When the tornadoes come
There is no warning
There is no remembering
Only debris to remind you of their path
Fortune favors no one
When the gyres wind up your world
And toss it to the sky
Scattering far and wide
What on earth was home and heaven
They will pass.
But will we survive?
Time will tell, and soon.
When the tornadoes come
That is all that is certain.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Return from Odyssey
Return from Odyssey
I walked again today
along a familiar way.
The sights were all the same,
only my mood has changed.
An old friend came driving by
offering me a ride.
I declined with a smile.
"I need to feel my feet" was all I said.
It is a fine thing to return to a place
that long ago was your home.
The sights are mainly the same,
but my mood has changed.
Some bushes have grown taller.
Some trees older than I have fallen.
By storm or saw, it matters not how.
It will take more time than I have for them to grow back, now.
The children that used to play
have almost all grown and gone away.
I am one of those
whose home is no longer my parent's house.
But, whenever my feelings turn foul
I tend to return to my ancient sod
to feel my feet beneath me,
and my mood never fails to change.
I walked again today
along a familiar way.
The sights were all the same,
only my mood has changed.
An old friend came driving by
offering me a ride.
I declined with a smile.
"I need to feel my feet" was all I said.
It is a fine thing to return to a place
that long ago was your home.
The sights are mainly the same,
but my mood has changed.
Some bushes have grown taller.
Some trees older than I have fallen.
By storm or saw, it matters not how.
It will take more time than I have for them to grow back, now.
The children that used to play
have almost all grown and gone away.
I am one of those
whose home is no longer my parent's house.
But, whenever my feelings turn foul
I tend to return to my ancient sod
to feel my feet beneath me,
and my mood never fails to change.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Black Pond
There is nothing so special
as the sound of rain
falling on a million leaves
early in the morning
early in the summer
along the shores of Black Pond.
The sound of a bull frog
carries across the pond
and returns an echo
off the far stone wall.
This is the pond I sailed
with my wonderful daughter
delighting in every step
of rigging the mast, boom and sail.
We did not have enough time that that day
to make it to the far shore.
Someday perhaps we will.
as the sound of rain
falling on a million leaves
early in the morning
early in the summer
along the shores of Black Pond.
The sound of a bull frog
carries across the pond
and returns an echo
off the far stone wall.
This is the pond I sailed
with my wonderful daughter
delighting in every step
of rigging the mast, boom and sail.
We did not have enough time that that day
to make it to the far shore.
Someday perhaps we will.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
King George, Libya and Elmwood
I took the long way around my beloved Elmwood on the way from Hartford Hospital to my mother’s house, looking to bypass the snarled rush hour traffic crawling from light to light along New Britain Avenue. Along the way, I ran into a delay from a congregation of police cars too numerous to be anything short of grave situation. The local news carried the shooting in Elmwood as its lead story.These days I often think a portion of the Irishman Yeat’s poem that reads,
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
In my mind, I always replace Kiltartan with Elmwood, and wonder what battles around the world are worth a drop of the blood of my neighbors. Canvassing the accounts of great villainy in far off Libya, the spoken words of a King whose eloquence in trying times of epic proportions was made more illustrious by a personal history of stammering applied equally then as today, and equally relevant to the siege of Misurata as to the siege of Abbotsford Avenue:
We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called, with our allies, to meet the challenge of a principle which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.
I care for the victims of both sieges, but Abbotsford is more familiar to me. I remember a girl in my class at Conard who was a great beauty, and she lived on one the two streets on the other side of Piper Brook still a part of West Hartford. The southeastern point of our town was the home of the lowest of incomes, but every bit as dignified as any other classmate of mine. I can remember how she stood out in my mind as the rose of Elmwood, semi-sequestered by a black ocean of asphalt in front of Caldor’s that bled into the cement banks of Piper Brook like an urban moat between me and her. One day I rode the bus with her all the way to the end of the line just to talk a while longer. The walk back to Corbin’s Corner seemed a small price for the privilege of her company. I can certainly relate to a young man driven by desire to go out of his way to seek the favor of a young woman.
So, the matter of a gang of boys, too foolish to merit a title of adulthood, and who may never grow to be true men, affects me personally. I cherish such memories of my late childhood, and the degree to which Abbotsford causes me to recall recent events in place of more pleasant times is a cause of some distress. Mindful that the current student body at my alma mater is, of course, the future fellow alumnae of a great tradition, I wish to address you all
with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.
You see, the principle that good King George VI spoke of, out of duty to nation that defined his being, with no great affection for the task of putting one’s feelings on public display, is the same that calls me to draft this text.
Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that might is right, and if this principle were established through the world, the freedom of our own country and of the whole … Commonwealth of nations would be in danger.
But far more than this, the peoples of the world would be kept in bondage of fear, and all hopes of settled peace and of the security, of justice and liberty, among nations, would be ended.
How sad to read in wild wonder of accounts of so many held in the bondage of fear in far off lands and then know that the same is true in your own backyard. Can the count of the victims be the sole driver of whom we should rally to defend and of whom we should refrain from defending? If so, I am sure the masses of those deprived of any sense of security in the face of the onslaught of selfish brutality are greater here in our own country than the tallies of even those besieged by an entire army fighting against defenseless cities. Lucky for the Libyans, we have armed forces to counter those that seek their subjugation. We have the will and the ability to rush to their defense.
For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, and of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.
But our defense of the roses of the Abbotsford Avenues of our nation face a fortune in isolation, often hidden from view, and commonly undefended in the face of violent deprivations of their safety.
It is to this high purpose that I now call my people …
I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial.
The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, … If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then with God's help, we shall prevail.
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
In my mind, I always replace Kiltartan with Elmwood, and wonder what battles around the world are worth a drop of the blood of my neighbors. Canvassing the accounts of great villainy in far off Libya, the spoken words of a King whose eloquence in trying times of epic proportions was made more illustrious by a personal history of stammering applied equally then as today, and equally relevant to the siege of Misurata as to the siege of Abbotsford Avenue:
We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called, with our allies, to meet the challenge of a principle which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world.
I care for the victims of both sieges, but Abbotsford is more familiar to me. I remember a girl in my class at Conard who was a great beauty, and she lived on one the two streets on the other side of Piper Brook still a part of West Hartford. The southeastern point of our town was the home of the lowest of incomes, but every bit as dignified as any other classmate of mine. I can remember how she stood out in my mind as the rose of Elmwood, semi-sequestered by a black ocean of asphalt in front of Caldor’s that bled into the cement banks of Piper Brook like an urban moat between me and her. One day I rode the bus with her all the way to the end of the line just to talk a while longer. The walk back to Corbin’s Corner seemed a small price for the privilege of her company. I can certainly relate to a young man driven by desire to go out of his way to seek the favor of a young woman.
So, the matter of a gang of boys, too foolish to merit a title of adulthood, and who may never grow to be true men, affects me personally. I cherish such memories of my late childhood, and the degree to which Abbotsford causes me to recall recent events in place of more pleasant times is a cause of some distress. Mindful that the current student body at my alma mater is, of course, the future fellow alumnae of a great tradition, I wish to address you all
with the same depth of feeling for each one of you as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself.
You see, the principle that good King George VI spoke of, out of duty to nation that defined his being, with no great affection for the task of putting one’s feelings on public display, is the same that calls me to draft this text.
Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that might is right, and if this principle were established through the world, the freedom of our own country and of the whole … Commonwealth of nations would be in danger.
But far more than this, the peoples of the world would be kept in bondage of fear, and all hopes of settled peace and of the security, of justice and liberty, among nations, would be ended.
How sad to read in wild wonder of accounts of so many held in the bondage of fear in far off lands and then know that the same is true in your own backyard. Can the count of the victims be the sole driver of whom we should rally to defend and of whom we should refrain from defending? If so, I am sure the masses of those deprived of any sense of security in the face of the onslaught of selfish brutality are greater here in our own country than the tallies of even those besieged by an entire army fighting against defenseless cities. Lucky for the Libyans, we have armed forces to counter those that seek their subjugation. We have the will and the ability to rush to their defense.
For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, and of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.
But our defense of the roses of the Abbotsford Avenues of our nation face a fortune in isolation, often hidden from view, and commonly undefended in the face of violent deprivations of their safety.
It is to this high purpose that I now call my people …
I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial.
The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, … If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then with God's help, we shall prevail.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Ground Hogs Day in the Twentieth
Feb 2, 2011
On this Ground Hog's Day, we see a ballot in the 20th Assembly District with Allen Hoffman appearing on two lines, just as was the case when he overcame long odds to prevail as the people's choice for state representative in 1994. Back then, he was cross-endorsed by Governor Weicker's "A Connecticut Party." This time, the Republican nominee is also cross-endorsed by the Connecticut for Lieberman party. Both times, I was the one who rallied supporters to his side.
The fact that I have sided with this Republican twice, now, comes as a surprise to those who know me as a champion of many liberal causes and campaigns. My first campaign was George McGovern's bid in 1972, when I tagged along with my dad as a seven-year-old. I liked Jimmy Carter, and I still do. Gary Hart was my favorite in 1984, when I cast my first vote in a Democratic primary as a senior at Conard High. I never liked Reagan, and I campaigned for a little known governor from Arkansas in the bitter cold New Hampshire January of 1992. In January of 2008, the Obama campaign selected me to be their spokesperson at the Middletown Straw Poll. Most recently, as the CFL candidate in this district last fall, I praised the merits of the Democratic incumbent as the best man to serve the district.
David McCluskey and I agree on many things, but at this point, we are not in sync as to who will best serve as his successor. While Allen Hoffman has a record of serving in the House and bringing to bear a keen intellect and a realistic balance of compassion and fiscal responsibility, nothing has come to my attention that convinces me that Joe Verrengia's concerns extend beyond the narrow constituency of public workers bequeathed unsustainable compensations at the expense of the solvency of the state treasury.
While I have high regard for someone who serves in a profession where you regularly pull over people who may or may not be wanted felons, sometimes with a loaded weapon and with nothing to lose, but go in harm’s way, nevertheless, to defend the rest of us against such criminals, this does not exempt a candidate for elective office of the responsibility to share with voters his intentions once elected. To those of us who suspect a public employee will serve their special interest over the common good, his silence is tantamount to a confession.
Sincerely,
John Kilian
On this Ground Hog's Day, we see a ballot in the 20th Assembly District with Allen Hoffman appearing on two lines, just as was the case when he overcame long odds to prevail as the people's choice for state representative in 1994. Back then, he was cross-endorsed by Governor Weicker's "A Connecticut Party." This time, the Republican nominee is also cross-endorsed by the Connecticut for Lieberman party. Both times, I was the one who rallied supporters to his side.
The fact that I have sided with this Republican twice, now, comes as a surprise to those who know me as a champion of many liberal causes and campaigns. My first campaign was George McGovern's bid in 1972, when I tagged along with my dad as a seven-year-old. I liked Jimmy Carter, and I still do. Gary Hart was my favorite in 1984, when I cast my first vote in a Democratic primary as a senior at Conard High. I never liked Reagan, and I campaigned for a little known governor from Arkansas in the bitter cold New Hampshire January of 1992. In January of 2008, the Obama campaign selected me to be their spokesperson at the Middletown Straw Poll. Most recently, as the CFL candidate in this district last fall, I praised the merits of the Democratic incumbent as the best man to serve the district.
David McCluskey and I agree on many things, but at this point, we are not in sync as to who will best serve as his successor. While Allen Hoffman has a record of serving in the House and bringing to bear a keen intellect and a realistic balance of compassion and fiscal responsibility, nothing has come to my attention that convinces me that Joe Verrengia's concerns extend beyond the narrow constituency of public workers bequeathed unsustainable compensations at the expense of the solvency of the state treasury.
While I have high regard for someone who serves in a profession where you regularly pull over people who may or may not be wanted felons, sometimes with a loaded weapon and with nothing to lose, but go in harm’s way, nevertheless, to defend the rest of us against such criminals, this does not exempt a candidate for elective office of the responsibility to share with voters his intentions once elected. To those of us who suspect a public employee will serve their special interest over the common good, his silence is tantamount to a confession.
Sincerely,
John Kilian
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Courant Guide
Courant Guide
Name: John P. Kilian
Office Being Sought and District: 20th Assembly District
Party: Connecticut For Lieberman
Family: Yes
Education: Yes
Civic Involvement: No
Past Political Office: President of Wolcott Elementary Student Council
TOP THREE ISSUES (in order of priority, each response should not exceed 200 words)
Issue 1: Our government's role is to enable our citizens to realize opportunities by bringing out the best we have to offer. To too much of a degree, our government today is mired in the role of providing for people's welfare with a series of very large band aids that in the long term can not be sustained. Our state legislature is especially adept at taking out large loans to provide generous benefits without consideration for how the bills are going to be paid down the line. A political empire has been fashioned that lures people into dependency on the state, instead of leading people to follow a path that, in the short term may be more strenuous, but in the long term is the way to go.
We need to find a consensus on what government is supposed to do for people, and what people are supposed to do for themselves. There is a widening gap between people like me, whose families pay for government services that we have never used, and other families who use services they never pay for. That is an underlying source of a lot of the friction that is undermining cohesiveness in our community.
Issue 2: Some of our state's largesse is counterproductive, as well as expensive. Our culture is being transformed by the increased prevalence of single parents whose partner in raising their children is a government check instead of a committed and contributing spouse. If there were only two things I could convince my children to buy into, it would be for them to wait until they have a decent education before getting married, and to wait until they get married to have children. It is difficult to stand idly by while so many children in our state casually, even purposely, decide as minors to have children out of wedlock. The state comes to the rescue of these individuals in the form of government aid, but who benefits when it becomes common place that mothers and fathers have no intention of marrying the person with whom they have children? Minors should not be receiving direct aid for having children. Paying children to get pregnant is a very bad policy, and no one is hurt more in the long run than the mothers and their children who fall into this trap set with the allure of a short-cut to adulthood.
Issue 3: Our economy is suffering from a lack of willingness on the part of private capital to invest in our state. Government spending to bridge a recession is not a bad short term solution, but it is not a long term solution. What government needs to do is encourage the private money sitting on the sidelines to get in the game.
I think the economy could be better if the government phased in significant energy taxes and that would create a market for private industry to solve the problem of needing to be more energy efficient. Changes to the income tax could compensate for the regressive nature of consumption taxes. Also, government investment in mass transit solutions will spawn economic activity around stations while easing the blow of energy costs that will rise whether or not the government raises taxes.
Without a phased in, deliberately executed plan to wean us off foreign oil, we are prone to be stuck driving to work, paying whatever the world market will bear, and every dollar spent on imports will be unavailable to provide the incentives and infrastructure to cushion the blow.
Sincerely,
John Kilian
Name: John P. Kilian
Office Being Sought and District: 20th Assembly District
Party: Connecticut For Lieberman
Family: Yes
Education: Yes
Civic Involvement: No
Past Political Office: President of Wolcott Elementary Student Council
TOP THREE ISSUES (in order of priority, each response should not exceed 200 words)
Issue 1: Our government's role is to enable our citizens to realize opportunities by bringing out the best we have to offer. To too much of a degree, our government today is mired in the role of providing for people's welfare with a series of very large band aids that in the long term can not be sustained. Our state legislature is especially adept at taking out large loans to provide generous benefits without consideration for how the bills are going to be paid down the line. A political empire has been fashioned that lures people into dependency on the state, instead of leading people to follow a path that, in the short term may be more strenuous, but in the long term is the way to go.
We need to find a consensus on what government is supposed to do for people, and what people are supposed to do for themselves. There is a widening gap between people like me, whose families pay for government services that we have never used, and other families who use services they never pay for. That is an underlying source of a lot of the friction that is undermining cohesiveness in our community.
Issue 2: Some of our state's largesse is counterproductive, as well as expensive. Our culture is being transformed by the increased prevalence of single parents whose partner in raising their children is a government check instead of a committed and contributing spouse. If there were only two things I could convince my children to buy into, it would be for them to wait until they have a decent education before getting married, and to wait until they get married to have children. It is difficult to stand idly by while so many children in our state casually, even purposely, decide as minors to have children out of wedlock. The state comes to the rescue of these individuals in the form of government aid, but who benefits when it becomes common place that mothers and fathers have no intention of marrying the person with whom they have children? Minors should not be receiving direct aid for having children. Paying children to get pregnant is a very bad policy, and no one is hurt more in the long run than the mothers and their children who fall into this trap set with the allure of a short-cut to adulthood.
Issue 3: Our economy is suffering from a lack of willingness on the part of private capital to invest in our state. Government spending to bridge a recession is not a bad short term solution, but it is not a long term solution. What government needs to do is encourage the private money sitting on the sidelines to get in the game.
I think the economy could be better if the government phased in significant energy taxes and that would create a market for private industry to solve the problem of needing to be more energy efficient. Changes to the income tax could compensate for the regressive nature of consumption taxes. Also, government investment in mass transit solutions will spawn economic activity around stations while easing the blow of energy costs that will rise whether or not the government raises taxes.
Without a phased in, deliberately executed plan to wean us off foreign oil, we are prone to be stuck driving to work, paying whatever the world market will bear, and every dollar spent on imports will be unavailable to provide the incentives and infrastructure to cushion the blow.
Sincerely,
John Kilian
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Gospel Truth about the Tribeca Mosque
I am downright disgusted by the way the controversy over the proposal to construct an Islamic community center in the vicinity of Ground Zero has evolved into a political donnybrook of inflated proportions. A great investment has been made by those who seek to manipulate a truly ignorant public for ulterior motives, and it is alarming to see the success that this approach is having. The senseless bias against fellow American citizens, whose crime in the views of the minions of Rupert Murdoch includes devotion to the tenets of Islam, is a good argument for adopting anew the Bill of Rights, that until recently conservatives would have rallied to defend.
Such rhetoric is only the latest in a pattern of stoking racial bigotry for political gain. It is very similar to how Shirley Sherrod from the U.S. Department of Agriculture had portions of her address to the NAACP taken out of context and used in a transparent effort to manipulate public sentiment.Then, as now, the target audience included people predisposed to criticize those whose identity includes the possession of a different skin color, religion or whatever else constitutes for them a "normal" American.
The animus fostered in a most calculated fashion by well-heeled propagandists is the kind of strategy articulated by George Orwell’s 1984: the surreal, but all too common version of a “Two-Minute Hate”. This is the kind of sophomoric exercise that belongs in the bleachers of Fenway when the faithful call out “Jeter Sucks!” Everyone knows he does not, but he is wearing the uniform of the arch-rival, and we want to get our money’s worth before security escorts us out the door. It is a mentality that does not wear well on serious matters, at least among those of us who know what is going on.
I fear our nation is being purposely misled, in a word, lied to. What advantage can there be for our nation if our decisions are made by the profiteers of poor counsel and knowing misrepresentation that carelessly dispossesses our fellow citizens of the liberties that we reputedly send our sons and daughters in harm’s way to defend? Political advantage. There is no merit to the claims that anything being proposed by a group of Tribeca Sufis amounts to a threat to our nation. This is just a vehicle to sweep the gullible off their feet and cultivate their worst fears into votes for politicians who likely know the truth, but prefer to profit from the stirring of emotions of an uninformed public.
To break it down for the average American, Islam has various sects, just like Christianity. The Shiites have a hierarchy similar to Catholics. These are the folks who run Iran. Sunnis are like Protestants in that they have a congregational approach to their organization. A very small number of these are in Al Qaida. Sufis are like Unitarian Universalists. No one understands what their doctrine is, because they don’t have one. They are like Amish with autos. They are unlikely to hurt a fly, but if they ever did the experience would lead to several volumes of cryptic poetry capturing the spiritual essence of the dearly departed insect.
So, the Sufis are building a glorified YMCA in the Holy Land near Ground Zero wedged somewhere between a strip joint and an off track betting site. Who are we to say, “There goes the neighborhood”?
Those who would benefit from this woeful piece of dishonest presentation lack the basic qualities to lead our nation. If we don’t figure out the truth of the matter soon, it will be our fault for what happens to us should they gain control of our country.
Such rhetoric is only the latest in a pattern of stoking racial bigotry for political gain. It is very similar to how Shirley Sherrod from the U.S. Department of Agriculture had portions of her address to the NAACP taken out of context and used in a transparent effort to manipulate public sentiment.Then, as now, the target audience included people predisposed to criticize those whose identity includes the possession of a different skin color, religion or whatever else constitutes for them a "normal" American.
The animus fostered in a most calculated fashion by well-heeled propagandists is the kind of strategy articulated by George Orwell’s 1984: the surreal, but all too common version of a “Two-Minute Hate”. This is the kind of sophomoric exercise that belongs in the bleachers of Fenway when the faithful call out “Jeter Sucks!” Everyone knows he does not, but he is wearing the uniform of the arch-rival, and we want to get our money’s worth before security escorts us out the door. It is a mentality that does not wear well on serious matters, at least among those of us who know what is going on.
I fear our nation is being purposely misled, in a word, lied to. What advantage can there be for our nation if our decisions are made by the profiteers of poor counsel and knowing misrepresentation that carelessly dispossesses our fellow citizens of the liberties that we reputedly send our sons and daughters in harm’s way to defend? Political advantage. There is no merit to the claims that anything being proposed by a group of Tribeca Sufis amounts to a threat to our nation. This is just a vehicle to sweep the gullible off their feet and cultivate their worst fears into votes for politicians who likely know the truth, but prefer to profit from the stirring of emotions of an uninformed public.
To break it down for the average American, Islam has various sects, just like Christianity. The Shiites have a hierarchy similar to Catholics. These are the folks who run Iran. Sunnis are like Protestants in that they have a congregational approach to their organization. A very small number of these are in Al Qaida. Sufis are like Unitarian Universalists. No one understands what their doctrine is, because they don’t have one. They are like Amish with autos. They are unlikely to hurt a fly, but if they ever did the experience would lead to several volumes of cryptic poetry capturing the spiritual essence of the dearly departed insect.
So, the Sufis are building a glorified YMCA in the Holy Land near Ground Zero wedged somewhere between a strip joint and an off track betting site. Who are we to say, “There goes the neighborhood”?
Those who would benefit from this woeful piece of dishonest presentation lack the basic qualities to lead our nation. If we don’t figure out the truth of the matter soon, it will be our fault for what happens to us should they gain control of our country.
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