The Black Gate opens

Wayne LaPierre is at it again.

"The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr he was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: 'I am the Mouth of Sauron.'"

Mourn Once More

Mourn once more this morning

The memory of blue

Sky and fire

The people who fell

Symbols crashing

Dust and destruction and death

Calculated madness

Mourn once more

This morning

The memory of a land

Unpolluted by fear

Unpoisoned by war

Young lives unwasted

Times with less mistrust

The days before

Savor the memory

This morning

Once more

Mourn

9/11/13

This morning

One of the first things I saw after I woke up this morning was the picture known as "The Falling Man," a businessman in a white shirt and dark pants plummeting, head down, from the burning, wrecked hulk of the World Trade Center. I don't think about 9/11 much any more, so I was surprised by the impact the way that image evoked a sudden rush of memories from that day. I drove to work feeling like a vice was squeezing my heart up through my throat. During my commute, this poem began taking shape in my mind. I used to write a lot of poetry. I stopped when I got married because my wife has no taste for it and I have no room in my life right now for hanging around spoken-word events. So I'll take this one as a gift from the Universe.

"Mourn once more this morning"

Mourn

Once more

This morning

The memory

Of blue sky and fire

Of the people who fell

Of symbols crashing to earth

Of dust and destruction and death

Of calculated acts of madness.

Mourn, once more, this morning the memory

Of a land unpolluted by war

Of people unpoisoned by fear

Of those young lives unwasted

Of times with less mistrust

Of days before. Savor

The memory.

This morning,

Once more,

Mourn.

9/11/13

This is 45

Today, I turn 45. Given the lifespan of my ancestors (and my smoke-free lifestyle), I probably just crossed the half-way point inmy life. So what have I accomplished so far? Let’s take a tally:

BODY

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 176 (1 pound shy of my historic max)

Eyes: nearsighted and heading for bifocals

Ears: working pretty well, can still hear the high-pitched whine of a TV left on but just barely

Hair: literally, a lost cause. Salt-and-pepper on the chin and increasingly on the chest. 10 years ago, it was all dark brown/black.

Muscles & bones: Knees are still good; lumbar vertebrae are on-again, off-again; rotator cuffs are shot without even pitching in the majors.

Insides: cholesterol is creeping up, blood pressure is a low as always, all original parts remain in place and intact with the exception of my vas deferenses.

Surgeries: 3

5k’s run: 2

Vices: chocolate, Coca-Cola, cuticle-chewing

SOUL

Raised protestant Christian. Nominally Jewish if anybody in Scouting asks. Otherwise, a secular humanist. I haven’t set foot in a church for my own purposes in about 30 years, which doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good midnight Mass in a soaring cathedral.

Poetry chapbooks compiled: 1

One-act plays written/staged: 1

Address changes: 5 (before college); 20 since leaving home

MIND

College degrees: 2.

BA GPA: 2.7

MA GPA: 3.8

Eagle Scout badges: 1

Merit badges: 57

Languages: 3 – Spanish, German, Polish. None of them fluently, but muddling about is always fun. I can read Russian if I go real slow and I understand bits of French. I love listening to people speak languages other than English.

Meyer-Briggs: ENTJ

Countries visited: 3 (Canada, Poland, Germany -- transit airports don’t count)

States visited: 43

States left to visit: Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, North Dakota

Cities lived in: 14
Properties owned: 2

Number of cars: 6

Number of cars totaled in wrecks: 1

Current debt: $250,000 (in whole or in part)

Current savings: $1,390

Credit cards paid off: 5

Student loans paid off: 1

Failed attempts to see the Chalk Pyramids in western Kansas: 1

RELATIONS

Parents:  2 .  They’re 73 and 71 this year, still married despite a decade or so of marital strife. Over the last five years or so, their health has begun to slip.

Sibilings:  2. Sister is married, has 3 boys and lives in SC; brother is single, 40, and living at home for the third time, which may not be such a bad thing given the declining health of our folks.

Wives:  1. Still married to me for what will be 10 years come May. I admire her brains as much as her beauty. I love her for her fierce loyalty to the people she loves. I wish she could be more forgiving to those who disappoint or cross her. She moved with me to Florida despite her love of fall and winter and her distaste for humidity.  I’ve tried to make her happy and secure, but I know that I’m often nothing more than a Big Dumb Man when it comes to things like work hours and birthdays. Yet she sticks with me.

In-laws: 2. They’re 75 and 70 this year and still going strong. I was very happy upon meeting them for the first time to discover they are Democrats.

Children: 2. Boys, 6 & 8 this year. Every day I’m amazed that they’re mine. I’ve been fascinated by the amount of progress human beings make in the first few years of their lives. They’ve made me a better, more patient person. I became a father about 10 years after my father did. Every day that makes me conscious of my own mortality, but I hope it also makes me a better dad.

Dogs owned: 3

Cats owned (officially): 0

Cats lived with: 6

Jobs:  12.  I’ve spent most of the last 29 years in a single career – journalism. I got into it because it paid me to be smart, which is something I always been good at. I’ve won a few awards, but nothing that anyone would recognize or give me money for. I’m a work-a-day reporter, grinding out the Daily Miracle without aspiring to the literary heights some people seek.

“Relations”: 12 -- starting in my senior year in high school, including several extended dry spells along the way and a couple 1-night stands.

Elections voted in: 7 (presidential);  6 (non-presidential)

Political contributions: $0