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Monday, September 19, 2005
For Animals Left Behind - Time is Running Out
Katrina has separated children from parents and many senior citizens from their children and grandchildren. Many of these people are slowly being reunited now that they have been safely relocated.
The story is much different from the animals left behind. Those persons who had to be evacuated were not allowed to bring pets with them. In many instances these pets have been shut off from the rest of the world in structures that in some cases remain flooded. Their food supply by now has surely been long ago depleted.
The Humane Society and many other volunteers have been working to rescue many family pets. Thousands have been safely rescued. Sadly, thousands remain out there and for these pets, time is their worst enemy.
The Humane Society of the United States is asking your help.
Presently the only way these workers are able to get the vast numbers of pets left behind, is if National Guardsmen take pity on the rescue workers that are pleading for the lives of the animals.
Over the weekend Human Society workers found an adult St. Bernard that was miraculously alive in spite of the fact that his weight was reduced to a measly 40 lbs from weeks of starvation. It is a miracle he was still alive and an even greater miracle that he was able to be rescued without a federal rescue plan for animals in place.
Many rescue workers are and have been ready to do the work but are not officially allowed to go and get the animals they know are out there still, barely hanging on.
Time is critical. These pets were essentially dependents that in many cases were confined to homes the families left behind. Some have found ways to free themselves from the homes but many remain trapped and their only way to survive requires human intervention. There must be better cooperation with National Guardsmen and rescue workers. I urge you to help with this matter by bringing the issue to the forefront and addressing it before it is too late.
Go to this link to the Human Society and write a short note to public officials bringing this matter to their attention.
The story is much different from the animals left behind. Those persons who had to be evacuated were not allowed to bring pets with them. In many instances these pets have been shut off from the rest of the world in structures that in some cases remain flooded. Their food supply by now has surely been long ago depleted.
The Humane Society and many other volunteers have been working to rescue many family pets. Thousands have been safely rescued. Sadly, thousands remain out there and for these pets, time is their worst enemy.
The Humane Society of the United States is asking your help.
Presently the only way these workers are able to get the vast numbers of pets left behind, is if National Guardsmen take pity on the rescue workers that are pleading for the lives of the animals.
Over the weekend Human Society workers found an adult St. Bernard that was miraculously alive in spite of the fact that his weight was reduced to a measly 40 lbs from weeks of starvation. It is a miracle he was still alive and an even greater miracle that he was able to be rescued without a federal rescue plan for animals in place.
Many rescue workers are and have been ready to do the work but are not officially allowed to go and get the animals they know are out there still, barely hanging on.
Time is critical. These pets were essentially dependents that in many cases were confined to homes the families left behind. Some have found ways to free themselves from the homes but many remain trapped and their only way to survive requires human intervention. There must be better cooperation with National Guardsmen and rescue workers. I urge you to help with this matter by bringing the issue to the forefront and addressing it before it is too late.
Go to this link to the Human Society and write a short note to public officials bringing this matter to their attention.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
New Reading Material
A mid day trip to the library - brought home the following new reading material:
Delusions, Etc - John Berryman
2004 Pushcart Prize XXVIII Best of the Small Presses
Missing Measures - Modern Poetry and The Revolt Against Meter - Timothy Steele
Kansas City - Outloud II - 32 Contemporary Area Poets - Edited by Dan Jaffe
Delusions, Etc - John Berryman
2004 Pushcart Prize XXVIII Best of the Small Presses
Missing Measures - Modern Poetry and The Revolt Against Meter - Timothy Steele
Kansas City - Outloud II - 32 Contemporary Area Poets - Edited by Dan Jaffe
A First Draft is Always a Critic
In the beginning, you were
A very private matter
Between me and the blank page.
We struggled a bit.
I would take you by the shoulder
Pulling out of a line
Then sometimes forcing you
Into another. You stubbornly
Slapped my face in rebuke
Forever telling me why
Something wasn't working
But never offering alternatives.
It is always left to me to make it work-
You are the critic- always a critic.
You never have anything nice to say.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Neighborhood Bully
The boy down the street stole my truck.
I said I didn't care but I did.
He had hedgehog green teeth.
His eyes never blinked.
All the other kids grew weary of him.
He took what he wanted from them as well.
Bobby's marbles, Sam's ball glove.
It was made of real leather too.
He took Hank's dad's hammer
And Hank caught hell for losing it.
He snatched Jan's rag doll.
The one with the patch on its elbow.
He took Helen's virginity.
That's what I heard. Some kids watched.
But when he choked old lady Horton's cat
Well that was it. We all had enough.
We have to laugh when we see him now.
You just can't help yourself.
I said I didn't care but I did.
He had hedgehog green teeth.
His eyes never blinked.
All the other kids grew weary of him.
He took what he wanted from them as well.
Bobby's marbles, Sam's ball glove.
It was made of real leather too.
He took Hank's dad's hammer
And Hank caught hell for losing it.
He snatched Jan's rag doll.
The one with the patch on its elbow.
He took Helen's virginity.
That's what I heard. Some kids watched.
But when he choked old lady Horton's cat
Well that was it. We all had enough.
We have to laugh when we see him now.
You just can't help yourself.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Is It Just Me?
I know I'm not exactly a spring chicken - err rooster, but I think I am relatively open minded. Perhaps I'd draw the line at being hip. I mean that would be ok if you thought I was hip, but I'm not really trying to fool anyone here.
As I read other blogs, something I see, has sort of hung in the back of my mind... In the little space where annoying things seem to go and set up shop and just hang out till you evict them or something.
Understand, I'm not trying to be judgmental. That is NOT my reason for this post and I certainly am not going to point fingers. Still, something is gnawing at me and I am starting to wonder if it is just me.
I see from time to time other bloggers who will post another's poem in its entirety. The interesting thing is, people don't seem very often to post some other blogger poet's work, though I have seen it done on very rare occasion. What I do see is people posting the complete text of the works of very established poets. Often deceased, but not always.
Myself, I would never think of posting another bloggers poem without first getting permission. And that seems to be a prevailing view of almost everyone else out there. Am I being totally old fashioned by applying that same standard to say the works of Robert Frost or Sharon Olds? I know some works are in the public domain. But for those that aren't, if I am going to reference them in a post, I may use a line or two or a stanza to illustrate a point, or often link the entire poem from somewhere else on the internet. But without permission of the poet or copyright holder, I would not feel right reposting it in my blog.
Someone is probably going to say, "Michael, get with the times." File sharing is rampant, etc, but as artists, as poets, as writers, should not we respect the work of others to the same degree we would expect them to treat our work?
What say you?
poetry copyright
ethics
As I read other blogs, something I see, has sort of hung in the back of my mind... In the little space where annoying things seem to go and set up shop and just hang out till you evict them or something.
Understand, I'm not trying to be judgmental. That is NOT my reason for this post and I certainly am not going to point fingers. Still, something is gnawing at me and I am starting to wonder if it is just me.
I see from time to time other bloggers who will post another's poem in its entirety. The interesting thing is, people don't seem very often to post some other blogger poet's work, though I have seen it done on very rare occasion. What I do see is people posting the complete text of the works of very established poets. Often deceased, but not always.
Myself, I would never think of posting another bloggers poem without first getting permission. And that seems to be a prevailing view of almost everyone else out there. Am I being totally old fashioned by applying that same standard to say the works of Robert Frost or Sharon Olds? I know some works are in the public domain. But for those that aren't, if I am going to reference them in a post, I may use a line or two or a stanza to illustrate a point, or often link the entire poem from somewhere else on the internet. But without permission of the poet or copyright holder, I would not feel right reposting it in my blog.
Someone is probably going to say, "Michael, get with the times." File sharing is rampant, etc, but as artists, as poets, as writers, should not we respect the work of others to the same degree we would expect them to treat our work?
What say you?
poetry copyright
ethics
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