“Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Owner of the Day of Judgement,
Thee (alone) we worship;
Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Show us the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured.
Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger
Nor of those who go astray.”

This we said to you, oh Great One, in the Quran
So many years ago.
But Lord your flocks are fleeing from your fields.
We need your Sheepdog to round them up in their confusion.

They do not see you are a God of many names,
“God” being one of them.
Over the ages you have been Zeus, Jupiter, Odin, Mother Earth, Jehovah, God, Allah
And many others.
But always you were The One True One,
Beneficent and Loving.

All men (and women) are equal in your eyes.
All Life to be cherished and preserved.
Thou shalt not ****
Is what you said.

So Allah now’s the time
To correct your children:
Breathe into them
The essence of your thoughts.

Enter their minds as The Holy Ghost,
So many Scrooges there:
Enlighten them
To know what is really Good
And rediscover what it is
To Love.
Amen.

Paul Butters

Don't worry it's not what you think
Another tale of woe
Of Tiny Tim and all the rest
And the ending we all know
Scrooge and ghosts and la de da
They do it in one night
But, that was Charles Dickens way
It's time we got it right
Nobody works the way they did
The poorhouses done and dusted
If Scrooge was here and lived today
You know he would be busted

So, I'll bring you up to date on this
And Scrooge can come on too
It's been a couple hundred years
Let's make this carol new

Scrooge had let Bob Cratchit go
Due to labour laws and stuff
He didn't have a union
But old Scrooge had heard enough
Every year the same old thing
And every year he cries
It's only for one day each year
At least till his kid dies
So, Scrooge was sitting home alone
Checking files on his screen
Debtors owing money and
Re runs of Mister Bean
Scrooge kept his accounts on line
So he could work on them at home
He got more done here anyway
He felt more comfortable  alone
While surfing through his evict notes
A pop up screen appeared
It said "I am The Marley Virus"
And Sir Scooge, I should be feared
Scrooge cursed the interruption
He thought the virus was a joke
But, when he tried to clear the screen
A face appeared and spoke
Right there before his rheumy eyes
His partner showed his face
Ebeneezer hit delete
But Marley held his place
I'm not a ghost like olden days
I'm a virus now you see
I've moved into the future
And Scrooge you must hear me
You will not get a visit
From three ghost like stories old
We've gone hi tech, it's apps you'll get
And your story will be told
Three icons will be on your screen
Once I have told my tale
You'll click on each of them in turn
And you'll ignore all your mail
Each application will come forth
And will take you back in time
Remember Scrooge, the end result
Could be the same as mine
But, Jacob, I'll delete them
I'll run a scan and then reboot
The reason for your being here
Will then be surely moot
Marley let a piercing howl
And he left Scrooge with his screen
The were just three icons there
Where his desktop once had been
Scrooge clicked one, it opened up
It was Christmas past for sure
A video of Scrooges life
Was playing now, and more
The background everchanging
Showing Scrooge in younger days
When greed and avarice were not
The ruler of his ways
Remember now, we're modernized
No ghosts, so all went well
Scrooge remembered all the good times
As far as I can tell
The video ran on and on
It showed Scooge when he was nice
He thought you know when all is done
I might just watch this twice
The screen went black, the music stopped
And two icons took their place
He clicked on icon number two
And he opened up it's case
Donation links appeared at first
To charities galore
But Scrooge just passed on over them
In fact he showed them to the door
He saw the files of eviction notes
And of receivables and charts
He knew that he would lose one day
And the next, would need to start
To work on all this quickly
Year end would be here soon
He'd evict all of the deadbeats
And then they'd sing a different tune
He saw pictures of Bob Cratchit
Of his family and his brood
Of their meager Christmas Dinner
And the apparent lack of food
He saw how they were happy
How just together meant so much
And beside their electric fire
He saw a tiny crutch
He watched the clip and saw the pics
And in the end it warmed his heart
But there was still another icon
And this app must play it's part
You know where this is going
So, I would drag out the tale
But, in the end all his possessions
Went on line for a huge sale
He clicked upon the icon
And all his files reappeared
And then ...right before him
Each account slowly disappeared
Written off, deleted gone
No money did they owe
The ledger had been vanquished
No balance did it show
This took almost two hours
Each entry in the wind
All accounts forgotten
All eviction notes were binned
Scrooge, we know was changed then
We heard he was a better man
But, in truth he only changed one thing
A new virus protection plan
Remember, it's the future
And corporate greed is still around
And no accounts will be forgotten
Till Scrooge is six feet in the ground
I know you know the story
You want him nicer in the end
But, if that's the way you want it
Go watch the movie once again!!!

Was Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens'
Christmas Carol purely fictitious?
No, Scrooges live today,
Equally greedy, cold and ambitious.

They represent Scrooge before
He earned our admiration and saw
That human compassion came only after
His ice-cold heart had begun to thaw.

His transformation showed him his former
Cruel disregard for humanity
And let him see that miserliness
Was nothing but a heartless insanity.

Modern Scrooges fail to see
The light of compassion that brightly outshines them.
Their greed prevents them from seeing the moral
Bankruptcy that clearly defines them.

They couldn't care less about
The hard-working and struggling masses.
Their main concern is that each law
That benefits the wealthy passes.

Some of these Scrooges you will find
Working in Congress, eagerly serving
Wealthy donors who give them money
And feel as though they're more deserving.

Creating laws to make their pockets
Overflow: that's their aim.
To them the parasitical poor
Deserve bitter contempt and blame.

One wonders if these greedy misers
Find it hard to resist the temptation
Of saying, "Then why not let them die
And decrease the surplus population?"

“Aren't there workhouses?” and “Aren't there prisons?”
Are what these Scrooges appear to say.
“Concerns of the poor are not our business;
Why can’t they just go away?”

Ebenezer Scrooge was lucky:
His transformation showed him the light.
Will wealthy Scrooges running this country
Discover compassion and be less tight?

-by Bob B (12-28-17)

Sailing expensive fried food,
'cross awful carpets so crude,
A bright sunny strong attitude,
This lovely young Lady's fine mood...

And customers, often quite rude,
Dummies that drag in their brood,
Scrooges and harlots half ****,
Still can not drag down her mood.

For this is not where she will stay
This will be, soon, yesterday
She is her own sunshine ray
She plans her own life her own way

Studying hard every night
To strengthen her mind she will fight,
Managing well, money tight,
From her might, to height, and the light.

Dancing on the stage bathed in ultra violet
is a dripping young honey making me ultra-violent.
My three stooges become scrooges using ***** useless excuses
to not be Zeus's and noose the spruce for their collusive abuses.
I leave the troupe, loop back, snoop, try to ******
induce some juice, a little loose chartreuse

The girl looks down from the platform, eyes vacant and hollow
Ten years of this storm full of snake-pits and sorrow
No glow but the glint of a nose speckled with snow
Her heartbeat allegro slows, lower tempo - adagio

For she's hooked to the pole by an IV of ******* and circumstance
I regret holding the cash and stealing her glance.
It falls from my hand, not that thats exculpatory
and when I next catch her eyes, it's merely to say, 'sorry'

And it is now sold
Borrowed
Underneath the hands
A relished possession
In the pockets for the greed

Auditioning the green
While laughing at feeble ones
Everything here is made for profit
Whenever the darkness does hit
No care to this planet at all
Selling the shoot star's fall

From the breath
To the fire
Drink of water
And the turf to bury the dead
Everything goes green from the red

From the trees come the notes
To buy the beauty of lands
No more fighting
Just up-for-grabs

(Bridge)---

Going once - What am I to you again?
Going twice - How are you going to reign?
And gone - Taken by the man with the cigar
----------------

(Chorus)---

Everything must go
Liquidate this Earth
Paying the ultimate due
To our really final hour of death
Life and death are not for sale
Discounted down to our souls
--------------------

For pleasure comes the pain
When the dollar signs blinding this world
Becoming enslaved to the symbol
The symbol of death
In which wars have been fought
The heights of the egos
Killing the eagles in the skies
Many shall fall as they die

The rain of the notes
Collected by evil hands
Just to destroy with
When did this land
A God-given land
Became a profit to the greed
We must take heed

There seems to be no hope in sight
What else are you looking for?
Humans becoming their own enemy
When the rich becoming the poor in the mind
In their own abyss, they become so blind
As they fall forever in their own holes

“Did you hear that?
Eden has been discounted
ON ALL PRODUCTS!!”

The riches of the Earth
Which used to be
Now, it is all become for greed
Since the new babe’s birth

(Bridge)---

Going once - What am I to you again?
Going twice - How are you going to reign?
And gone - Taken by the man with the cigar
----------------

(Chorus)---

Everything must go
Liquidate this Earth
Paying the ultimate due
To our really final hour of death
Life and death are not for sale
Discounted down to our souls
--------------------

(Guitar Solo 1)

Cut the trees
Pollute the seas
All in the name of cash
Oil the skies
Smoke do rise
All in the name of cash

Paint with green
All in between
All in the name of cash
Extinct the wild
Trash the tides
All in the name of cash

Marketing overflowing
Burn the forest for your paper money
Which flies in the wind
To the east, west to send
Who care about the atmosphere
When the dollars are so clear
To the Scrooges devouring our world
Our would shall be stabbed
BY THE GOLDEN SWORD

(Guitar Solo 2)

Earthy-earthy-earthy
Mine! Mine! Mine!
Earthy-earthy-earthy
Money! Money! Money!

Just the symbols of death
Roaming around the globe
With numbers and figures
And you… devoured by the glutton ones

No genuinity
No morality
When the flesh is been bought
From the animals to the human kind
“We want the coins for the daughters”
Children are sold
From hand to hand
Nothing is safe from the greed
Give me more
Give me more
AND **** ME AGAIN

SO…
Sing with me

Earthy-earthy-earthy
Ours! Ours! Ours!
Earthy-earthy-earthy
Money! Money! Money!

MONEY TALKS LOUD!!!

(Guitar Solo 3)

Swines of this Earth
Will sing their victory songs
Over the blood
And broken bones
Of the ones trying to survive

Asking the questions:
“Is my land for sale?”
“Is my soul for rent?
“How can I survive?
“Is what life is about?”

To pay money, money, money
To a world that is never enough
TO BE FED
WE ALL SHALL END UP DEAD

Without the phony riches
OF THIS EARTH

HEY MOTHER!!!
As we ask
WHY
ARE
YOU
SO
EXPENSIVE
TO LIVE
TO LIVE
TO LIVE

I… WANT… TO… LIVE

Death is cheap?

How are we going to break the silence
When louder comes the cash flow
In which direction will this wind blow
Humankind shall resort to violence
After they reach for their pockets
With emptiness inside
As you are being going up to Heaven
Ha! Ha! Ha! No!
Are you kidding?

YOU ARE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!!!!
TO HELL!!!
HELL!!!!
WITH NOTHING TO GAIN

HA! HA! HA!

As we ask those questions
ONCE AGAIN

(Bridge)---

Going once - What am I to you again?
Going twice - How are you going to reign?
And gone - Taken by the man with the cigar
----------------

(Chorus)---

Everything must go
Liquidate this Earth
Paying the ultimate due
To our really final hour of death
Life and death are not for sale
Discounted down to our souls
--------------------

Welcome to planet Earth, human!
HA! HA! HA! HA!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Cold alone afraid, no light to brighten our way, just set in our ways, cold have we become in this age. Cold, we are cold to people. Cold, we are cold to ourselves. Cold, to the world. Scrooges' we've become. Heart full of distain. Vain and ill intentions cloud our judgement. Cold attitude, so high we are, can't see beyond our own noses. Cold love, hate forms up. Tensions rise up, offensive attendees who don't see how they are offensive. Cold war, waiting to push the button for M.A.D. Nuke city, don't look pretty. Petty of how we've fallen out of what was once semi-peace. Guns dominate, youths are indoctrinated. Propaganda violating human rights. But it's ok we are the good guys. Yeah Right, we all evil, we have all gotten to entitled to see we are all actually the same. Cold days, cold nights, all we want to do is fight, that's just not alright anymore.

Lawrence Hall
[email protected]
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                                     An Anteroom to Eternity?

                         (Nigdaw in Essex said it much better)

Waiting in the E.R.
More waiting in the E.R.
     The pain is back
Waiting in a corridor as people walk by
     and look at you
Waiting in another corridor, gasping hello to
     a curious, wide-eyed child
Someone gives you an injection
Waiting in yet another corridor
Pushed into a room
     "Oh, wait, it's not ready..."
Pushed back into a corridor
Wait…
The hours...the hours...


Note: my experience with health care professionals, from the nice young man who brings the meal trays to the great physicians, is uniformly wonderful and I am most grateful to them. The – THE – problem is the corporatism that now rules even nominally religious hospitals with the clawing, grasping hands and narrow minds of Scrooges. Administrators and stockholders will cut work hours and understaff units if only a poor dollar, rather than a poor human, is saved.