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John F McCullagh Dec 2011
We batter our foes
with bomb, shell and shot.
Now Despair walks their streets
And their children do not.
The average Marine
Spends more time at the front
than his grandfather spent
As a World War two grunt.

At home when we travel
We wait in long lines
To be poked and prodded
Even X rayed at times.
At home prices rise
For most essential things
The bankers are  flush
Ben Bernanke’s their king.

As the empire creaks
And grounds to a halt
Will he hyper inflate
or simply default?
Mourn the Republic
For which we once stood
When all food was organic
And we worshiped the rood.

Heed old Ben Franklin
He had vision to see
He warned long ago
What the tradeoff would be.
If they offer you “safety”
in trade for your Liberty.
You will never be safe
for you will never be free
Adam Wayne Terry Sep 2015
A man's mind is his height,
his heart is his depth,
A man's mind is his height, his heart is his depth, and his soul spans the distance between.
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Sometimes I smile to hide the pain, but that's as fake as I get.
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Patience is built on deep thought and self-restraint.
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You can take any failure and make it motive to succeed.
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So many good people die so young. All we can do is carry their care and honor on.
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Some pain can last a lifetime.
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We may not always see it, but the sun shines all the time. Sometimes it just gets obscured by the clouds of our everyday lives.
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I am fortunate to have had a natural inclination to see the silver lining in most situations, but as with everything, there is a tradeoff. Seeing only the good in things can let complacency run amok, allowing too much of the bad be ignored. Another example of what I call The Duality of Existence. Everything has a counterbalance.
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Appearance is just a surface; true beauty lives beneath the bones. (In the heart and mind.)
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Show gratitude today instead of regret tomorrow.
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An affinity that perpetuates to infinity, that's what I seek.
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Photography is an art of timing and perspective.
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When you look at the moon looming ~250,000 miles away in the night sky, take a few seconds to notice which direction it's moving. Take from that what you may.
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Having children does not make you a man, handling your responsibilities does. Going beyond that by helping others to handle theirs makes you a good man. I am a good man.
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Words of Interest (with meaning):
dithyrambic (passionate);
scintillating (clever);
comburent (blazing);
ecumenical (universal);
edification (illumination).
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I think like a creative machine, but I feel like a tall leprechaun.
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Some men just want to watch the world learn.
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Music is poetry to sound.
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Reflection deepens your perspective.
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I can only trust that I won't let me down.
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I judge distance, not people.
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I know better than to play with fire, but you burn brighter than any I've ever seen.
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Where others have the law, religion, or karma, I have a strong conscience. It guides me by what my heart feels and my mind knows is right, which can at times contradict the aforementioned disciplines. The thing is that I have to live with my heart and mind, and both understand that everyone else has to live with theirs too. I am my own discipline, because I could be you.
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The heart can beat without the brain, but the brain needs the heart to survive.
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Take nothing for granted and appreciate all you're given.
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Inaction is an action.
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The greatest words require the greatest actions to substantiate their meaning.
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There are more stars in the heavens than there are grains of sand in all the beaches AND deserts on earth. Think about how many grains of sand you can hold in your hand.
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Hope can be a tenuous attachment.
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Maturity recognizes that responsibility is not optional.
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The ratio of humans that confound me to humans that impress me is staggeringly unbalanced.
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Change is the only constant.
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Good things come to those who do good things.
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These words just traveled through your mind in a sequence I designed.
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The best things in life aren't free, they're freeing.
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This is a collection of adages and laconic constructs.
oni Apr 2017
she broke herself open
just to let you in
and all you did was show her
why she shouldnt have
Dada Olowo Eyo Jun 2014
Between the ears, between the legs,
Therein lies the ultimate tradeoff,
Follow your heart or the magic stuff,
One or the other, the question begs.
Appearance
reality
their differences
hide
Within the
perception
that judgment
abides

If once
crossing over
there’s no
going back
The tradeoff
complete
their identity
— hacked

(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)
Kurt Philip Behm Oct 2020
I was perfectly happy,
a singular chime

I was perfectly happy,
alone in my mind

I was perfectly happy,
my world underscored

I was perfectly happy,
my feelings secure

I was perfectly happy,
adrift in my world

I was perfectly happy,
no feeling’s unfurled

I was perfectly happy,
till one fateful day

Now misery haunts me
—in love I must stay

(West Philadelphia: June, 2018)
Kurt Philip Behm Mar 2021
Competing infinities,
which one to choose

Existential polarities,
exchanging their views

Superpositioned,
anthropic in scope

The tradeoff endemic,
whose difference elopes

Twin parallel universes
push and then pull

Existing in quantum,
the vacuum is full

Symbiotic in concept,
his razor now sharp

As we search for their meaning
—ever lost in the dark

(Villanova University: March, 2021)
comraderie feels so abrasive
honesty invasive
when i know you're only talking to me out of pity

isolation feels the safest
so i hope don't you take this
the wrong way but what do you want with me

because if the interaction was pure
why do i feel cored when it's through
my peace for yours
the tradeoff feels tainted and skewed

kinda wish you hadn't asked
or tried to swat away my storm clouds
be content with what you have
and i'll grieve the way my heart allows

your kindness not taken for granted
but i feel how i feel even if you don't understand it

think me oversensitive or unreasonable if you must
but i need loyalty and genuity and intensity and trust

and what can you give but fodder
why even bother

i think i just lost the purpose of my life
and you think you can just tell me it'll be alright

just cut me even deeper if you'd like
if that's the way it is

— The End —