Of Roots and Power

A vast conspiracy…

We once held belief in our minds—
Clear, firm, and with conviction.
It’s something many
No longer carry today.

It is something
So easily subverted,
Disorganized,
Dismissed,
Perverted.

Where does this power come from?

It is born
In strong roots:
Family, education, community,
The quiet labor of care,
A simple leap of faith,
The patience of listening.
Love—
Gifted as a selfless act.
A hand on a shoulder
A teacher who waits
The school bus driver who understands—
With a moment of quiet grace.

But when families are fractured
Education fails
Communities fragment…
When caring fades,
Faith erodes,
Understanding grows shallow,
And love becomes performance—
When trust
Is no longer possible…

The power of thinking people,
That clarity and wisdom of ages,
That societal grit and quiet resolve,
Diminishes.

It—
Doesn’t grow,
Doesn’t get passed on,
Doesn’t improve.

It disappears.

(So Does) Common Sense.

The erosion of society—
We are witnessing in real time.
But the roots remain.
Not in the Ivory Towers…

But out there,
In rural America—
That folksy wisdom
And Grandma Mary’s distilled discipline,
Still thrives in those she touched.

Let’s till what still grows…
Remember—
And embrace
The power of
Common sense.

And remember…
Grandma Mary—
A lighthouse
In a cultural fog.

A hope
For the future
Just like the
Statue of Liberty.

She is…
My lighthouse
Holding the torch
That lights my path.

Someone of importance once said:

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”
― Woodrow Wilson, New Freedom…. I know where my betting chips will be placed….

They may be referring to the power of common sense.

That’s not a conspiracy.
It is life.

From these roots—
Let’s grow
A garden
Of civilization.