Time to think

I read a lot of hate coming from some of my friends and neighbors and wonder what world they live in. People put down this great nation because of failures that happened one and two centuries ago. What happened with the negroes before and after the civil war were horrible injustices. What happened with Native Americans as the far reaches of this country were being settled was truly atrocious. That said, it's time that we forget the past and band together and exert ourselves to improve tomorrow. Let the past centuries fill the pages of our history books while we strive to color the pages of future generations. Love your country and hope that we have all learned lessons from the past.

My Eyes

I ran into an old friend the other day
It had been years since I’ve shook his hand
He mentioned that I’m starting to show some grey
I laughed and mentioned he had a crooked stand

He looked at me and said something had changed
He asked if I still chased those thieving crooks
I nodded and joked how the chase delivers more pain
He said no, your eyes have a different look

My eyes, my eyes have seen the stains on a thousand lives
My eyes, my eyes have forgotten the feeling of tears
I’ve seen the horrible ends of guns and knives
I guess my eyes are the victims of many violent years

My eyes, my eyes no longer scan a crowd and just see commotion
They no longer look down a dark alley and feel afraid
My eyes, my eyes no longer show much human emotion
I guess my eyes are the victims of old prices paid

As my friend and I spoke I realized he wasn’t anyone I knew
Through my eyes I saw him as some kind of perfect stranger
Though he had the same smile and his eyes were just as blue
He’d some how been changed through my world fraught with anger

As we looked back over our lives and the course of our time
I discovered that I’ve lived in two separate worlds
I first lived as a boy, oblivious to all surrounding crime
Then thirty years a cop, the deeds of the devil have unfurled

My eyes, my eyes have seen the stains on a thousand lives
My eyes, my eyes have forgotten the feelings of tears
I’ve seen the horrible results of guns and knives
I guess my eyes are the victims of many violent years

My eyes, my eyes no longer scan a crowd seeing just commotion
They no longer look down a dark alley and feel afraid
My eyes, my eyes no longer show much human emotion
I guess my eyes are the victims of old prices paid

Time to Reflect

I'm the type of person who enjoys a good book; I enjoy getting an eagle on the golf course; I enjoy a good conversation with my wife. What I don't like is reading all of that hate on the editorial page. Recently there has been a bunch of hate concerning illegal aliens. "If you don't speak English you don't belong in America."

Can someone tell me the difference between an illegal alien and a political refuge? Immigrants are immigrants whether they're from Africa or Mexico. O, wait a second, I read someone's letter saying that "illegal is illegal." They are breaking the law by being here. I would bet that the person who wrote that line exceeded the posted speed limit by a few miles an hour in the past week. We are all a little guilty of something.

Folks, I would like to see a raise of hands on who wants to work harvesting beets or tomatoes. I don't see any hands. Who wants to be carrying the hundred pounds of brick to the work site? Who wants to clean the motel toilets? My point is, these people are doing us a great service by taking the jobs that nobody, NOBODY, wants.

I was lucky having been born in America. I have never had the urge to move outside of the country. But then, I was born with a iron spoon in my mouth. My dad worked in the mines and my mom work as a baker. Everything I've gotten I have had to work for. I don't whine over the haves and I don't complain about the have nots. We are in this together.

Crazy

Have I mentioned recently that this world is just a bit crazy? I'm not talking about schizophrenia. I mean looney tunes with a capital L. I was a cop for a few decades. In that time I got the opportunity to experience whack nuts (that's plural) picketting the outside walkways of a courthouse where a party was on trial for abusing a dog. Over those same decades, I never once (that means never) saw someone picket a courthouse where a person was charged with murdering a baby.

Where are our priorities? Hurting dogs is not a good thing, but, killing babies is a really horrible thing. So why don't we stand up for our own children? Can anyone respond?