Poem of the Day – March 24

There was no collusion, they say,

And what does it mean, exactly?

That there was no praise of bigots,

No fawning over murderous dictators,

No contempt for the weak, the helpless,

No violent bending of the truth?

 

There was no collusion, they say.

As children search for lost parents,

As bombs fall like summer rain,

As mothers weep and fathers

Wander bewildered in a world

Scrubbed clean of empathy and kindness

A world of avarice and cruelty

Celebrated in song and image,

A world burning up and drowning,

A world to enter only at your peril.

 

 © Dennis Hathaway

 

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Photo by Kim (After Edvard Munch: “The Scream”)

Edvard Munch, “The Scream”, 1893

Today Kim unleashed her smartphone to document some dental work performed on my own teeth Friday, just something to send on to the kids.  And here is her photo (which I converted to grayscale, as is my wont):

(photo by KAE)

The nod to Munch’s legendary 1893 painting was not entirely accidental, as I had been thinking about it since when just a few days ago, photographer and friend from the distant past, Jim Friedman [1] [2] [3], had sent me on Monday this Instagram piece (attributed to one Jerry Saltz):

No more than three days later, I ran across this report, seeming to debunk some of the conventional wisdom about “The Scream”.  And passed it on to Jim.  If you want to read a “typical” backgrounder of the kind that we have seen over the years, before this recent revelation, try this.

Herman in Viet Nam 3

Herman visits the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).  Among his comments: “… One section shows how since the war,  Viet Nam and the US have become trading partners. We are treated well here, and people are friendly and very helpful. This city reminds us in many ways of Mexico City…”