Messengers from beyond

Photo 209507985 / Cardinal © Howard Nevitt, Jr. | Dreamstime.com

A cardinal perches in the tree outside my window. If the legend is true, and a cardinal is a soul who has left my world, who is this crimson bird come to visit? Mom? Dad? My brother? Willow The Best Dog There Was? Brother of Red? Tom or Diane Brooker? It was at the Brookers’ funeral that I first heard the cardinal legend, after all.

A second cardinal alights, then dashes away. A pair, then.

Or perhaps this is just a general messenger from beyond, with a generic call: “Time’s a-wasting! Get on with it!”

And get on with what, precisely? Books? Poems? Songs? Stories? Rants? Sweet nothings? All of the above.

Now a third cardinal, a female, many-colored but not the bright red of the proud male.

The trio sits in the tree, staring my way, and then flies off.

Well. Best I get on with it, then.

On the imperative to hold that line

At the end of “Revolution 9,” the experimental sound collage that is the penultimate track in the Beatles’ white album, a crowd is chanting “Hold that line! Hold that line!” in what is obviously a sports event of some kind. There’s a flurry of sound, followed by a chant of “Block that kick! Block that kick!” Clearly the opponent has scored a goal or a touchdown, and now the imperative is to prevent the extra point.

We live in an era where it seems the line is not holding. Fact-checkers deny the facts. One might say 2 + 2 = 4 on social media, only to have your post masked by a note that says, “Context missing” or “This post contains misinformation.”

I remember being amused at stories from old Soviet Russia, where political dissidents were taken to mental institutions and official pronouncements assured citizens that what was happening before their very eyes was not really happening.

It’s not amusing anymore. Freedom is redefined as slavery, everlasting war is called peace, and ignorance is proclaimed to be strength. Orwell is revealed as a prophetic voice in the wilderness, and some animals are more equal than others.

I assert the right to say 2 + 2 is 4.

May we always strive to encourage those who are holding the line and, should the line not hold, to block the kick and prevent further damage.

Better time’s a coming

It’s going to be all right.

No one wakes up in the morning wanting to hate their neighbor. No one wants the world to go to hell in a hand basket. People want to believe the best of others — the worst of us depend on that instinct and get rich exploiting it.

People (eventually) know when they’ve been duped and made fools. People remember; they may not remember the details but they know who they trust and who they don’t.

At some point, the fear mongers will rise up and say, “Be afraid! Be very afraid and do as I say!,” and a great many people will say, “No, I don’t think so.”

And the sun will come up the next morning.

It’s going to be all right.