houston, we have a problem...

I once wrote a poem...after the terrible tsunami in Japan...it was about water...the power it possesses and the devastation it unleashes with too much...or none at all...think about it...before the frail egos and weapons of mass destruction...what did it...no, actually what does it really still boil down to?...land and water...just ask the women and children dying daily in countries we cannot even pinpoint on a map...the middle east...even Syria with that tempting port...it is hard to watch the news these days...Harvey's story is not over as I write this...and September starts tomorrow...we are heading into deep hurricane territory...already behind the shouts of Harvey is the whisper of Irma...and many more names...we scramble to help our fellow citizens...and because it is too much...we carefully avoid the evening news...or should I say world news...that sliver of a half hour that airs after the local news and relentless tales of train delays, child abuse and political corruption...that half hour that shows human misery in India, Nepal and Bangladesh...1,200 lost here...so many more to come...relentless flooding no end in sight...makes me think of that brilliant documentary title following Katrina...trouble the water...here's praying for all those in Texas, Louisiana and around the globe...and if praying is not your thing...just ask Mother Nature when you seek that quiet moment...ask her to cry somewhere else next week...like maybe over the barren lands of Africa...oh, but first...drown the warlords...amen

gentle on my mind...

1968...the year starts with the TET offensive at the end of January...MLK assassinated April 4...RFK, June 6...the Chicago Convention Riot August 28...and Glen Campbell's voice soothed us on the radio with the release of Jimmy Webb's beautiful "Wichita Lineman" in October...I was only 8 then...probably didn't quite get the lyrics...but I had no doubt that every word was measured and heartfelt...such was Campbell's delivery...music is so often the backdrop of our lives...we hear a song and we are instantly transported to another place or time in our lives...sometimes bittersweet, melancholic...other times pure joy...there were many other hit songs from Campbell...many marriages...a scandalous for the time affair with Tanya Tucker...many children...awards and accolades...but his denouement...tragic and a reminder that the playing field is level in life...disease knows no class and no one is exempt...so rest easy, rhinestone cowboy...rest in the knowledge that your music brought a smile or sigh to so many...and as we avoid the news these days...anxious over egos and trigger-happy fingers, I wonder...are Bieber and Daddy Yankee going to croon me to sleep?...oh, Glen Campbell, yes, we're gonna miss you...