCA, their description indicates the card signing is kept secret from the employers and other votes, though secret, would be less needed under EFCA.
Rep. Rooney made the mistake of using a “talking point” about EFCA without reference to what is involved in current labor law and practice.
Professor Obama
I know just enough law to be dangerous, I suppose. But let me respond to the angst I see among progressives over the Obama administration's response to a law suit about invasion of privacy/wiretapping.
Here's my premise: if the President wanted to get rid of bad law, one of his routes would be to get the courts to rule the laws are unconstitutional or otherwise illegal.
If there is a lawsuit aimed at a bad law, his Justice Department has two choices. One is to accede to it and not contest it. That might mean a particular case is no longer "on the books" and the plaintiffs win.
The problem with that, according to my limited knowledge f law, is that the case makes no precedence and therefore the legal flaws which allowed for the dropping of the case are not really settled.
The other option is to press the opposition to the suit and let the matter get the full attention of the court and get settled there after full argument so that a precedent is set which has a lot more weight of law than a "settlement out of court" which is essentially what would happen under option one above.
And if the case is to have even more weight, every possible, obscure, and arcane law that could have been used to support the bad law has to be adjudicated in the course of the case.
With any luck, the judge and the plaintiffs do their job more effectively than the Justice Department, at least in terms of being the more legally persuasive so that the final result will stand throughout appeal. In fact, to really nail it down, the full appeal of a particular law all the way to the Supreme Court could end such a law for the foreseeable future.
Don't forget, we went through something like this during the Nixon presidency so maybe we need to go through this every quarter century!
If my premise is correct, the Justice Department is going further than the Bush people with an eye to clearing the decks so that no future administration can go back to some old law to justify such invasion of privacy in the future.
President Obama is pushing our legal system to function properly.
What do you think?
Here's my premise: if the President wanted to get rid of bad law, one of his routes would be to get the courts to rule the laws are unconstitutional or otherwise illegal.
If there is a lawsuit aimed at a bad law, his Justice Department has two choices. One is to accede to it and not contest it. That might mean a particular case is no longer "on the books" and the plaintiffs win.
The problem with that, according to my limited knowledge f law, is that the case makes no precedence and therefore the legal flaws which allowed for the dropping of the case are not really settled.
The other option is to press the opposition to the suit and let the matter get the full attention of the court and get settled there after full argument so that a precedent is set which has a lot more weight of law than a "settlement out of court" which is essentially what would happen under option one above.
And if the case is to have even more weight, every possible, obscure, and arcane law that could have been used to support the bad law has to be adjudicated in the course of the case.
With any luck, the judge and the plaintiffs do their job more effectively than the Justice Department, at least in terms of being the more legally persuasive so that the final result will stand throughout appeal. In fact, to really nail it down, the full appeal of a particular law all the way to the Supreme Court could end such a law for the foreseeable future.
Don't forget, we went through something like this during the Nixon presidency so maybe we need to go through this every quarter century!
If my premise is correct, the Justice Department is going further than the Bush people with an eye to clearing the decks so that no future administration can go back to some old law to justify such invasion of privacy in the future.
President Obama is pushing our legal system to function properly.
What do you think?
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