{"id":452,"date":"2017-03-15T19:18:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T00:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/?p=452"},"modified":"2017-03-15T19:18:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T00:18:40","slug":"the-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/452","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was not; now I am\u2014a few days hence
\nI shall not be; I fain would look before
\nAnd after, but can neither do; some Power
\nOr lack of power says \u201cno\u201d to all I would.
\nI stand upon a wide and sunless plain,
\nNor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright.
\nWhene\u2019er, o\u2019ercoming fear, I dare to move,
\nI grope without direction and by chance.
\nSome feign to hear a voice and feel a hand
\nThat draws them ever upward thro\u2019 the gloom.
\nBut I\u2014I hear no voice and touch no hand,
\nTho\u2019 oft thro\u2019 silence infinite I list,
\nAnd strain my hearing to supernal sounds;
\nTho\u2019 oft thro\u2019 fateful darkness do I reach,
\nAnd stretch my hand to find that other hand.
\nI question of th\u2019 eternal bending skies
\nThat seem to neighbor with the novice earth;
\nBut they roll on, and daily shut their eyes
\nOn me, as I one day shall do on them,
\nAnd tell me not the secret that I ask.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Laurence Dunbar<\/span><\/u><\/a><\/span>, 1872<\/span> – 1906<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 my steps aright. Whene\u2019er, o\u2019ercoming … Continue reading The Mystery<\/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-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literaturepoetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ovtF-7i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/569","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":0},"title":"Freedom XIV","author":"Les","date":"March 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Have a great weekend. We certainty will as\u00a0we chuck the political BS for a few\u00a0days. We leave you with the following... And an orator said, \"Speak to us of Freedom.\" And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your\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":403,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/403","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":1},"title":"EPS Chief Pruitt’s Office Deluged With Phone Calls…","author":"Les","date":"March 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It is no secret really that conservatives and the religious right hold a very dim view of science in general and climate change science in particular. They prefer to hold to the beliefs that God, in his infinite wisdom and power, will make everything all right in the world. So,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate Change\/Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Change\/Environment","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/climate-changeenvironment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":458,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/458","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":2},"title":"Are We Really Who We Profess To Be?…","author":"Les","date":"March 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here we are, precisely at the same place we were yesterday, last week, last month, and last year. Trying to determine just exactly how in the hell this nation of immigrants with the best governmental system known to humankind got so goddamned screwed up. A bunch of educated and liberal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime\/Law Enforcement"","block_context":{"text":"Crime\/Law Enforcement","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/category\/crimelaw-enforcement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":503,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/503","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":3},"title":"MR. (P)RESIDENT\u2019S (F)UDGET","author":"OCTOPUS","date":"March 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"So Mr. (P)resident wants to build a wall across our southern border \u2026 costing an estimated $15 to $25 billion dollars. To pay for the wall, he\u00a0will scratch $500 million for a new Coast Guard cutter. You see, his Petulance wants his immigrants wet as his arithmetic goes awry. \u00a0So\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/503#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":217,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/217","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":4},"title":"Poetry Tonight…","author":"Les","date":"February 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\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\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":170,"url":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/archives\/170","url_meta":{"origin":452,"position":5},"title":"The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe…","author":"Les","date":"February 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Written in 1845 the Raven remains one of the most famous poems ever written. It was my mother's favorite poem.\u00a0As I sat thinking about her on this sunny afternoon in February (she has been gone from us for going on ten years)\u00a0I was reminded, by some strange force I suppose,\u00a0of\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\/452","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=452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rationalnationusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}