tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35878762154883581872023-11-15T22:34:33.142-08:00EarthAirWaterJan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.comBlogger264125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-47328281571849838882021-05-03T15:30:00.001-07:002021-05-03T15:31:51.718-07:00What's Up <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTF1Ia_w6HbNIL5qo3oXl3eC9rU6der-jSFhu42IiQPPwWvKwwtORO2hyEWrSGVH5LAROBq_xo6YlvbUymwZrYJswst9Ou6ncQXzzZLS9oMCun0FRY4ySURLX4tRsMtBB643IAfSsGZfX/s640/Sneakers.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: left; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTF1Ia_w6HbNIL5qo3oXl3eC9rU6der-jSFhu42IiQPPwWvKwwtORO2hyEWrSGVH5LAROBq_xo6YlvbUymwZrYJswst9Ou6ncQXzzZLS9oMCun0FRY4ySURLX4tRsMtBB643IAfSsGZfX/s320/Sneakers.jpg"/></a></div>
<br>
<i>"Sneakers" (Jan Barry photo)</i>
<br><br><br>
<b><i>Stumbling Around<b></b></i><br><br></b>
Three small strokes<br>
Rearranged my brain—<br>
Trying to see what still works<br>
<br>
Wobbly balance exercise<br>
Revives muscle memory of toes<br>
In cross-country skiing<br>
<br>
First base catch move<br>
Restores arthritic right hand<br>
When an errant ball appears<br>
<br>
A month of hard core PT<br>
Turns shuffling waddle<br>
Into senior citizen steps<br>
<br>
<b>--Jan Barry </b>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-31345472772266887242021-03-14T12:45:00.000-07:002021-03-14T12:45:52.198-07:00Covid Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHkez1jPCQVj6Mx1-ki-ejGo1nARGZ7ZGvdOEJw66Run5a6YsrnyLNJNEPOeitnfBaO79GML6p-bcol4QWwTbDWj0JdkZVshPYp6Ifc4TILnJ0nNk91iAIhi0E2fT-1JqdHPhr8HMveIg/s416/Mask+with+birds+%25282%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="400" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHkez1jPCQVj6Mx1-ki-ejGo1nARGZ7ZGvdOEJw66Run5a6YsrnyLNJNEPOeitnfBaO79GML6p-bcol4QWwTbDWj0JdkZVshPYp6Ifc4TILnJ0nNk91iAIhi0E2fT-1JqdHPhr8HMveIg/s400/Mask+with+birds+%25282%2529.jpg"/></a></div>
<br>
<i>Mask with Birds (Jan Barry photo)</i>
<br><br>
<b>By Jan Barry</b>
<br><br>
A year of hair<br>
Unfurls down my neck—<br>
I’ve outlived a pandemic<br>
So far
<br><br>
Millions dead and dying<br>
As preening politicians bicker—<br>
What’s there to celebrate<br>
In this covid time<br>
<br>
Lost my job, my livelihood,<br>
Quarantined from friends<br>
And family gatherings,<br>
Hunkering from death’s breath<br>
<br>
Only the lucky<br>
Are still living—<br>
Living like moths<br>
Flitting amid the flames<br>
<br>
This is what depression<br>
Looks like, as year 2 looms—<br>
I’d rather soar with eagles<br>
And migrate with the seasons<br>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-56511225458609569802021-02-23T12:37:00.000-08:002021-02-23T12:37:01.185-08:00Morning on the Hackensack River<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCoZAe7UXUDB4jiryZWZVMFaR7SuCUUKcSTFHA9ymnAmH9hnFdiduPtPNLhqBgPi6P-TPmYLNnAcxA2VHznY6id2mZv-mrp02sD7QEy3OPLaD-HmVH7XP7x_vuVo6d5tgZikgNU31swiK/s457/Eagle+Hackensack+River+022321+%25282%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: left; float: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCoZAe7UXUDB4jiryZWZVMFaR7SuCUUKcSTFHA9ymnAmH9hnFdiduPtPNLhqBgPi6P-TPmYLNnAcxA2VHznY6id2mZv-mrp02sD7QEy3OPLaD-HmVH7XP7x_vuVo6d5tgZikgNU31swiK/s320/Eagle+Hackensack+River+022321+%25282%2529.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Bald Eagle Eating Fish at Secluded Stretch of Hackensack River (Jan Barry/photo)</i>
<br><br>
<b>By Jan Barry</b>
<br><br>
A confluence of eagles<br>
at a narrow bend in the river<br>
lined with gnarled old branches<br>
leaning over the water<br>
flowing between snow-crusted<br>
stretches of woods—<br>
the silence broken by commuter<br>
trains, truck engines, Canada<br>
geese, mergansers foraging for fish<br>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-38388141528345186132021-02-20T18:27:00.000-08:002021-02-20T18:27:13.269-08:00Anne Crumb, RIP<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.amarilloseniorlink.com/magazine/2019-04/files/thumb/52.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="369" src="https://www.amarilloseniorlink.com/magazine/2019-04/files/thumb/52.jpg"/></a></div>
My aunt, Margaret Anne Crumb, died recently in Amarillo, Texas. She was 85 and in ailing health but had a much younger, spritely spirit. For years I stopped by to visit during cross country road trips, trading travel tales and other yarns. She’d seen much of the world in an Air Force career, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Among other things, she drove long haul, semi-tractor trucks during a colorful life after moving to Texas.
<br><br>
My first vivid memories of Aunt Annie have to do with “slow poke passing” in our 1950s cars on a country road when I was a teenager. About that time, she joined the Air Force as a physical therapist. About a year later, I joined the Army and visited her on a weekend pass at her bayside place outside Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Then I went to Vietnam and she went to Libya. Our lives went in different directions. But we stayed in touch over the years.
<br><br>
Home base was the Taughannock Falls area of New York’s Finger Lakes, where we occasionally met up at family gatherings. One summer Anne announced that she preferred living in Texas. When I swung by her place in Amarillo on a drive to California after I retired from newspaper work, I learned why. She liked the wild flowers, the wind-swept vistas, the wide open skies of the high plains. She had friends who’d turned an empty shopping center into an artists’ colony. She loved rambling out of town to the jaw dropping splendor of Palo Duro Canyon.
<br><br>
About a decade ago, she moved into a senior living complex, as various ailments cramped her hands and walking became progressively hazardous. She gave her kayak to younger relatives. She enjoyed entertaining visitors, venturing out to a favorite Mexican restaurant next door. Checking in on her during the Covid crisis last summer, I found she’d moved to a state veterans’ home.
<br><br>
Amarillo Senior Link magazine in 2019 profiled her in a special issue honoring military veterans. My favorite anecdote in this account tells how after graduating from college in 1957, “Anne took a job as a physical therapist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. She drove from New York in a 1952 Ford with $100 in her pocket.”
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-28883691149544319362021-01-28T15:48:00.000-08:002021-01-28T15:48:34.492-08:00Breaking News<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGpu84GOH10YdgUqMnso13kCI9Fm-7ADGT0t30aqAAWOJTsRxZJ7om28V0kzpeWXvlDVz2taL2coy4b2BXXpqOKBbRM6eFmr4bAOPKh6mRJvW4FJjzGo78yjw-PKDrOA6Z9fB1IWLvod9/s640/winter+river+scene.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: left; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGpu84GOH10YdgUqMnso13kCI9Fm-7ADGT0t30aqAAWOJTsRxZJ7om28V0kzpeWXvlDVz2taL2coy4b2BXXpqOKBbRM6eFmr4bAOPKh6mRJvW4FJjzGo78yjw-PKDrOA6Z9fB1IWLvod9/s320/winter+river+scene.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>"Winter Day" by Jan Barry<br><br><br>
</i>
Snow flurries this morning,<br>
A wondrous break<br>
In a bleak winter<br><br>
A flurry of eagles flits<br>
Along the Hackensack River<br>
Turning Jersey into a winter haven<br><br>
<b>--Jan Barry</b>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-30354465029630354732021-01-11T19:40:00.000-08:002021-01-11T19:40:13.739-08:00Insurrection 2021
<b>By Jan Barry</b>
<br><br>
An insurrection in Washington<br>
In January set off<br>
An horrific new year—<br>
Aiming to nullify the results<br>
Of November’s election for president,<br>
It gained added fury when a black man<br>
And a Jewish man won a special election<br>
For US Senate seats in Georgia—<br>
The mob rampaged through the Capitol building<br>
With nooses, Confederate flags,<br>
Neo-Nazi slogans—<br>
“Camp Auschwitz” read one—<br>
And broke into the House and Senate chambers<br>
Seeking scurrying lawmakers—<br>
“Hang Pence!”<br>
Hate-contorted men and women shouted,<br>
Hot on the trail of the vice president—<br>
Breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office<br>
With guns and plastic police handcuffs
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-64127319348183223132020-12-30T12:58:00.000-08:002020-12-30T12:58:03.818-08:00World Sustainability and COVID<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQpVGVTXRyQavEW8OSpuRKQL1zNRszBi0e1r5K71DERz0jqYQecQNyfLyyo9TrKcg_pAP1mNvOlLLil4DPYTXnZgSGTl4kLPuI1BoTI2qnhybUCE4rOgTvugvAuinPn-dWr5wn6hK_zAS/s640/Fog+on+Overpeck+pic.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQpVGVTXRyQavEW8OSpuRKQL1zNRszBi0e1r5K71DERz0jqYQecQNyfLyyo9TrKcg_pAP1mNvOlLLil4DPYTXnZgSGTl4kLPuI1BoTI2qnhybUCE4rOgTvugvAuinPn-dWr5wn6hK_zAS/s320/Fog+on+Overpeck+pic.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>"Fog at Overpeck County Park" December 2020 (photo/Jan Barry)</i>
<br><br><br>
The fall 2020 semester at Ramapo College opened in the midst of global crisis due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Only a few students and faculty were allowed on campus, primarily for lab courses. Most classes were held online. Despite precautions, COVID-19 swept through my World Sustainability class of 31 students and their families. Suddenly the concept of studying global environmental and social crisis was no longer theoretical.
<br><br>
The possibility of impending catastrophic climate change took on a new perspective, as within a few months the United States of America staggered from a once-in-a-century public health crisis that triggered economic collapse in much of the world’s trend setting economy. In many ways, our society seemed to be wandering in a fog.
<br><br>
An international cast of undergraduate students dug into what was happening around the world—researching and writing case studies set in India, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Russia, Poland, Greece, Syria, Africa, Australia, Latin America, Canada, New Jersey, New York City and elsewhere.
<br><br>
Probing discussions were stirred up and guided by fellow World Sustainability professors Harriet Shugarman and Amanda Nesheiwat and environmental activists Paula Rogovin and Sam Difalco, who joined the class via Zoom. The entire class attended an online conference on youth climate activism and the presidential election hosted by Ramapo Green, a campus environmental group. Students were also encouraged to write about what they learned from their experiences.
<br><br>
Here’s a selection of their work in the midst of the COVID crisis:
<br><br>
<a href="http://ramapolookout.blogspot.com/">http://ramapolookout.blogspot.com/</a>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-75097927756915592442020-10-19T18:14:00.007-07:002020-10-20T12:59:58.911-07:00Biden and World Sustainability<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnORHdeGLQDe8PV_xMYmwImOS3w05F0nw4f1L-NoI1QPTeg4bJSTWwpc5RJ29BTOhLAuHnYk1XHfJJK4R6owkCBKQ8RtiDvfWgFCFBvqI9ubqRNfgnZRih74y9M9c_GieD5qHu7OcnQeY/s2048/P1310501.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnORHdeGLQDe8PV_xMYmwImOS3w05F0nw4f1L-NoI1QPTeg4bJSTWwpc5RJ29BTOhLAuHnYk1XHfJJK4R6owkCBKQ8RtiDvfWgFCFBvqI9ubqRNfgnZRih74y9M9c_GieD5qHu7OcnQeY/s320/P1310501.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">By Jan Barry</b></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>“Vote as if the Climate Depends on It” <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s the headline of a call to action by Bill
McKibben in The Nation recently. This clarion call by the founder of 350.org to
counter Donald Trump’s disastrous environmental policies in November’s
presidential election also appeared in Rolling Stone and other publications. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Endorsing the Democratic ticket of <span style="background: white; color: #111111;">Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, McKibben
stated “their climate plan is the farthest-reaching of any presidential ticket
in history. More to the point, we can pressure them to go farther and faster.
Already, seeing the polling on the wall, they’ve adopted many of the proposals
of climate stalwarts like Washington Governor Jay Inslee. A team of Biden and
Bernie Sanders representatives worked out a pragmatic but powerful compromise
in talks before the Democratic National Convention; the Biden-Harris ticket
seems primed to use a transition to green energy as a crucial part of a push to
rebuild the pandemic-devastated economy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Furthmore, he added, “they’ve
pledged to try to lead the rest of the world in the climate fight. The United
States has never really done this. Our role as the single biggest producer of
hydrocarbons has meant that our response to global warming has always been
crippled by the political power of Big Oil. But that power has begun to slip.…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Despite Biden’s
reluctance to rein in the hydro fracking industry in his home state of
Pennsylvania, his campaign platform endorses the goals of many states to phase
out fossil fuels by 2050, with a major milepost “to achieve a carbon
pollution-free power sector by 2035.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other steps in Biden’s
proposed transition includes hiring former coal miners and other workers to cap
old, leaking oil and gas wells, and safely close and remediate abandoned coal
and uranium mining sites that are polluting local waterways and communities. “Biden
will also hold companies accountable for the environmental damage of their
operations, including by clawing back golden parachutes and executive bonuses
for companies that shift the environmental burdens of their actions onto
taxpayers,” his website added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Another transition
step, long sought by many environmental activists, would create a Civilian
Climate Corps that would hire diverse people “to work conserving our public
lands, bolstering community resilience, and addressing the changing climate,
while putting good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans, including
women and people of color...” This plan would build on the pioneering work of
the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression that marshalled an
army of young men and military veterans to replant logged out forests and
create campsites, trails and other infrastructure in state and national parks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Addressing a major
problem that many communities in cities and rural areas have faced for decades,
Biden pledges to “ensure that frontline and fenceline communities are at the
table when enforcement, remediation, and investment decisions affecting those
communities are made. Biden will ensure working groups on these issues report
directly into the White House, so that communities facing the dual threat of
environmental <i>and</i> economic burdens have access to the highest
levels of the Biden Administration.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bill McKibben’s call to
vote for Biden and continue pressing him to deepen his environmental plan should
be widely shared. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-56764385584559914202020-09-01T10:45:00.001-07:002020-09-01T10:45:44.855-07:00Raising Butterflies<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgq4EtJH8FE0HnZMXzQtigNG5zRzukChOUZAL9cAvlFlT3wbpwiEiQPQRkMK1IBvQr2rwF0xXgO9HalHci9htyCu4vhaEZ4xjlaLBTBKnZQ0FGhgNTFT9ZlDsX44V2jjWmkDEoxNqAMMG0/s1280/Butterfly+in+hand+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="1280" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgq4EtJH8FE0HnZMXzQtigNG5zRzukChOUZAL9cAvlFlT3wbpwiEiQPQRkMK1IBvQr2rwF0xXgO9HalHci9htyCu4vhaEZ4xjlaLBTBKnZQ0FGhgNTFT9ZlDsX44V2jjWmkDEoxNqAMMG0/w512-h470/Butterfly+in+hand+pic.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holding hands (photo/Paula Rogovin)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Raising
Butterflies<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Jan Barry</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Raising
butterflies takes work, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fine
motor skills and patience—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Start
with finding a fly speck of an egg<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
a milkweed leaf,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Put
the leaf in a jar,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cover
it with mesh—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wait
a couple-three days<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Until
a tiny caterpillar appears<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the leaf—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Clean
the tiny poop out of the bottom<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
the jar every day—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Drop
in a fresh leaf<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
the growing cat to munch on—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repeat
a few times—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
day a very large caterpillar <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Climbs
up the side of the jar<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
creates a chrysalis <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hanging
on the mesh cover—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
you’re hooked—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Look
it up—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
process of becoming<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
butterfly takes a week or two—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Check
it out every morning—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lunch
time—supper time—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Before
bed—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">See
the chrysalis develop a gold ring—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
one day turn translucent,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Become
a sack of water—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh
my god—the next morning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
monarch butterfly pops out—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Flaps
its wings—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wants
to go out into the world—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So—cell
phone camera ready—<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
release it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Into
the stormy, dangerous world<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-16958196057177670092020-07-26T08:11:00.003-07:002020-07-27T14:01:29.092-07:00Peace in Korea<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTvRa5ii8YbW1qnczHTL36AMqUEL1duP4GqJLAqhWHJYjx_ZnYAHGoV2wpQs_HBQ_rHLTn-McCnjBCUl_azPZ-fuh3qSEMkv8gAUj_qomBbPa9mmXiEcM6xpBI85m8bYTeBhi-T8fT4Gx/s1600/Peace+in+Korea+pic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="1280" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHTvRa5ii8YbW1qnczHTL36AMqUEL1duP4GqJLAqhWHJYjx_ZnYAHGoV2wpQs_HBQ_rHLTn-McCnjBCUl_azPZ-fuh3qSEMkv8gAUj_qomBbPa9mmXiEcM6xpBI85m8bYTeBhi-T8fT4Gx/s400/Peace+in+Korea+pic.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peace in Korea demonstration, Teaneck, NJ 7/23/20</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The Korean War broke out in 1950 amid simmering hostilities after World War II, killing three million people including more than 34,000 American troops. It ended in July 1953 in a stand-off truce with armies still deployed on each side of the Demilitarized Zone poised to resume fighting. Military maneuvers over the years have periodically created havoc on both sides. A demonstration was held at the NJ National Guard Armory in Teaneck, NJ on July 23 calling for a peace treaty to finally be signed by the warring parties. This is a poem I read as poet laureate of Veterans For Peace. Thanks to VFP member Soobok Kim, a news story in The Korean New York Daily on July 25 included the poem in Korean and English.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Peace
in Korea<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By
Jan Barry<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">One
day, there’ll be peace in Korea,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cherry
blossoms will bloom all over the DMZ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hibiscus
will twine with magnolias<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Across
the war-wary land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Goshawks
will fly with magpies,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gunfire
transformed into bird songs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-77661022795115902482020-07-02T12:54:00.000-07:002020-08-05T11:35:40.149-07:00Summer of Death <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypUkR7iz-CLOKQ1aNU2UQbPbSHqIguXulSkTOzNgmdY919Hru4lVq13FAFzB1eE0WUCbAQ1lKYikNwG-XfSSYHG3H1qvmkB9WKi_fZkuLEOieIubVWKE8U7a2QnQ4WRooQSsQvYNEhBL0/s1600/JB+face+mask+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypUkR7iz-CLOKQ1aNU2UQbPbSHqIguXulSkTOzNgmdY919Hru4lVq13FAFzB1eE0WUCbAQ1lKYikNwG-XfSSYHG3H1qvmkB9WKi_fZkuLEOieIubVWKE8U7a2QnQ4WRooQSsQvYNEhBL0/s400/JB+face+mask+pic.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self-portrait (photo/Jan Barry)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>By Jan Barry</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Summer of Death </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Summer
of my 77<sup>th</sup> year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
gear for us ancients to wear <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is
face masks—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
live surrounded by death<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
invisible corona virus spittle,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Which
has decimated nursing homes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
spring-lush suburbs—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
veterans home in Paramus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Was
particularly hard hit,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
also the town where I live—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is
it safe to go for a walk?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
the food store?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
post office?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
visit my son <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Who
works in a supermarket?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dare
I go to the VA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
a doctor’s appointment?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
a life—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
have to consider virus risks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Just
going out of the house—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember
to take a face mask<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
a walk around the block—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
what should I do if classes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Resume
on campus in the fall?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
hear that nurses have PTSD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
trying to cope with so many COVID cases—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
I’m getting more PTSD on top of old PTSD <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Just
thinking about all the virus risks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Memorial Day 2020<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bury
‘em six feet deep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or
stand six feet apart—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Clutch
your heart,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Adjust
your face mask—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Memorial
Day is very<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Different
this year—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">COVID
deaths surpassed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">War
dead in weeks—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Body
bags stacked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
corridors, backs of trucks,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Hastily
bulldozed graves—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Never
such a death storm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since
World War Two—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Casualties
in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Afghanistan
topped in three months—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Shouldn’t
we fly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
flags at half-mast—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Display
gold stars in the windows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
those so suddenly lost?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Obits
jammed into newspapers—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
many lives snuffed out<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
candles at a nursing home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Birthday
party—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can
you count them all--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Blazing
in their 20s, 30s, 40s,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">50s,
60s, 70s—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Virus
sweeping through<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Veterans’
homes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
silent machinegun fire—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">May
Day, May Day! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
high flying life is crashing—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fly
overs by war planes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Won’t
raise the dead, the dying—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-46389266472950510792020-06-20T12:34:00.000-07:002020-06-20T12:34:43.595-07:00Southern Heritage<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEYkwaMP-0GSjCebGkkpYwQrxbG-A_vroJsZTcTLV5euGRjKeoyK80irsm38jfT07Z7NZ5cCMxob0tyORN7wgliJKQLp3J9Xo072G3WPosmTgVSdddU4aovFWwP7tz8TWYUlo_XMQHbP8/s1600/IMG_1463+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisEYkwaMP-0GSjCebGkkpYwQrxbG-A_vroJsZTcTLV5euGRjKeoyK80irsm38jfT07Z7NZ5cCMxob0tyORN7wgliJKQLp3J9Xo072G3WPosmTgVSdddU4aovFWwP7tz8TWYUlo_XMQHbP8/s400/IMG_1463+%25282%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"War's End" by Jan Barry </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Southern Heritage<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Jan Barry<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
Lee surrendered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
South smugly won the Civil War—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Blacks
lost voting rights, civil rights, every rights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
a reign of terror by hooded Confederates,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">US
Army posts were commandeered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
named for Confederate generals—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
hundred years after the War Between the States<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yankees
were still the enemy in Southern parts—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
Michigan mother assisting voting rights activists<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Was
shot dead by the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Viola
Liuzzo was targeted as a white woman aiding Blacks—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">New
Yorkers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Were
murdered with Black civil rights worker James Chaney<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
the KKK assisted by police in Mississippi—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Half
a century and more to this day, the Confederate legacy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Still
leads the charge in Black-disdaining hearts—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the hip 21<sup>st</sup> century, after a Black president was elected twice, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Black
people are shot dead, choked to death <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
police across America—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Women
and men are assaulted by police in city after city <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
marching in inter-racial Black Lives Matter protests— <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lee
and other Confederate leaders were West Point grads,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Welcomed
back into the fold after the hostilities—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
so with Black folks emancipated by Lincoln <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
the Union forces—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first “colored” graduate of West Point<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Was
“silenced” by classmates for four years—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Southern heritage is a long tradition <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
the US Military Academy and in the Army—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ten
US Army posts are named for Confederate generals:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Benning,
Bragg, Beauregard, Gordon, Hill, Hood, Lee, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pickett,
Polk and Rucker—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nothing
was named for Henry O. Flipper,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Class
of 1877, born into slavery,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Court-martialed
for corresponding with a white woman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
serving as a Buffalo soldier—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
times are changing:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">African-American
men and women are mayors in <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Montgomery
Alabama, Atlanta Georgia, Washington DC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
cities across America—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Across
the South, Confederate statues are being torn down<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">After
all this time—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-80967103196199798662020-04-11T19:54:00.000-07:002020-04-20T15:49:13.957-07:00Warrior Writers NJ Salute to Perry Rosenstein <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.janbarry.net/images/Back_to_Nature_cover_art-small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.janbarry.net/images/Back_to_Nature_cover_art-small.JPG" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Back to Nature" by Jan Barry<br />Puffin Cultural Forum Calendar Feb. 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Week three of Warrior Writers NJ’s
coronavirus-quarantine, online workshops on Zoom, on Sunday, April 5, reunited
several veterans and military family members peering into laptops and cell
phones at their homes and, in one case, sitting beside a spring-showered river.
The main focus of this gathering was the grievous loss of a major supporter of progressive
artists, writers and musicians, including our veterans’ arts programs: Perry
Rosenstein, the founder of Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck, NJ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A World War II veteran, Perry provided a welcoming
place for O wow! sorts of thought-provoking art about the horrendous consequences
of war and survivors’ and supporters’ on-going struggles for peace and community
harmony. Perry and his wife Gladys Miller-Rosenstein supported with Puffin
Foundation grants a wide range of progressive groups, including The Nation
magazine; instituted the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, awarded
to Americans who do conspicuously courageous social justice work; and founded
the Teaneck Creek Conservancy, a local environmental jewel they and scores of enthusiastic
volunteers crafted from a trash dump.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a selection of our writing workshop meditations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Puffin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Jan Barry<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first time I saw a Puffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Was
a painting on a chunk of concrete<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
a wooded former dump site<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
somebody had turned into a<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nature
preserve off I-95 in Teaneck—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
somebody was a retired business guy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Named
Perry Rosenstein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Who
turned his corporate offices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Into
a community culture center<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
spread his transformational actions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Across
Teaneck, New York City, and the world—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry
died the other day, at 94<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Struck
down by coronavirus,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
it has ravaged places he loved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">RIP, Mr. Rosenstein <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Tara Kraus<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">RIP,
Mr. Rosenstein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
thank you for your creation,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">your
precious vibrant container,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Puffin
Cultural Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">petri-dish
artist skunkworx<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">of
duende and social justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
creativity Sparked, Forged, Trussed, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">buttressed
soaring truths <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">for
our imaginal human rights futures, manifests in real time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
container called us forth, our Frontline Arts <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">brothers
and sisters’ Armistice show on Veterans Day 2018,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
created my large<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Trump
nuclear abolition pop-up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
called us <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
go large as artists to stretch our craft <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
raise our voices from a strangled whisper through a gasp of possibility <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to
full throated reverberating. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
call us forth to create the undeniable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gratitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Puffin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By JoAnn Drozd<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
place for all to gather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Memories
of an endearing evening of art, writing, and music by a multitude of artists<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
son’s emotional poem about the war machine & his girlfriend at the time,
now wife’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">heart-wrenching
rendition of Pink’s, ‘Dear Mr. President’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bob
was there beaming with pride & awe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">A
beautiful night filled with solidarity & gratitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thank
you, Perry, for your everlasting donation to the Arts!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Such
moving & historical subject matter to preserve with the community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
how crucial a place it is, especially now, to record & keep alive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">the
bizarre days the world is experiencing today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Rest
in Peace, Perry, knowing what a legacy you left behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thank
you….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Puffin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Sarah Mess<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry,
he gave us time, space, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
let our stories and our voices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Echo
off walls of the Puffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
read my first poem out loud there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
Jan Barry made a poet out of me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry
was my butterfly in the wind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Who
changed the trajectory of my life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
my regret is that I never got to tell him<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">May
he rest in the peace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
he left behind in so many compromised<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
marginalized voices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Peace
that for some of us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Took
a lifetime to find<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A Salute to Perry Rosenstein<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By Paula Rogovin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
puffin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">a
bird almost extinct<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pollution,
overfishing, climate change<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Diminishing
food supplies –<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">They’re
tasty<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry
Rosenstein - what a tasty choice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to
name, to house your dream, Puffin Cultural Forum here in Teaneck, NJ,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to
give voice to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Progressive
artists, musicians, pets, veterans and military families, news media, nature
lovers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and
filmmakers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry
Rosenstein - your vision will never go extinct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perry
Rosenstein - Present<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-12093861044498732142020-04-06T12:36:00.004-07:002020-04-06T12:43:46.755-07:00Warrior Writers NJ Online Writing Continued <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjXUJ22T6p-MYFW6k7CswaofbyC6O3hFDG83-k17MUaWO96CK_mMDPbVeinf9xzoJjJeV1QAB62xX2Sr5MGZw5deryY6bb_1O4eJp3noR9T_ZVQ3Kv-mLQrforYLKoVSqnks7sLsLT1YM/s1600/Spring+flowers+art.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjXUJ22T6p-MYFW6k7CswaofbyC6O3hFDG83-k17MUaWO96CK_mMDPbVeinf9xzoJjJeV1QAB62xX2Sr5MGZw5deryY6bb_1O4eJp3noR9T_ZVQ3Kv-mLQrforYLKoVSqnks7sLsLT1YM/s400/Spring+flowers+art.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Spring Flowers" by Jan Barry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Week two of Warrior Writers NJ’s coronavirus-quarantine, online workshops on Zoom, on Sunday, March 29, featured literary call and response between and among five veterans and three military family members. The prompts included military medical call up—one of the latest government actions to assist beleaguered community hospitals overflowing with covid-19 patients—music, spring, and anything else one wanted to write about. It led to a lot of what Tara Krause called “spontaneous poetry” and spirited discussion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Overflowing Hospitals</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b>By Jan Barry</b><br />
<br />
The military has issued<br />
An emergency call up for former medics<br />
And other medical personnel<br />
To help with the coronavirus crisis—<br />
Things are getting serious—<br />
Convention centers are being turned into<br />
Field hospitals—<br />
This war I can relate to—<br />
If I were younger and able<br />
I’d volunteer<br />
Like Walt Whitman<br />
To help the hospitalized<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Call-up</span></b></i><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b> By Paula Rogovin</b><br />
<br />
I’d rather see veterans<br />
Called back to service<br />
To build makeshift hospitals or work on hospital ships<br />
To supply test kits, ventilators, and<br />
N95s not M-15’s<br />
To meet the battle needs<br />
For this war -<br />
The great global war for LIFE!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Music</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b>By JoAnn Drozd</b><br />
<br />
Music - is my life blood, a savior in the midst of great grief.<br />
<br />
Listening to Kembo doing America the Beautiful & Hauser playing Can’t Help Falling in Love on Facebook & Instagram provided me with some clarity and humility.<br />
<br />
After taking in too much news, Bob’s 3500 songs on his i-pod helps me get through the day. It helps remove the stress from the political craziness of the day. Brings me some sanity, a retreat of sorts.<br />
<br />
The music and songs seem so much more meaningful. Listening & hearing them in a whole new way. Hope it brings all those impacted on the front lines of this crisis the feeling that things will resolve and return to some level of normalcy. I also hope we will all be changed for the better & remember the importance of human connection after this disconnection.<br />
<br />
Funny how so many of us spent many moments of our days attached to our phones or other devices and now we crave each other’s company.<br />
<br />
Music - the GREAT connector.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Hits of the Sixties</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b>By Nancy Elkin Nygard</b><br />
<br />
My father told me, if it's true it's not bragging. This is true.<br />
Walt Nygard is a AAA Star DJ !<br />
At HIS right time he will get on youtube and boom!<br />
I'm Blowin In The Wind to the Sounds of Silence.<br />
And then, For What It's Worth, I wanna know<br />
Who'll Stop The Rain?<br />
His knowledge is amazing, a real student of<br />
Rock n roll of the 60's.<br />
So this Pretty Woman can Walk Like A Man and<br />
This Wild Thing can Turn, Turn, Turn.<br />
Can you Imagine going Downtown<br />
But all you do is Wipeout!<br />
Well, Don't Worry Baby it's Written On The Subway Walls<br />
So Please Please Me Dear Prudence and stay home and dance!!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Spring</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b>By JoAnn Drozd</b><br />
<br />
Flowers to breathe in<br />
<br />
Shrubs to admire<br />
<br />
Trees to climb high<br />
<br />
Soil to dig deep<br />
<br />
Rain to boogie in<br />
<br />
Sun to shine<br />
<br />
Earth to save<br />
<br />
What a stupendous gift we’ve been given. Let’s REJOICE in new growth and beauty. Let’s not waste another single precious moment. This world is ours to save….<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Spring & Music:</span></b></i><br />
<i><b>Spontaneous poetry prompt’d</b></i><br />
<br />
<b>By Tara Krause</b><br />
<br />
All complex systems in perturbation<br />
Reach new states,<br />
Equilibrium might be euphemistic,<br />
But new states (un)certainly.<br />
<br />
This week showed glimpses of<br />
People’s hope in giving,<br />
Across town, county, state, region, globe.<br />
<br />
Our bioregions collapse into<br />
Hot zones and faulty testing tracking scoreboards,<br />
Wracking up bodies in the morgue.<br />
<br />
Hope in giving as the mindful exhale<br />
After the first reflexive intake of panic,<br />
Triggers the neural cascade of altruism,<br />
Solidarity and love in action.<br />
<br />
The live streaming of jazz concerts, both<br />
Unlocked from the archive vaults, and<br />
Spontaneous jams streamed from bedrooms.<br />
<br />
Notes and chord changes disaggregated into<br />
pixels and bites, to meet our souls in<br />
Neural new meanings.<br />
<br />
My challenge, certainly trivial in the face of humanity,<br />
Yet real to me at this moment:<br />
Can hope in giving extend to self-love?<br />
<br />
Can I allow my hope in giving to lead me into<br />
The beauty of prepping new growth in the garden?<br />
To the primal pleasure of thrusting<br />
My hands into the thawing soil,<br />
To give myself to life itself?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Reunited</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<b>By James Yee</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I reunited with an old friend this week. I hadn’t seen her for quite a while. I think the last time was when I was in elementary school. I saw her almost every day back then. It was like I couldn’t go a day without her. Interesting though, we parted ways, for the most part, once I graduated into junior high. And after that I never really thought much about her from then on out. But who would have guessed that it would be all the quarantine and shelter in-placed measures imposed on us that would bring us back together. I will admit, there was a direct action choice on my part. But to make a short story even shorter, once back in the seclusion of my own home, when I was ready and feeling very hungry, I whipped her up again and put her together. When we physically connected, now inside my kitchen, my tongue instantly told me that she was just as I remembered. She made me happy once again. I’m so glad I brought home the peanut butter, grape jelly and a loaf of bread. For her name is PB&J – or more formally, Peanut Butter and Jelly! Maybe you know her as well.<br />
Thank You Coronavirus for bringing us back together.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">A Haiku with Slattern Extra Syllables</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b>By Tara Krause</b><br />
<br />
James Yee rises, takes to the streets<br />
To feed deep human need;<br />
Cup cakes are indeed essential.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-4120124119607649582020-03-23T14:22:00.002-07:002020-03-23T14:34:19.076-07:00Warrior Writers NJ Workshop Goes Online<div class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4o_AxoUGKkiegVzvv1cf7OCO-hjw6hUzAKB_W59AUFsgTcQfYwFgWlS-LQBC9PKneWWMNt8EOTo5IOMhgEIRdFlZB054xKccEqIMP_bmMqMStphehMXm75gJnEt8r8inJj6nkCljRWNk/s1600/Weathering+a+Storm+art.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin4o_AxoUGKkiegVzvv1cf7OCO-hjw6hUzAKB_W59AUFsgTcQfYwFgWlS-LQBC9PKneWWMNt8EOTo5IOMhgEIRdFlZB054xKccEqIMP_bmMqMStphehMXm75gJnEt8r8inJj6nkCljRWNk/s320/Weathering+a+Storm+art.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Weathering a Storm" by Jan Barry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"><br /></span><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Warrior Writers NJ’s scheduled
workshop for Sunday, March 22, 2020 took place via the web application Zoom
from 12 noon-2pm. The group adapted this virtual format in response
to the social distancing measures directed by government and health officials
to help curb the spread of the coronavirus known as Covid-19. </span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Some of the work that was created is posted here. It not only
demonstrates the continued creativity of military veterans and their families,
but it also serves to document how this community is using creative writing,
poetry and the arts to deal with the situational concerns and lifestyle changes
that have come along with the outbreak of Covid-19. </span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">We encourage others to write, share and post literary pieces of
their own, created during this period.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">James
Yee</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Prompt:
Spring</span></span></u></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Never
Doubt Spring</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">by
Tara Krause</i></b></span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Yesterday the croci shot forth from the leaf mulch,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
purple truth ascendant.<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
The neighbor’s forsythia yellowed their welcome<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
along the fence.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">One fussing wren showed up, marking his territory,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
while a titmouse began his song for companionship.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The night before the spring peepers broke into chorus,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
while Bodhi my service dog barked her first bark, hackles up,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
to run off the piebald doe prepping the corner of the<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
garden for her annual birthing rite.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">All phenology of the signs of spring renewal.<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
It is time.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">To plant peas and spinach,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
to sow clover for the bees and<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
to shore up the slopes.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">To direct sow the hardy annuals of<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
poppies, larkspur, calendula, cleome and cosmos.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The roses are already pruned,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
now to be fertilized.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Maybe it’s too late for winter sowing the native perennials of<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
echinacea and rudbeckia, but worth a try.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">It is time<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
to start the lasagna tins of seeds.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Never doubt spring.<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
Even in pandemics, quarantine & panic.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Spring
in a Time of Pandemic</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><i><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By Jan Barry</span><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Will this be the last spring</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">For many of us—for our way of life?</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">So we’d better savor every flower,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Every bird song, every dawn—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I cried yesterday to see a Facebook post</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By high school students singing</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">A choral song, each from their homes,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Spliced together in an incredible concert</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Of “Over the Rainbow”—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Young voices singing joyously</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Into an uncertain future,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Using the latest technology</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">To share the soaring beauty</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Of the human voice</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">With amazing creativity—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">A wondrous display of spring</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Popping amid a winter of deadliness</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Prompt: Who do you appreciate
now?</span></span></u></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; padding: 0in;">Who do you appreciate now?</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By James Yee</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Two, four, six, eight!</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Who do we appreciate?</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Me. Me!</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Yay Me!</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I think I’m comfortable in my
own skin.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I have to be, especially in
this life, if I’m going to win.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Satisfied with my inner and
outer self,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I’m no slouch, sittin’ dusty on
somebody else’s shelf.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Happy with who I’ve become,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">And proud of where I come from.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">That being said, still got some
ideas up in my head.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Continuing to improve myself in
ways for the better,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Makes me even stronger to
handle any kind of weather</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Being myself is something I
will define.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">And it’s my choosing where,
when and how to shine.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Or shine not at all, ‘cause
that wouldn’t make me small.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I might listen to you, but
ultimately I’m going to do what I want to do.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">And if I don’t, then
appreciating myself I won’t.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Be who <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">you</i> want to be.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">And I’ll go on just being James
Yee.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Who
Do I Appreciate Now?</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By Paula Rogovin</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">We know the doctors, nurses, and EMT’s</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">But let’s look behind them</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">to the layers and layers and layers</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">of – what should we call them?</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The unnoticed frontliners</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Let’s start with the farmworkers –</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">many forced to work to grow our food</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">so they can feed their families</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Factory workers who make the things</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">we all need or think we need</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Truck drivers, train engineers</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Teachers remotely teaching the children</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">or those struggling to teach the children</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">whose reality is real, not virtual</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">mental health workers</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">restaurant workers</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">delivery workers…</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Thank you</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">to the unnoticed frontline workers</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Thank you for your service.</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Wish your bosses would</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">thank you, too</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">with higher pay</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> paid sick leave</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> and medical care</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Who
Do I Appreciate Now?</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By Tara Krause</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The frontline:<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
first responders<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
as always<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
suit up on a daily basis<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
un-flagging.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">“Thank you for your service,”<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
as said to veterans.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Yet now the seemingly invisible,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
though ever present and giving,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
step forward into the breach of pandemic:</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The nurses,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the doctors,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the teachers,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the babysitters,<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the home health aides,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">All who bring the reality and risks of caring<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
into our imposed social distancing and virtual reality.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">And the new “essential” frontliners:</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The mail lady, who lugs up the porch stairs my emergency
ration packages<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
of expresso, dark chocolate and cigarettes in quarantine;<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the supermarket aisle restockers, who risk all for minimum wages<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
and no medical benefits;<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the butcher, who scraped the last pound and a half of ground sirloin<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
off the grinder machine so that my service dog could continue her raw diet
at least for another day;<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
the new workers at the Paterson plant, who now make the toilet paper to
replenish the nations’s empty shelves.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The veteran in me almost heartbreakingly envies you:<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
“You do not have to kill to serve.”<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;" />
</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; padding: 0in;">Who Do I Appreciate?</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By
Nancy Nygard</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">I thought I would write about
my garbage men, so under rated in our lives. </span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">But as day 8 of social
distancing comes to an end, the thing I am appreciating is being able to
be a part of my grandchildren's lives. </span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">We used to be with our grandson
Zeke, 4 years old, every day, 5 days a week and at times</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">I would long for the
carefree easy retirement days I'd heard about.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">Now I have that time to walk
and smell the roses, which I do and I love. </span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">But I face timed my son Sam and
into the picture walked Zeke and he took my breath away!</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">So I most appreciate the human
touch, especially of my 6 grandchildren.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">We need to touch each other.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; padding: 0in;">Peace and Love.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Prompt: Your own thoughts</span></span></u></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; padding: 0in;">Dear Coronavirus</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By James Yee</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Dear Coronavirus,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Thank you for cutting carbon
emissions and reducing greenhouse gases. You’ve shown us that it can be
done. Our environment, right now, is better because of it. If we
could just figure out how to maintain and build upon this beneficial change.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Thank you for bringing families
together, and for putting parents back into their children’s education and
school work. I’m glad you’ve help take those heavy backpacks off the
shoulders of these kids.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">While you don’t discriminate,
thank you for pointing out that we as people still do. You’ve shown that
some of us are OK with calling you the “Chinese Virus”.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #201f1e; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Thank You for forcing us to be
more creative.</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="xmsonormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; line-height: 12.65pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Hunkered
Down</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> By Jan Barry</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Hunkered down in quarantine bunker—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">The winter returns when I was</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Shut in with double pneumonia—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">No playing in the snow with my friends</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Waving outside the window—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Somehow I survived that season,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">That childhood scourge</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">In the time of TB isolation hospitals,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Chicken pox scaring kids’ faces,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Polio-withered legs—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">I pushed myself as a scrawny, sickly kid</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">To run, play baseball, football, basketball—</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Rather than lay around in a sick bed</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; padding: 0in;">Science</span></span></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
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<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">By Paula Rogovin</span></span></i></b><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">When the president</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">rejects science,</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">that equals murder to me</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">How many will die</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> when the president holds</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> hateful campaign rallies</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> instead of science-based</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;"> press conferences for all to see</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">We must rise up</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">by the millions and millions</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; padding: 0in;">even if it’s virtually</span></span><span style="color: #201f1e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-32530087713401413362020-01-30T13:17:00.000-08:002020-01-30T13:20:33.447-08:00World Sustainability Study Groups <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kwAokea15vo5lXix4zmhYswwyf1Tyhz25pX3lF-bwR2r6FVKo5OfU4QYKp76e1xK5P91c3Iuz8uBByaFsWEGFLpyau76xpLfSLmOCwL-_prs_ou3Rs52jn7Zjgf-M6ntgf-cfWd2k6rY/s1600/Environmental+Writing+photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-kwAokea15vo5lXix4zmhYswwyf1Tyhz25pX3lF-bwR2r6FVKo5OfU4QYKp76e1xK5P91c3Iuz8uBByaFsWEGFLpyau76xpLfSLmOCwL-_prs_ou3Rs52jn7Zjgf-M6ntgf-cfWd2k6rY/s400/Environmental+Writing+photo+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spring studies at Ramapo College </td></tr>
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Ramapo College of New Jersey has taken an innovative approach to teaching about global climate change. Last fall, the liberal arts college in Mahwah, NJ directed all incoming students to take a course in World Sustainability. So it was that I found myself teaching one of several classrooms full of newcomers an expanded course that previously was provided to a much smaller cohort of students majoring in environmental studies.</div>
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This development came about because student leaders requested that every student have an opportunity to learn about what’s happening in today’s world. As one of my Fall 2019 students noted in the course evaluation, this class “gave me a better understanding of the things that are harming the world and the sustainability issues in different parts of the world.”</div>
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Having previously taught Environmental Writing for nearly a decade, after retiring as a newspaper reporter, I told the class at the beginning of the semester that this global topic was a stretch for me so we were going to be learning about world sustainability together. Employing an idea from a deeply experienced environmental studies professor, I directed my 35 students to break into study groups of five, by signing up for a continent or corner of the world. Each study group was assigned to develop a power point presentation on sustainability issues in a part of the world, with particular emphasis on selected countries that each student would study in depth.</div>
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One student wrote that this was a highlight of our class: “Having to research a certain country in a continent. By doing this it lets you understand the issues climate change has globally.” The study group presentations included photos and videos of environmental issues and projects in various countries. These included depressing scenes of overwhelming plastic pollution in the Middle East to an amazing turnaround story in Copenhagen, Denmark. </div>
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During the semester, the college hosted a Climate Conference that featured presentations by several Ramapo College environmental studies professors, students and guests. One of my students wrote of the event: “attending it was such an eye opening experience. Prior to attending, I never had the opportunity to feel so involved in such a significant topic.”</div>
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Another student spoke about what he was learning in the World Sustainability course with younger students in his mother’s fifth grade class. “I am glad I was able to talk about this major problem in 2019 to kids because it spreads awareness on something that will affect all of us if nothing is acted on,” he wrote.</div>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-89969972540808991812019-12-15T13:57:00.002-08:002019-12-19T13:13:45.620-08:00Frank Wagner, RIP<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZL1oaFk2bvjnI1fq5ZJ2-ngwP7doof4kkaP4nHPza6ztPSsLuZuOFR1MtuBzsxdifpaPwgG1vAbWeetuUtdOuQ4iz-FjJbC6RyGeQzL3oWRV4k8g6lducz4xOcgfEixJ3R5pqmvxw5cy/s1600/Frank+Wagner+pix.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZL1oaFk2bvjnI1fq5ZJ2-ngwP7doof4kkaP4nHPza6ztPSsLuZuOFR1MtuBzsxdifpaPwgG1vAbWeetuUtdOuQ4iz-FjJbC6RyGeQzL3oWRV4k8g6lducz4xOcgfEixJ3R5pqmvxw5cy/s400/Frank+Wagner+pix.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Wagner: 2019 "Man of the Year," Frontline Arts<br />
(photo: Robert Sliclen) </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Frank Wagner died at home in Bogota, NJ on or around Veterans Day, just before his 78th birthday. He was being treated for cancer associated with Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A multiple recipient of art show awards from the VA, Frank shared his art skills with fellow vets at the Secaucus Vet Center art group, Frontline Arts and elsewhere, including as a patient at East Orange and Lyons VA Medical Centers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">A member of Disabled American Veterans, Veterans For Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Frank was a frequent participant in peace vigils and peace marches in New Jersey, New York and Washington, DC. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">His art work appeared in shows at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY; Columbia University, NYC; Puffin Cultural Forum, Teaneck, NJ; Brennan Courthouse, Jersey City; NJ; Frontline Arts, Branchburg, NJ and many other sites. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The
Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
Frank Wagner, 1941-2019<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“The
mind is a terrible thing to waste!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Frank
periodically shouted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
outrageous inanity by some dim-witted, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dingbat,
wayward driver—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Peace
buttons festooning Vietnam vet hat, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Frank
fumed for over 50 years<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
being drafted and sent to war<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
he flunked a college course—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Battlefield
flashbacks set off explosive,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">X-rated
outbursts, propelling fireworks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
precisely re-calibrated moments<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
mayhem and miraculous survival—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dubbing
himself “TuDo,” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Frank
frequented peace vigils and protest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Marches,
smoking tokes, taking photos <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
making exquisite art <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeRO8Nzus8NwrWqzYvvoswAvcLFCRPdti5PZJJZ2ExVuhIFn8j3SA8u9lITlAv4SkmuMSTqGb919aE_WGr3bqSO0Q06hQwYDbTzbEwAtpugttZ1ojbJeCovP_ZRmkZey0sH9a19ySS8yX/s1600/Frank+Wagner+art+%2528Eyes%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeRO8Nzus8NwrWqzYvvoswAvcLFCRPdti5PZJJZ2ExVuhIFn8j3SA8u9lITlAv4SkmuMSTqGb919aE_WGr3bqSO0Q06hQwYDbTzbEwAtpugttZ1ojbJeCovP_ZRmkZey0sH9a19ySS8yX/s320/Frank+Wagner+art+%2528Eyes%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Eyes" by Frank Wagner </td></tr>
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<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-87786545181092694622019-11-02T17:03:00.003-07:002019-11-02T17:11:26.445-07:00Talking Vietnam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like many Vietnam vets, John Ketwig has made a public
service campaign of speaking forthrightly to high school and college students.
Responding in a rush before the bell rang to students’ questions and concerns
was often the hardest part. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Consider this hesitant query from a nervous young
woman: “I have two sisters,” she said softly, “and both have serious birth
defects. I know my father blames his service in Vietnam and something called
Agent Orange, but when anyone mentions Vietnam he goes into his room and closes
the door, and sometimes he won’t come out for days. My question is, what is
Agent Orange?”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">To address such deeply emotional inquiries more fully,
Ketwig wrote </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Vietnam Reconsidered: The
War, the Times, and Why They Matter</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Trine Day, 348 pp, $24.95). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a long-considered sequel to Ketwig’s mind-blowing
war memoir: …</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and a hard rain fell, </i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">published
in 1985. Challenged by students’ questions, he dug deeper into the era in which
he had found himself struggling to stay alive during the height of the fighting
in Vietnam. Amid his professional career as an automobile service manager, side
trips as an author doing speaking engagements, and activism with Vietnam
Veterans Against the War protesting US military interventions that kept popping
up around the world, Ketwig read piles of books about Vietnam and the wider
events of that era.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I have been obsessed, trying to put it all together,”
he writes. “Trying to understand.” And to share what he’s learned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Back in the 1980s, I often found I was speaking to
young people who were living in a home where the damage, emotions, or loss of
Vietnam were a traumatic everyday presence, but the parents couldn’t or
wouldn’t talk about the war,” he notes. “Gradually, my audiences became more
removed from the emotions, but always curious…. They seem to sense that the
history of that time is critical to understanding today’s America, and the
current wars in the Middle East.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In recent years, students have been directly concerned
about current wars. “Far too many describe funeral services for veterans of
Iraq or Afghanistan, former classmates or relatives,” he writes. “Sometimes,
the veteran took his own life, leaving the student bewildered.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How does a grandpop Vietnam vet respond to such
anguish? Ketwig’s response is woven throughout this book. He writes about
friends who died in Vietnam and since, about the silent epidemic of suicide by
Iraq vets from one small town in New Jersey, about the times he tried to talk
vets out of ending it all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He provides a brief overview of how the United States
got involved in continuing France’s colonial war in Indochina and the
deliberate misrepresentations later exposed in the Pentagon Papers. He weighs
in with startling anecdotes that challenge historians’ claims. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“In all the history books I’ve seen, the emphasis has
been on the impact the Tet Offensive had upon ‘the best and the brightest’ in
Washington, and upon Walter Cronkite and the American public,” he writes. “There
has been scant recognition of the impact of that enemy action upon us, the
American troops in foxholes in Vietnam. … Our best hope of getting home in one
piece was the skill and understanding of our officers, and we suddenly had to
face the sobering fact that they had ‘no freaking idea’ what was going on… The
morale of the American troops in Vietnam was the greatest casualty of the Tet
offensive.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He discovered from obscure books and rare news reports
that the black market he witnessed in Vietnam and Thailand was a tiny part of a
vast network of corruption run by American military officers, high ranking
sergeants, Vietnamese military and shady businessmen and women that sold
everything from rifles to explosives to trucks stolen from US military supply
shipments. That rip-off campaign, he notes, mushroomed into reports of billions
of dollars lost or unaccounted for in Iraq and Afghanistan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ketwig offers savvy commentary on the swirling demons
of profiteering, PTSD and suicide, patriots vs. peaceniks, sex and soldiers, the
draft and the Wall, among other topics. He presents lists of questions for
students to consider and FAQs on key things such as Agent Orange. He weaves
song lyrics and poetry throughout, from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez to Steve Mason,
the late poet laureate of Vietnam Veterans of America, providing succinct ways
of sparking talk about Vietnam and the world of hurt that mushroomed from that
military madness. I’m honored to be included in the poetry pullouts and
passages about VVAW. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What makes this book memorable, a gift to share with
others, is Ketwig’s unrelenting quest to dig deeper into what the war in Southeast
Asia did to so many people, civilians and soldiers, Asians and Americans, and
what to do about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Please don’t thank me for my service,” he writes. “I
was playing in a rock ‘n roll band when they came for me, reciting songs about
understanding and brotherhood and love. They took me against my will, stripped
me naked and beat me bloody, and they sent me to the other side of the world
where death fell out of the sky and exploded, and its shards tore up anything
and anybody they hit. … Please oh please don’t thank me. If you want to express
something, promise me you will get involved in the struggle to abolish wars.
... Then, I will thank you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-43243818694244240792019-08-11T19:14:00.001-07:002019-08-12T08:35:46.891-07:00NJ Energy Master Plan: Which Kind of Green<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KiyCLngXCTEf7frNWOBTeNaPYNCsPORKzIrn2bwRTvar3SfT3GdXMUs7MI4XnuytluytC6RM36nYQFD6IrsQcI4Yikyx7DRZQcWoFjzcKCDVTBKkxW7c2AzV1Zh8gAj3cruNyiHn007n/s1600/Fossil+fuel+moratorium+Newark+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1334" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KiyCLngXCTEf7frNWOBTeNaPYNCsPORKzIrn2bwRTvar3SfT3GdXMUs7MI4XnuytluytC6RM36nYQFD6IrsQcI4Yikyx7DRZQcWoFjzcKCDVTBKkxW7c2AzV1Zh8gAj3cruNyiHn007n/s400/Fossil+fuel+moratorium+Newark+%25282%2529.JPG" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union members at fossil fuel moratorium rally in Newark, NJ<br />
(photo/Jan Barry)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">New Jersey is in the process of planning its future,
amid a global climate crisis that state residents have yet to grapple with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
traffic-jammed corridor of turnpike exits that touts itself as the Garden
State has relentlessly paved over farmlands and clear cut forests to build some
of humanity’s most densely packed population centers; as its public officials
welcomed smog-belching petro-chemical plants and constructed car-and-truck-tangled
highways, while shrugging at lung-burning air pollution and toxic contamination
of water sources. Residents, meanwhile, turned running around shopping at
multiple malls into an Olympic sport. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now New Jerseyans are suddenly being asked to slow
down, take a deep breath and drastically change our lifestyles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Scientists in the state say that without
comprehensive changes, life in the Garden State will be about adapting to a
reality where the Jersey Shore is continually a disaster zone … and inland
river flooding brings floodwaters to the Statehouse steps in Trenton,” NJ.com
reported last fall. Repeated downbursts of heavy rain during heat waves this
summer, punctuated by tornadoes and thunderstorms, flooded local streams and
streets across the state.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Governor Murphy’s response to reports of dire weather
events getting much worse if greenhouse gasses from power plant and vehicle
emissions continue to heat up the planet was to order up an energy master plan for
switching out smog-producing fuel to solar, wind and other
kinds of clean renewable energy. Like many other states and nations, following the
guidance of international climate scientists, the goal is to accomplish this massive
energy makeover by 2050. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Meanwhile, the fracked gas industry is pushing to
build more than a dozen new pipelines, compressor stations and power plants in
New Jersey. Environmental activists say this would dramatically increase
emissions from fossil fuels, just as they should be decreased.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“To meet the Administration’s objective of 100% clean
energy by 2050 … New Jersey needs to aggressively reduce, not increase,
greenhouse gas emissions,” says a report by Empower NJ, a coalition of civic groups
that includes the Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch and NJ Industrial Union
Council. “This requires annual reduction benchmarks and objectives starting
NOW. Approving any new fossil fuel expansion projects will move us further away
from achieving necessary GHG targets and make it virtually impossible to fight
climate change and achieve the Governor’s 100% clean energy goal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The activists’ call to reject new fossil fuel projects
“threatens to deepen a rift between the environmental community — that largely
backed Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, in his gubernatorial bid — over the
administration’s reluctance to halt several new natural gas pipelines in New
Jersey as well as four new gas-fired power plants. A huge coalition of
environmentalists wants an immediate moratorium on all new fossil-fuel projects,”
noted statehouse reporter Tom Johnson in NJSpotlight.com.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“This has nothing to do with facts and figures, but
with money and politics,” Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s state
chapter, said of the Murphy administration’s reluctance to follow the lead of
California, New York and several other states in enacting legislation to set a
path for promptly reducing fossil fuel use in order to help counter the effects
of global climate oscillations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At public hearings this summer on the draft energy
master plan presented by the Board of Public Utilities, environmental activists
called for a moratorium on state permits for proposed fossil fuel projects and
a quicker pace of moving utilities, transportation, businesses and homes to
non-polluting sources of energy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Act like your child’s life depends on it—because it
does,” Leslie Stevens, a former AT&T vice president who now teaches at
Stevens Institute of Technology and is a volunteer Climate Reality community
leader, said at a recent hearing in Newark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The reality of what’s happening now could have a
devastating effect on our future,” Newark City Council President Mildred Crump
said as she joined a rally of environmental activists in front of Seton Hall
Law School, where a draft energy plan hearing was held.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flanked by union members, Kevin Brown, the state director
of 32BJ <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">SEIU, said emphatically “we
need to end fossil fuels.” His union, he noted, represents more than 13,000 commercial,
residential and public school-contracted cleaners, security officers and
airport service workers in New Jersey. These workers live and work in
communities affected by air pollution. “Many of our members have asthma.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In testimony before the
Board of Public Utilities energy master plan committee, Brown echoed a
statement he made earlier this year directed at Congress: “it’s more important
than ever that we come together to reduce greenhouse gasses, switch to
renewable energies and create strong, union jobs while ensuring a just
transition for impacted workers.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Newark is ground zero for
climate change,” said Kim Gaddy, environmental justice organizer for the South
Ward Environmental Alliance. Port of Newark activities involve 8,000 trucks
emitting diesel fumes daily, on top of constant aircraft and car traffic at one
of the nation’s busiest airports, amid clouds of smoke from a regional trash
incinerator, she stated. “It poisons our children now… We need zero emissions
at the port now.” She noted that technology exists to switch trucks and cars to
electric battery power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The draft plan ignores that we are already facing a
climate emergency,” added Paula Rogovin, an organizer of the Don’t Gas the
Meadowlands Coalition. Air quality in northern New Jersey was so bad from
ground-level ozone this summer that the state issued repeated health warnings,
she noted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In response to the grassroots campaign, state Senator
Loretta Weinberg issued a statement to the news media last week announcing that
she and Assemblyman John McKeon have “introduced a resolution urging the
governor to impose a moratorium on fossil fuel projects in the state. There is
no reason to build new fossil-fuel guzzling infrastructure in 2019. We must
start taking responsibility for our future today—there is no time to waste.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For more information:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://empowernewjersey.com/">empowernewjersey.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/19/08/08/show-of-force-by-critics-of-draft-energy-master-plan-frustration-grows/">www.njspotlight.com/stories/19/08/08/show-of-force-by-critics-of-draft-energy-master-plan-frustration-grows/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2018/10/climate_change_will_make_nj_deadlier_and_it_will_p.html">www.nj.com/news/2018/10/climate_change_will_make_nj_deadlier_and_it_will_p.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-59847887276681001472019-07-03T10:34:00.001-07:002019-07-03T10:55:39.936-07:00Protesting Concentration Camps<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcoK2dAqQYv0SZKUEphy4S06ldvg9Re7dym40EtOxzR2X2Aoa-VAW8uZ-UTtT2OExdB3aFJnO2SEc-enOsNiE9l7QHalMa2Hf7PYJGEm2SfAuNKplMWCP0NOpatNOxCBOM7NW0IESZJH8/s1600/ICE+demo+Elizabeth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1004" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcoK2dAqQYv0SZKUEphy4S06ldvg9Re7dym40EtOxzR2X2Aoa-VAW8uZ-UTtT2OExdB3aFJnO2SEc-enOsNiE9l7QHalMa2Hf7PYJGEm2SfAuNKplMWCP0NOpatNOxCBOM7NW0IESZJH8/s400/ICE+demo+Elizabeth.JPG" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protest demonstration in Elizabeth, NJ<br />
(photo/Jan Barry)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Americans don’t usually think of ourselves as cruel.
But there’s no other word to describe our nation’s gulag-like prison system
that now includes concentration camps for increasing numbers of people whose
crime was trying to come to America. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Years ago, I met a woman in New York City whose family
fled from a civil war by walking out of Russia in the winter of 1919 and made
their way to America. Her worst experience on arrival was spending a few days
in a dormitory on an island in New York harbor, which she fondly recalled for
an exhibit at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That is not the story of today’s emigres herded into
barbed wire enclosed detention warehouses, tent camps like what
Japanese-Americans were kept in as prisoners of war, private prisons run by incarceration
corporations and overcrowded county jails. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Holding them in cages where they die in custody is
unacceptable,” Essex County Freeholder President Brendan Gill said yesterday at
a protest demonstration at the Elizabeth immigration detention center near
Newark Liberty International Airport. Gill joined hundreds of protesters,
including families with small children, calling for closing what many signs and
speakers called “concentration camps.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"I can't imagine, now that we have a child,
being separated, and knowing what is going on with the kids,'' Tina Jensen of
Guttenberg told a reporter for NorthJersey.com. Jensen and her husband Joel
Garcia stood with their 2-year-old son, Ethan, amid an upset crowd of 200-300
people who filled much of the street in front of the immigration detention
building. Elizabeth police officers patrolled crowd control barriers to provide
a narrow passageway for trucks and cars entering and exiting a Fed-Ex and other
truck distribution facilities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The privately owned prison is set in a busy trucking
warehouse area near one end of the main airport runway. Huge commercial
airliners roared just overhead every 90 seconds or so, the sound so loud no one
could hear the speakers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"I just don't think what we are doing reflects
the values of this country,'' Naz Pakizegi of Montclair told the NorthJersey.com
reporter. "Just thinking of the children, the parents, and the desperation
that brings people out." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I lived in Montclair years ago, Brendan Gill was a neighbor. His younger brother and my youngest son played together. The town,
like all of New Jersey, all of the United States, was full of people whose
families came from Ireland, Scotland, Russia and other nations during troubled times. Why
is it that people trying to flee hard times in Central America are treated as
enemies? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Why aren’t we sending the Peace Corps to El Salvador
and neighboring nations instead of perpetuating a history of military missions that
created the chaos in Central America? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These are some of the thoughts I had as I stood with
the protesters in Elizabeth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-53128898395416609352019-06-18T13:45:00.002-07:002019-06-18T14:08:50.546-07:00Michael Eckstein RIP<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrOcDwfWVZWs-09PP1LUWoAnJ2XbIqR38WPRIrJPUrPYhB87lk3_PdvaPPPQE3iBYDf89M9O86k2NuVv4SkK-urVjMXv5vAPX8tup_gRrI10A2hS1PTHAF41cGP6vyOZzy0fxXxIwDITM/s1600/Mike+Eckstein+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="1600" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrOcDwfWVZWs-09PP1LUWoAnJ2XbIqR38WPRIrJPUrPYhB87lk3_PdvaPPPQE3iBYDf89M9O86k2NuVv4SkK-urVjMXv5vAPX8tup_gRrI10A2hS1PTHAF41cGP6vyOZzy0fxXxIwDITM/s320/Mike+Eckstein+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Eckstein at Secaucus Vet Center Art Group<br />
(photo/Frank Wagner)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mike Eckstein joked about his ailments as he talked
about scheduling another round of surgery for spinal problems that left him
bent over and unsteady without a cane. With a mischievous grin, he traded quips
with Frank Wagner, a fellow Vietnam vet and multiple surgery survivor, at a recent
Warrior Writers writing workshop at the VA Vet Center in Secaucus. But for the date
with a doctor, Mike would surely have made the trek into New York last Tuesday with
Vet Center art group members to visit the Museum of Modern Art. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s where we learned via a cell phone call that
Mike had died in the hospital. He was 74.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Among other things, Mike Eckstein was a walking,
talking encyclopedia of hard-earned knowledge about Agent Orange and its
monstrous offspring, dioxin. A member of New Jersey’s Agent Orange Commission, Mike
testified before government agencies, organized public meetings for vets and
family members to speak about their health experiences and hear from experts on
emerging information on dioxin health effects, and issued periodic updates on
behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America New Jersey State Council’s Agent
Orange/Dioxin Committee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To cope with his own health problems, Mike was a
regular at the weekly art group that met at the Secaucus Vet Center. He created
paintings about things on his mind, including Agent Orange spray planes, the
Army truck he drove in Vietnam, and baseball, which he excelled at when he was
young. More recently, he dropped by the monthly Warrior Writers workshop and
wrote sprightly vignettes about memorable experiences in the military and as a
kid growing up in The Bronx.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mike often laughed that he got more paint on his
clothes than on the canvas. A numbers guy who retired as a corporate chief
financial officer, Mike could nail a spreadsheet but struggled with drawing a
straight line. His artistic strategy, deployed by many of the paint brush wielding
vets, was to paint over mistakes with layers upon layers of acrylic. The result
was a vibrant rendition of a vet’s memory. Many of these pieces were hung in
various art shows including at the Brennan Courthouse Gallery in Jersey City
and Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6nvgdjCLzriZgufmTHKzTqk2in_hQuW-C1AKDiaNeGG9zeOKMMtdCwOFTwKO-IVVdaL9B22P3_bFVBjh4Tin8OFhlchHYhDLs8wQW5vN-ejb3ruRlfrDvkB3FFG1hZDEsUMm0eDqWlN0/s1600/Michael+Eckstein+painting+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6nvgdjCLzriZgufmTHKzTqk2in_hQuW-C1AKDiaNeGG9zeOKMMtdCwOFTwKO-IVVdaL9B22P3_bFVBjh4Tin8OFhlchHYhDLs8wQW5vN-ejb3ruRlfrDvkB3FFG1hZDEsUMm0eDqWlN0/s320/Michael+Eckstein+painting+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As noted in the Star-Ledger obituary, Mike was “the
beloved husband of Susan (nee Segal), devoted father to Craig (Tricia), Matt
(Jim), and Cindi; cherished grandfather (Elmo) to Danny, Maya, Alex, and
Martin; loving brother to Stanley and also leaves many nieces and nephews.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of his art work was on display at the funeral
home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of Mike’s best talks about his life and the
debilitating health effects of Agent Orange was posted on YouTube. See it here: </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RkQLGeVwVwI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RkQLGeVwVwI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-69816445046623438892019-05-27T09:34:00.001-07:002019-05-27T09:39:22.563-07:00Letters to the Wall<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDZ9GIt4p5fxeA0g8rx0I6eK1NSHM-9LU2guKXghC8Hxop4SI6FTHMQtOufE-8zB1YuuAAVO_Ij98KoWv83hNNjlepSoPIkBI0f-cSzxHWRCmtf4crb4e7ii4khfesuqigWUgVsVlprOt/s1600/Memorial+Day+March+NYC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDZ9GIt4p5fxeA0g8rx0I6eK1NSHM-9LU2guKXghC8Hxop4SI6FTHMQtOufE-8zB1YuuAAVO_Ij98KoWv83hNNjlepSoPIkBI0f-cSzxHWRCmtf4crb4e7ii4khfesuqigWUgVsVlprOt/s400/Memorial+Day+March+NYC.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Veterans For Peace 2019 Memorial Day ceremony, NYC<br />
(photo/Jan Barry)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today,
members and friends of Veterans For Peace are placing envelopes at the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington, DC containing letters to and for the dead to be shared
with visitors paying respects this Memorial Day to the ghosts whose names grace
that wall. The letters were written by veterans, military family members, war protestors,
peace activists—all stirred to speak by the consequences of the endless, dinning
drums of war—from across America.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here
is my contribution to this grassroots commemoration of what we’ve lost to war. I
read it yesterday at a gathering of Veterans For Peace members and friends at the
Battery in New York City. The event included a procession carrying a
flag-draped coffin from war memorial to war memorial to war memorial. Around us
swirled crowds of people from around the world boarding and departing tour
boats to the Statue of Liberty. Battlefields where American soldiers, sailors,
marines, airmen and women in uniform died span the world. The names of all the
dead could fill a wall beyond imagination. Just imagine the life cut short of
one name. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">At
the Wall in Washington<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Vietnam Wall is where the dead<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Greet
the living eye to eye—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Face
it, your eyes <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Staring
back from the black marble<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Framing
a soldier’s name—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
soul and his startlingly entwined<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jan
Barry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">US
Army Vietnam 1962-63<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-4452658932322970082019-04-22T14:11:00.003-07:002019-04-23T06:57:31.816-07:00Earth Era<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjZcRbG301AjNIerk5abEjdtSTNw66MwxPaZPJcVADRkhfaL0XBA8k8XeKoqUjtMVN7yiwLqr3S6hVc8puv6FJVxF9tJ9Gc0KVTryebFLKCN0unQuZx6w7Nm-2WOtJM0GTIlxN2qscbjb/s1600/Spring+flowers+2019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjZcRbG301AjNIerk5abEjdtSTNw66MwxPaZPJcVADRkhfaL0XBA8k8XeKoqUjtMVN7yiwLqr3S6hVc8puv6FJVxF9tJ9Gc0KVTryebFLKCN0unQuZx6w7Nm-2WOtJM0GTIlxN2qscbjb/s400/Spring+flowers+2019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A flock of phlox ( photo/Jan Barry)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>This
Great, Green Earth</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">How
often we forget the debt we owe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
great, green Earth:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
land, the food, the water, the air…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
mysterious, solitary parent of our birth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
whatever speck of wet in the universe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Life
may have come at first,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is Earth that cradles us and sustains us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
whom we are joined for better or for worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Let
us walk this great Earth once again as guests,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
as conquerors or even hosts—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
we are no more immortal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Than
bluebirds or the continents’ coasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">--Jan Barry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Earth Songs
II: Poems of Love, Loss and Life<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-78071903470947294332019-03-18T15:15:00.004-07:002019-03-19T11:49:39.311-07:00Warrior Writers in Action<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent.fewr1-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/54517351_10156390694642799_8686029344172146688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-3.fna&oh=a376f80588284d7e7f9d44bfed484753&oe=5D4BBFF9" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://scontent.fewr1-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/54517351_10156390694642799_8686029344172146688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-3.fna&oh=a376f80588284d7e7f9d44bfed484753&oe=5D4BBFF9" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah N. Mess and Jan Barry at Wild Project, NYC<br />
(photo/Omar Columbus)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was a reunion of sorts. Veterans of various wars
getting together and catching up. Instead of a bar, in this case the reunion
was on a stage in New York City. Many of the vets have been getting together
for years in Warrior Writers writing workshops, Combat Paper art workshops, theater
workshops, stage performances. In many ways, it was like jazz musicians getting
together to jam in a public place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Veteran Voices 2019” at the Wild Project theater in
the East Village also included newcomers attracted to this eclectic
bootstrap-art collective. The theme of a weekend of performances by five
diverse groups was “Resilience.” The March 16 gathering of veterans provided
just enough time for a rehearsal that blended into the 3 pm performance and an
after-party in a fusion cuisine Chinese restaurant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Produced and hosted by Jeremy Karafin of Poetic Theater
Productions, the event was co-curated by J.A. Moad II and Jenny Pacanowski. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moad, a former Air Force pilot, created the Veterans’
Voices Initiative in Minnesota. He performed his play “Outside Paduch—The Wars
at Home” as part of “Veteran Voices 2017” at the Wild Project. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pacanowski, a former Army combat medic, founded
and is the Director of Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving and directs
plays and poetry performances in Pennsylvania and New York. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">On Saturday, men and women in street clothes stepped
out of the audience in seemingly random sequence. Abruptly, in ones and twos, they
delivered dramatic commentaries, poems, songs and a radio play, conveying stories
ranging from World War One to Vietnam to Somalia to current battlefields that
filled what had been a virtually bare stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Omar Columbus performed a poem, “White Marker,” about
writing messages on bombs to be dropped on Baghdad. With photos of himself when
he was a grinning Airman posing beside hand-marked bombs flashing on the wall
behind him, Columbus recalled being haunted that his mother’s name was on a
bomb that obliterated a palace building used as a military barracks and who
knew what else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Donna Zepherine quietly reeled off a litany of adversities
in her life, including two Army tours in Iraq, the husband who left, and a baby
who died on Veterans Day. Then she listed the veterans’ groups, college
advisors, writing and theater groups who helped her regroup and build a career
in social work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“She’s Gone” is the title of a performance by Monique
Arrucci on the experience of coming home from war in Iraq and being told by
family members that the happy-go-lucky girl who joined the Army after 9/11 didn’t
come home. Arrucci spun that stunning story into a song that tried to piece
together her missing old self. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In “Veterans Highway,” a poem I collaborated with Sarah
Mess on, Sarah did a rap on vets’ home front experiences, weaving in her
interactions with other vets forming informal support networks: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">No Yellow Ribbon Brigade on the 9<sup>th</sup> floor East
Orange VA cancer ward<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">No Star Spangled red, white and football field blue
cheers <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For a little boy of 19 contaminated by war for almost 50
years <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lonely old vet rotting in a VA hospital… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pick line feeding tube, chemo on drip… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Final days spent alone in an abandonment haze…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">my mind on mefloquine <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">mefloquine on my mind <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">left behind…left behind…no veteran left behind…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">the flags flying in Uncle Sam’s yard can’t cover <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">up the lies <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">steaming with burn pits, depleted uranium, agent orange, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">toxic degreaser dirty water, lariam poisoning, anthrax
shots…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">where are the forget me nots for <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">vets losing body and mind…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">called crazy to cover the lies… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">old vet motto is “deny till we die” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">support the troops but leave the vets behind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I read selections from my new poetry collection, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Earth Songs II: Poems of Love, Loss and
Life. </i></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">One poem had particular significance for me to read at
that location. It was about memories of a fellow member of Vietnam Veterans Against
the War, Jeff Sharlet, who died young, not long after the last time I saw him
when I lived in an East Village apartment near this theater.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Invisible
Wounds<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
Jeff Sharlet, 1942-1969<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Editor,
Vietnam GI<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I still see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You striding, urgently<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Looking for me that day,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pushing through the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Crowd on East Seventh Street<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Milling at the park full of hippies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And squads of cops—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My first instinct was to duck<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And escape your intensity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I was already burning out<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Protesting that damn war<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We fought in—what more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Did you want of me—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What more could I say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">About that sucker?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Was that the last time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I saw you? Spring 1968?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cancer took you not long after,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At age 27,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I read in a daze <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Far from the clashing crowds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of hippies, cops and war protesters,
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Trying yet again to make a new life—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I had no idea, Jeff,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The war was literally burning <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You up inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The wrap up piece was an ensemble presentation of
segments of a play titled “Porch Sessions: The Girls of Iraq,” written by Jenny
Pacanowski, spoken with descriptive stage directions as though on the radio. It
conveys the thoughts of a young woman, a war-whiplashed Army medic, who goes to
a fancy salon and has flashbacks to events in Iraq, including convoy duty where
she was the driver of a medical vehicle and, with other female soldiers and an
inexperienced male captain, a frontline fighter when the convey came under
attack. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Over the years, I’ve interacted with many of the
veterans who staged this memorable event in various writing, art and theater
workshops and previous performances. The creativity and camaraderie are always
amazing. Their resilience is inspiring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For more information:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.poetictheater.com/">www.poetictheater.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3587876215488358187.post-38954827514273430872019-03-15T10:06:00.000-07:002019-03-15T10:18:09.244-07:00Renewal Energy Sierra Club Campaign<br />
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<a href="https://scontent.fewr1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53525851_628650647575325_5134547206669336576_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-2.fna&oh=174caf42592a342fd25b1d934718a3b3&oe=5D151CDE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://scontent.fewr1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53525851_628650647575325_5134547206669336576_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-2.fna&oh=174caf42592a342fd25b1d934718a3b3&oe=5D151CDE" width="246" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Across the United States, dozens of municipalities
have officially set a goal of transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. These include Atlanta, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; and
Washington, DC. Nearly a dozen counties in several states have taken this
action, as well as the states of Hawaii and California. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania is the latest community to
sign up for the 100 percent renewable energy campaign, promoted by the Sierra
Club. The board of supervisors voted unanimously last night to support a Ready
for 100 resolution, local activists Lou Ann Merkle and Michael Gillen reported
on Facebook. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Congratulations to our Whitemarsh Township for
joining 100 other U.S. cities and towns resolved to transition to 100%
Renewable Energy!” Merkle, an artist and teacher, wrote. “It was exhilarating
to work with so many wonderful, skilled colleagues/friends on our Whitemarsh
Township Environmental Advisory Board and staff, and in the Montco Ready for
100 leaders group.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gillen, a retired history professor and author, lauded
Merkle’s skills in presenting the proposed plan to the governing body. “Lou Ann
Merkle made the pitch. The unanimous vote for approval by the supervisors was
followed [by] cheering and hugs, understanding of work ahead, and hope for the
future.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://scontent.fewr1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53641349_10156577548062572_3650635679483822080_n.png?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-2.fna&oh=2f05aefc1ecbaa771aa4addfa0f6717e&oe=5D0DD0DD" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://scontent.fewr1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53641349_10156577548062572_3650635679483822080_n.png?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent.fewr1-2.fna&oh=2f05aefc1ecbaa771aa4addfa0f6717e&oe=5D0DD0DD" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Despite Facebook’s notable negative impact on American
society of enabling nasty concocted rumors, deliberate misinformation,
political hack attacks, and creepy personally targeted ads, activists have
found it quite useful for organizing local to national campaigns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Sierra Club and its state and local chapters have
Facebook pages followed by substantial numbers of people. The national Sierra
Club Facebook page is currently congratulating Monona, Wisconsin for joining
the Ready for 100 campaign. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“On Monday, March 4, Monona City Council unanimously
passed a resolution to commit the City to 100% clean, renewable electricity
community-wide by 2040 and for all energy sectors, including heat and
transportation, by 2050,” the Sierra Club page announced. “Monona joins
Madison, Eau Claire, and Middleton as the 4th <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/readyfor100?epa=HASHTAG">#ReadyFor100</a> city
in Wisconsin, and is the 3rd city powered by Madison Gas & Electric to
commit to 100% clean, renewable energy!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And in case you missed it on the missing-in-action
mainstream news, the Sierra Club Facebook page reported that New Mexico’s legislature
recently passed “a historic bill that will transition all electricity
generation 100% carbon-free by 2045! Pending <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GovMLG/?__tn__=%2CdK%2AF-R&eid=ARBwKh1x-6ifV6OajjJ6YdqS9rS6pU9fcmQ00-YZtBGGRsAEWqARSB9-trhgJX4TCCQUL5bBv9ucbSax">Governor
Michelle Lujan Grisham</a>'s signature on the bill, New Mexico will join
California and Hawaii as the 3rd state in the U.S. to set a 100% carbon-free
electricity mandate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">More than 22,000 people liked that post and more than
500 Facebook readers shared it. Besides sharing photos of babies, pets and smiley
selfies, many activists throw into the mix notices of campaigning so babies,
pets and life on Earth have a better shot at a healthy future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For more information:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments">https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jan Barryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06097631541957978432noreply@blogger.com0