APHORISM XXXII

If you add all the numbers in infinity, the sum will be 1.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

A WORLD WITHOUT WARS?

A world without wars? Why not? How
about  a worldwide picnic of peace. The
boundaries that divide us are not on maps,
but in our minds and hearts. Humanity is
as impoverished as its poorest member, as
healthy as its sickest, as educated as its most
ignorant. There is only one land, one sky, one
sea, one people. If we pollute the Mississippi
River, ineluctably we shall pollute the Indian
Ocean. If we pollute the air we breathe anywhere,
we shall pollute it everywhere, and thereby die.  
Don’t you get it? There is only one world. Its
citizens are humanity. No one owns Earth except
the Supreme Spirit. Humanity owns only
the right to be treated well and the responsi-
bility to treat Earth and all creations on it well.
If all of Earth’s precious resources were shared
equally among its peoples, there would no longer
be a need for wars, only rejoicing. Love would
rule instead of despots. Life would become a
lasting worldwide celebration of love and loving.
Love-based relationships and endeavors would
obviate aggrandizement and avarice, the prime
movers of wars worldwide. Wealth is not
worth. Jesus wore only a robe. When those
who gathered around him, Jesus did not tell
them how to get rich. He told them to love
one another. Love was his message.
The multitude of differences on Earth--languages,
skin colors, cultures, religions--are to be shared,
explored, enjoyed, enriching, not reasons to fear,
exclude, persecute, and ****. Are you blind?
Don’t you see? Are you ignorant? We now
have technologically the capacity to communicate
instantly around the world, to share our ideas and
concerns with our fellow Earth citizens, our brothers
and sisters. We are all one family, and if we join
hands and hearts, we--not presidents, not dictators,
not multinational corporations--can create Peace
on Earth and enjoy it forever.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

WINTER AND I

Winter and I live the same lives.
Winter is grey, I am grey. We both
are freezing. Winter blows the snow.
I am the snowman. The ponds of
winter become thick with ice. I too
am ice-laden. Snowdrifts are three-
feet high, and I am buried by them,
even as I sit inside my room. Winter
finds its way inside of me, even as I
don my heaviest sweater. Where is
the blue sky that I love? Behind winter’s
sky, I think. Can I endure the months
ahead? Will my heart ever thaw?
Snow and ice will melt come spring,
but will spring ever come back to me?
Will the fragrance of lilac blossoms
ever again lift me to the whiteness
of the clouds? I can only huddle as
I pray.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

A WOMAN IS A LONG DESIRE

A woman is a long desire.
Open her up like a wish, legs
as white as egg shells, thighs
as firm as terra firma, as
soft as a soft landing on the
moon. Her lips kiss you twice.
Her hair is a pillow. Lick her
as a mustang licks a salt lick,
her salty-sweet stream now a
flash flood, a rivulet gone wild,
her tiny mountain an earthquake,
paroxysms of purple and rose.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

GUN FUN

Gun Fun has swept America.
Gun Fun means you can ****,
and if you’re lucky enough to
own an AR-15, you can **** a lot,
about one human being a
second. Think about it. You
own a machine gun, and
the U.S. government doesn’t
give a ****. Ah, Columbine!
Who could forget that massacre
in 1999? Thirteen students killed,
over 20 wounded. But that just got
the ball rolling. And who could
forget the Sandy Hook Elemen-
tary School massacres in 2012?
Twenty little kids between six-and-
seven-years old murdered execution-
style, plus six adults just for good
measure. Remember how our
Congressmen and Senators
reacted? Of course you don’t,
because they didn’t. Gun Fun
was the new July 4th! The NRA
was celebrating! The 2nd Amendment
was sacrosanct, even though the
AR-15 was not a musket. The list
of these home-grown atrocities is
virtually endless. Gun Fun! Gun Fun!
Gun Fun! And after we get through
cheering, let’s all sing “God Bless America.”

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

Things cling.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks

WHY I LOVE WORDS

I love words. They are my colors.
I paint poems with hues of different
words, subtleties, nuances so fine,
they delineate exactly what I feel,
what I wish to convey. Each word
has its own timbre, its own tone.
Some are crisp, others emotive,
perhaps a tint or shade different.
Some are pungent, piquant.  
Others are puissant. All have
a rhythm and rhyme that course
through my soul. These and
more are why I love words.

Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks