{"id":217,"date":"2017-02-22T20:28:09","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T01:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/?p=217"},"modified":"2017-02-22T20:28:09","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T01:28:09","slug":"poetry-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/217","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Tonight…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

\u00a0“Philosophical Poem”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The disease of civilization is not tools, citizen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ignorance might be closer to it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Politics closer. But only Money<\/em><\/p>\n

Will hit the brass tacks everyone wants to get down to<\/em><\/p>\n

Squarely on the head.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Above all, I have no case against human nature.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever that is, I like it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I like mechanics with wrenches,<\/em><\/p>\n

Taxi drivers’ photos on licenses,<\/em><\/p>\n

Drunks lighting cigarettes.<\/em><\/p>\n

What the hell else is there to like<\/em><\/p>\n

After you’ve kissed your wife and gone to sleep?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I like everything but important people being important.<\/em><\/p>\n

And academic people being academic.<\/em><\/p>\n

What I like least is bookkeepers<\/em><\/p>\n

Spending their human eyes on accounts receivable,<\/em><\/p>\n

Interest receivable, payment due, balance on hand.<\/em><\/p>\n

And columns of soldiers marching.<\/em><\/p>\n

John Ciardi<\/span><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0“Philosophical Poem” The disease of civilization is not tools, citizen. Ignorance might be closer to it. Politics closer. But only Money Will hit the brass tacks everyone wants to get down to Squarely on the head. \u00a0 Above all, I have no case against human nature. Whatever that is, I like it. I like mechanics … Continue reading Poetry Tonight…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literaturepoetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ovtF-3v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":337,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/337","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":0},"title":"Truth And Absolute Truth","author":"Les","date":"March 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Truth and Absolute Truth Alone is the actual reality. It was there before my birth It is now at present with me It will be there after my death. It is but the Truth that I see I feel I talk about and I am In Truth only in Truth.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/318","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":1},"title":"Libertatis Sacra Fames","author":"Les","date":"March 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Albeit nurtured in democracy, And liking best that state republican Where every man is Kinglike and no man Is crowned above his fellows, yet I see, Spite of this modern fret for Liberty, Better the rule of One, whom all obey, Than to let clamorous demagogues betray Our freedom with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":399,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/399","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":2},"title":"On Freedom…","author":"Les","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"He laughs; \u00a0\u00a0 when he does, his face opens \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 his eyes beam like moon and stars In the silence of his voice \u00a0\u00a0 no words exist \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 but the soft hum of an almost \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 forgotten song In the enclosed world \u00a0\u00a0 of his room \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 he opens up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/452","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":3},"title":"The Mystery","author":"Les","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was not; now I am\u2014a few days hence I shall not be; I fain would look before And after, but can neither do; some Power Or lack of power says \u201cno\u201d to all I would. I stand upon a wide and sunless plain, Nor chart nor steel to guide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":264,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/264","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":4},"title":"Liberty…","author":"Les","date":"February 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Edward Thomas, 1878 - 1917 The last light has gone out of the world, except This moonlight lying on the grass like frost Beyond the brink of the tall elm\u2019s shadow. It is as if everything else had slept Many an age, unforgotten and lost The men that were, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":233,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/233","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":5},"title":"A Poem For The 21st Century…","author":"Les","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Children of a Lesser God\u00a0 by Eileen Manassian Ghali I\u2019m tired of knowing That because of my race Because of where I live Because of my last name I\u2019m part of the band\u2026 The children of a lesser God I\u2019m tired of knowing That there is so much hate That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Literature\/Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Literature\/Poetry","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/literaturepoetry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217\/revisions\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}