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Zywa Oct 18
My wish is that they...

want the same thing as I do:


the best. United.
"Country of My Skull" (1998, Antjie Krog), cooperative whites after the apartheid regime

Collection "Wean Di"
Zywa Feb 14
Well, I have wished for

an antipole, I got it --


as a drag on me.
"Het Bureau - Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut" ("The Office - The A.P. Beerta-Institute", 1998, Han Voskuil), page 808

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]"
Zywa Jan 2022
We'll wash the dishes,

talking between silences --


only, do not sing!
Collection "Bruises"
Andy Chunn Nov 2020
I don’t understand the way
That hatred seems to rule
Every minute of every day
It seems to gain more fuel

Dave told us years ago
That “We Just Disagree
But now we choose to hate and so
No answers will there be

Cooperation is a lost art
Collaboration can’t be found
Real solutions will never start
When hatred still abounds.

There was a time not long ago
When opposite sides could talk
Design and ideas would flow
Our leaders walked the walk

That time is gone, it seems for good
And hatred rules the day
Discussions turn to attacks so rude
There’s nothing left to say

It seems that now we never find
When two on opposite sides
Disagree, but still are kind
To others far and wide.

“Agree to disagree” I’ve heard the phrase
And try to comprehend
That differences, like a smoky haze
Don’t make you hate your friend.

So take a chance, just try and see
You’ll help this world go round
Don’t hate because you disagree
And answers will be found.
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
When I was a youth
I thought I was right
and everyone else was wrong;
Now that I’m wiser
I give respect to each person’s
unique perspective
and allow them the freedom
to be who they are;
the question for me is
how do I cooperate
with a unique other
to facilitate each other’s
joy and happiness?
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
In an ideal
joy-and-happiness-society
would every person in the world
be joyful and happy?
If so,
in an ideal
joy-and-happiness-society
would every person in the world
have to cooperate with everyone else
to facilitate the joy and happiness
of every person in the world?
If so,
would a world-government
be useful
to organise
cooperation
between every person in the world
to facilitate the joy and happiness
of every person in the world?
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
The so-called philosopher
Friedrich Nietzche writes:
"Wherever I found a living thing,
there found I Will to Power ...
to the stronger the weaker shall serve".

In an ideal
joy-and-happiness-society
would every person
be compassionate and cooperative
to every other person
instead of domineering and exploitative?
To achieve joy and happiness
in society
must we be
not domineering and exploitative
but compassionate and cooperative?
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
Does each of us
see the universe
from our own perspective?
If so,
does each of us
live in our own perspective-universe?
If so,
is objectivity impossible
and only subjectivity happening?
If so,
to achieve a cooperative society
does each of us
have to empathise
with each other's
unique perspective-universe?
Carl D'Souza Jul 2019
Is each of us unique?
And yet,
are we all the same
as deep down
we are all
striving for joy and happiness?

Therefore, can we
cooperate
to facilitate each others'
joy and happiness?
Glenn Currier Aug 2018
It’s like watching a flower bloom from a bud
or a seed pushing through the soil
moving onward and upward
slowly but surely
toward the sky
to eventually arise
in its fresh green glory
into the light
right before our eyes.

They are taking that old house
into their hands and hearts
removing dust and accumulations
of two full and splendid lives
molding from the clay of the past
moving through the soil of a present
full of challenge and struggle
into a new, alive
unpredictable
future
together.

This new growth
fashioned from precious artifacts
and art of these two mature siblings
is not a shell which is a house
but a new flowering
which is a home.

What a delight to observe from afar
this new creation
taking shape
knowing
that their roots and ours
are emmeshed
and inseparable.

Watching these two
bright, precocious ones
so precious, priceless and cherished by us
is as delicious
and delightful
as sharing a meal
prepared in the ovens,
homes and hearts
of our mothers.

In this dynamic present
we are grateful
for parents who taught us what it means
to make and keep a home
to love and be loved by the children
of generations.

All these children
are present in the creators
and observers
of this new home
taking shape
being painting
into a landscape
that will one day
sparkle
with joy.
Note: Dedicated to Ginny and Richard as they journey together, sister and brother, creating a new home in an old house.
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