I notice Trump did not hold Merkel’s hand.
Despite that they both come from the same land.
Their ancestors were neighbours
And shared their load of labour
But now Drumpf seems to be another hbrand

Their chairs were set quite far apart, I saw.
Did she ask for that or was it he?
Or one of his advisors
Who did a silent favour?
By walling off their private territory?

I wonder such men find women equals?
Usually, women are   to them a sequel
Two days   of argument
And lots of money spent.
I bet seeing Merkel was a prequel.

Theresa May seems to have no valid weight
She may attempt to set all Europe straight
But Trump broke her defences
She needs a wall, not mere fences.
If she gambles, she will face sure defeat

 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/articles/detail/92637

 

“Effort at Speech Between Two People”
Rukeyser was only 21 when she won the prestigious Yale Younger Poets prize for her first book, Theories of Flight, but this poem from that collection demonstrates just how fully formed her poetic vision already was. For Rukeyser, poetry really is speech between people—even her most abstracted, experimental work genuinely attempts to connect readers and writer, to employ verse not only as a means of expression and transformation but also of listening. At once intimate and anthemic, urgent and quiet, this poem repeatedly asks “what are you now,” inviting us to find ourself

 

 

“Käthe Kollwitz”
Rukeyser was a master portraitist, capturing figures ranging from the composer Charles Ives to Jewish sage Akiba over the course of her career. This poem from the “Lives” section of The Speed of Darkness pays homage to another portraitist, Käthe Kollwitz, whose paintings and prints depicted “the faces of the sufferers / in the street, in dailiness.” Its five sections are often ekphrastic, drawing on the German artist’s expressionist images of weavers. But Rukeyser was also interested in the artist herself, whose frank ideas about artistic process, sexual desire, and gender fluidity mirrored Rukeyser’s own.

 

http://www.holistichelp.net/dysautonomia-autonomic-nervous-system-dysfunction.html

 

Get Lots of Rest

Unfortunately in our society we tend to frown upon people who rest and take naps. We are expected to be doing something all the time, and if we aren’t then we are often labeled as lazy or lacking in motivation. This attitude contributes greatly to autonomic nervous system conditions, because basically the norm in our society is to run yourself into the ground. Taking time to rest and nap is very healthy and getting plenty of it is a crucial part of recovery for an overactive sympathetic nervous system. This includes insuring that you get your 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night. The adrenal glands, as well as the body in general, does its regeneration while we sleep.

Cholesterol Level

Dr. Charles Gant tells us that a cholesterol level of below 160 is very hazardous to your health. Cholesterol is needed for the synthesis of all our steroid hormones. If you don’t have enough cholesterol, you can’t produce your life sustaining hormones like dhea, progesterone, estrogen, aldosterone and testosterone and most importantly in regard to the autonomic nervous system, cortisol. Cholesterol is converted to pregnenalone, which is converted to progesterone, which is converted to cortisol. If your cholesterol levels are too low, then they need to be increased.

 

 

 

https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2692/w-s-merwin-the-art-of-poetry-no-38-w-s-merwin

 

INTERVIEWER

Is it some profound connection to the natural world?

MERWIN

The connection is there—our blood is connected with the sea. It’s the recognition of that connection. It’s the sense that we are absolutely, intimately connected with every living thing. We don’t have to be sentimental and pious about it, but we can’t turn our backs on that fact and survive. When we destroy the so-called natural world around us we’re simply destroying ourselves. And I think it’s irreversible.

INTERVIEWER

Do you see a connection between poetry and prayer?

MERWIN

I guess the simple answer is yes, if only because I think of poetry as an attempt to use language as completely as possible. And if you want to do that, obviously you’re not concerned with language as decoration, or language as amusement, although you certainly want language to be pleasurable. Pleasure is part of the completeness. I think of poetry as having to do with the completeness of life, and the completeness of relation with one’s experience, completing one’s experience, articulating it, making sense of it.

INTERVIEWER

How about the influence of Zen in your work?

MERWIN

When you talk about prayer in Judeo-Christian terms, prayer is usually construed as a kind of dualistic act. You’re praying to somebody else for something. Prayer in the Western sense is usually construed as making a connection. I don’t think that connection has to be made; it’s already there. Poetry probably has to do with the recognizing of that connection, rather than trying to create something that isn’t there.

My mother was so tactful.She introduced my husband to her neighbours:
This is my sin-in-law.

 

Before we change ourselves we must perceive
An evening list of all our self-made scars.
For without seeing we may be deceived.

Do you think that self-attack does good?
Do you believe in such uncivil war?
Perhaps you’ll drown yourself in homemade mud.

Inevitably  we   suffer outer pains
But adding to  them shows how weak we are.
Be stronger and  so try to  be humane

Compare it with the use of a smartphone.
We don’t know how tethered we now are.
Until a special app used makes it known.

Though  joy and love  are not produced by will
There are doors which we should keep well barred
We can limit  self-hate and its bill

Now spirit and its guidance is long gone;
We roam quite blindly where the door’s ajar.
Yet potential wholeness  is here  for  everyone

The diary we keep of self-attack.
Gives new perception; shows  who we  now are
Enlightens us  and guides us through the lack

The  journey may be long and pain occurs
There is a crack   through which new light enters
For change  to  happen we  must see, perceive
Then change  comes, hby natural  grace we’re eased.

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing his opinion.
 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
    and with dishonour comes disgrace.
 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
 It is not good to be partial to^[a] the wicked
    or to deprive the righteous of justice.
A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites a beating.
 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
    and his lips are a snare to his soul.
⁸The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
    and like a high wall in his imagination.
 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honour.

 

‘Man’s inhumanity to man is equaled only by man’s inhumanity to himself.” Anon