Slice of Life Post for March 28, 2024

“It’s a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It’s a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.”

Sydney Carton from Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

If I could, I would change our current two-party system because I do not believe it is working. Of course, I understand there are lots of parties that can run for any position, but between the House and Senate, there definitely seems an unwillingness to cross party lines or to collaborate. I worry that our country is failing, and it makes me very sad. Quite possibly, by simply sharing this comment, I am opening a door which will make me a target for all kinds of unkind remarks so just breathe and hear me out.

Instead of having a president, we should hire a CEO based on a democratic vote. Maybe they could even get paid as much as a college coach or a professional athlete. Imagine how enticing that paycheck would be. Then we would have other individuals run for positions based on the big problems that need to be solved: poverty, addiction, foreign affairs, environment, education, agriculture, crime, transportation, etc. Each year a report would be distributed to the entire country showing what specifically was accomplished by each department outlining the progress made. Perhaps a rubric could be developed where each individual was rated by the public. If those in charge were unable to make progress, they would then be put on probation, etc. just like any other kind of business. Incentives could even be offered for making successful contributions to society and for demonstrating significant progress.

It’s a thought and it probably needs a lot of work to hone into a working structure, but I think we need to hire and vote for reliable, hard-working individuals to improve the current state of affairs. I’m very afraid of where our country is heading. The poor are becoming poorer, the rich are becoming richer, and the working class is being squeezed even tighter. More importantly, people are not putting down their guns. I’d hate to see another day like July 14, 1789, occur in our country, but I can hear the drums pounding, and I can see Madame DeFarge busily knitting.

“I have sometimes sat alone here of an evening, listening, until I have made the echoes out to be the echoes of all the footsteps that are coming by and by into our lives.”

Sydney Carton from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

The sun is shining here. I believe light begets light and darkness begets darkness, that some tales share a great message and perhaps a terrible reminder about history repeating itself and human nature’s terrible need to destroy itself and more. My poem today is inspired from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

When the Time Comes

a dream that ends in nothing
is still inspired
by one or a multitude

for every mysterious creature
carries its own secret heart
beating in a thousand breasts

its rule is vengeance 
retribution begetting nothing
but oppression

hear them coming
fast, fierce, furious
hurry, it may be too late

but you, Lucifer's wife, will not 
get the better of me for
I am an English woman

still, let me die knowing
my sacrifice is far better than
anything I've done before

Barb Edler
28 March 2024