Poets we love and live with ~ #Bob Dylan #JoanBaez / With God On Our Side

( This one makes me cry  still. 

after all these years

because of all these years. PDL)

With God On Our Side

Oh my name it ain’t nothin’

My age it means less

The country I come from

Is called the Midwest

I was taught and brought up there

The laws to abide

And that land that I live in

Has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it

They tell it so well

The cavalries charged

The Indians fell

The cavalries charged

The Indians died

Oh, the country was young

With God on its side

The Spanish-American

War had its day

And the Civil War, too

Was soon laid away

And the names of the heroes

I was made to memorize

With guns in their hands

And God on their side

The First World War, boys

It came and it went

The reason for fighting

I never did get

But I learned to accept it

Accept it with pride

For you don’t count the dead

When God’s on your side

The Second World War

Came to an end

We forgave the Germans

And then we were friends

Though they murdered six million

In the ovens they fried

The Germans now, too

Have God on their side

I’ve learned to hate the Russians

All through my whole life

If another war comes

It’s them we must fight

To hate them and fear them

To run and to hide

And accept it all bravely

With God on my side

But now we got weapons

Of chemical dust

If fire them, we’re forced to

Then fire, them we must

One push of the button

And a shot the world wide

And you never ask questions

When God’s on your side

Through many a dark hour

I’ve been thinkin’ about this

That Jesus Christ was

Betrayed by a kiss

But I can’t think for you

You’ll have to decide

Whether Judas Iscariot

Had God on his side.

So now as I’m leavin’

I’m weary as Hell

The confusion I’m feelin’

Ain’t no tongue can tell

The words fill my head

And fall to the floor

That if God’s on our side

He’ll stop the next war

 

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Bob Dylan

With God on Our Side lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 (response to the above)

why does wisdom take so long by pd lyons

 

how many the promises

un kept

those from fifty – sixty years ago

make me weep with their lack of age

woefully apropos for today

why does wisdom take so long?

Maybe its time to surrender? maybe its time to “forget”

Maybe the best way to remember

is to forget history.

to be free of all the ancient and not so ancient fears.

maybe the best way to honour the fallen and maimed

is to bring forth a courageous world – one heart at a time,

courageous enough to not become enslaved to the same errors

that justified so many deaths and miseries before?

A courage based on kindness not right or wrong?

One heart at a time – how about yours?

 

Maybe its time to surrender?

Putting The Tea Cup In, by pd lyons

 

Putting The Tea Cup In

what can be said about the rain?
does it have a politic?
philosophy? religion?

it must have a history,
there must have been a time
when there was no rain
and then there was.

what language does the rain use?
what alphabet does it choose?
or perhaps prefers memory to letters,
silence over words?

and even if you understood,
would the rain decide to speak to you?
perhaps it does and you do –

but right now you’re not paying attention as you’re trying to be quick about the packing, trying to wrap that tea cup, its saucer broke so long ago, you can’t remember how or when.

 you’re in a hurry now because you know if he comes in and sees you putting the tea cup in, he’ll give out, saying there’s more important things to pack, that he can buy you a new one, that you’re silly to fuss over such a thing.

and for a moment you consider leaving it out
maybe on the garden wall
leaving it to share its history with the rain
for there must have been a time
when there was no tea cup
and then there was.

(with regards to t.s.& e.e.)

 

 

Maybe its time to stop harping around?

 

 

James Connolly

 1899

After Ireland is free, says the patriot who wont touch socialism, we will protect all classes, and if you won’t pay your rent, you will be evicted same as now. But the evicting party… will wear green uniforms and the harp without the Crown… Now isn’t that worth fighting for? –

( Dudley Edwards, Ruth, James Connolly, Gill & Macmillian, 1981, p.31.)

 

 

 

Henry VIII, Second harp issue as king of Ireland, 1541-1542.
Some rights reserved: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. hppt://www.engcoins.com

 

 

Maybe its time to stop harping around?

Just because we take away the term “King” doesn’t mean we’ve solved the problem of oppression.

 

 

 

 Not ancient history, just history repeating itself:

 

Luke Byrne – 07 March 2013

A terminally ill woman, who was subjected to a failed eviction attempt, will leave her home if emergency accommodation can be secured……

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ugly-scenes-as-eviction-of-dying-woman-abandoned-in-clontarf-29114649.html

Just saying!

 

 

goodbye galway/ hello castlepollard

 

whose books are these i think i know…

yes will be moving house over the next few days. goodbye galway

hello castlepollard

… and there are boxes (and boxes) to go before i sleep.

Anita Loos