No one can deny

a sinful past,

although one’s mind

often struggles mightily

to disregard all wickedness

it’s already known

But faith in God and

hope for better days to come

guide us on Earth’s pathway,

and advocate endlessly

for our presence in the light

of righteousness

and as best they can,

rebuke us from entering

the darkness in which

lurk all demons

set to life

by all such negativity

as may begin in arrogance

and end in nihilism

Once three days

were set aside

in New York in August

for performances by both

performers and those

who’d supposedly come there

to watch performers perform

But already,

a few days earlier,

two other days

had been set aside

for meaningless and brutal

murders in L.A.

And, yes, about eight months

later, in one day

the nation’s history

was scarred by

four deaths in Ohio

But then, many years,

and the middle of many

lifetimes passed,

and most of both

the optimism and cynicism

of those bygone times

either died or fell prey

to the realization that

in the end, for society’s sake,

some agree to work, but

others won’t or can’t

And, some

from foreign lands

will also come

to either claim their supposed

piece of someone else’s sun,

or cause the suffering and destruction

of those who’ve lived

in those lands much longer

than the invaders who

arm themselves with problems,

drugs, and deadly weapons

And no one cares anymore

about what was said

or done in the hope

of better days to come.

And the war, and forced

military service which

instigated most of the

turmoil in that long

gone era have, either

fortunately or unfortunately

been forgotten as the

generation of Woodstock

is slowly replaced by

the generation of Bump Stock

And in the Age of Woodstock

apparently presidents could order

an invasion of their opposition

party’s national headquarters,

while in the Age of Bump Stock

apparently political figures

can buy their party’s

presidential nomination

as they simultaneously spread

falsehoods concerning their opponents

But before you shake your

head or cry your tears,

take a look at the violence

which those who produce

so-called entertainment

foist upon American society

today. Surely anyone of

youthful years today must

be growing to adulthood

believing its “cool” to use

guns in both civilian

and military settings

But now, since tears

must be shed, let’s at

least be thankful that it’s

quiet on the thirty second

floor today

And we’ll listen to the

speculators speculate about

why we had more

than fifty dead

in Las Vegas one day

But we know this much:

It’s very troubling when certain

troubled mortals need to make

other mortals suffer and/or die

because those who are troubled

can’t find personal

answers to problems they’ve known.

And here’s a dual supposition:

One - Some humans,

who consider themselves

nobodies, will resort

to violence to become

somebodies, and

Two – Currently in America

self-serving news and entertainment

mediums which care only

about profits and fake

(usually politically motivated)

stories, are providing

a gullible American populace

with a constant barrage

of gruesome violence

and outright lies

And in closing

we probably (and some

would say certainly)

should add to the

list of senseless deaths

we’ve referenced here thus far

all those who died trying

to keep a Southeast Asian

nation from becoming Communist

(That was what they were fighting

for, wasn’t it)?

Yet, of course they

were of the Age Of Woodstock.

The Age Of Bump Stock features

not only maniacs firing

modified firearms, but also

killers of both valid and

questionable American citizenship status

murdering innocents with whatever

means they have available,

even their modes of transport