Sidetracked Charley

The college convened Their duty before them Validate a monarch Or preserve The republic He would destroy. Never before Such a clear choice. Never before Such dire consequences Not either or But none of the above. Nobody spoke They milled around Like cattle in a stock yard. Sheep being led To slaughter Through a gate of their choosing. Peter Brown Someone yelled Who is he Another replied. Me, one of the milling sheep replied I am Peter Brown. Who are you? Several asked in one voice. Nobody, Peter Brown answered Red or Blue The condemned Wanted to know. Brown, Peter answered. Silence reigned Even the milling ceased All in favor A voice in their midst asked All said aye. And that is how We came to live In this White house On a green lawn Peter Brown said To the yellow press. Jacqui Binford-Bell July 2016

Raton Facade Last Friday a friend and I headed east to Raton, New Mexico to cast our ballots in the 2012 United States Presidential election. The two hour drive across the plains gives you a lot of time to think and talk. We did not have to think about our vote because our minds were firmly made up. But we talked about how deeply divided our country has become. This great experiment of ours is not working. Something has to change. I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois speech of June 18, 1858 in which he addressed the issue of slave vs. free: "A house divided divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." It took the bloodiest war in the history of the world to resolve that issue. And the years I lived in the south made me doubt that the wounds of that war were ever going to heal. Now we are divided Red and Blue, Republican and Democrat, Christian and freedom to believe as ...