Thinking Out Loud

How do we measure an idea?

By if it makes you wiser or freer?

By echoes rung from mumbling lips?

By boats afloat on questing trips?

By whether it can start a war?

By poetry and metaphor?

By destruction of walls and fences?

Or inflation of pretenses?

By orators taking up the cause

for promulgation of new laws?

By if it gives your spirit wings

Or your pocket cash to spend on things?

Whatever thought quickens your blood,

If it leads a conference, it's a dud.

FIRST PRINCIPLE, n. An Afterthought.

The Oracle of Santa Clarita

To a lonely desert village, just outside of L.A.
Came a wanderer searching for meaning.
There was said to be an Oracle, far less rare today,
And two dogs to interpret the gleaning.

For the legend was written from sidebar to scaffold
That, without even charging a fee,
The magus was kind to the bitter and baffled
And a master of lexicography.

The journey was long and the way hard to follow
And mystery shrouded the labors.
For the pathway was bent like the flight of a swallow
And the house, it looked just like it's neighbors.

But the seeker, at last, discovered the master
Sitting sagely beneath a broken tree
"Tell me, Oh wise one, for my life's a disaster,
What does it mean to live free?"

The oracle nodded his head, wise and kind
and spoke in a voice soft and hoarse
"That is a verb, intransitive, and defined
'To elect your slaveholder', of course."

And then the wise man rose with a flourish
And, turning his wise and kind head,
Pointed to the seeker and addressed the chorus
"If you don't mind, please explain what I said."

LIVE FREE, v.i. To elect one's slaveholder.
ORACLE, n. A prophetic lichen.
SEEKER, n. A rolling moss.

Speaking of dialogue, a fable

The Coyotes, The Foxes and The Wolf

Once upon a time, in the east of the county, there was a fox hunting ground. The land was full of rabbits and the foxes lived well. One day, a wolf came and started eating rabbits and howling at the moon. The foxes feared that the howl would attract human hunters who would take all the rabbits and leave the foxes to starve. So the foxes snuck up on the wolf and quickly tore out his throat.

All was well in foxland until a pack of coyotes came and started hunting and baying. "We must get rid of the coyotes like we did the wolf," said one fox.
"There are too many and they're bigger than us," said another.
"I have a plan," said a third and all the foxes saw that it was a wise plan.

The foxes sent an emmisary to the coyotes to suggest a conference on sustainable lagoculture. For their empowerment, the fox ambassador suggested that the coyotes as immigrants should convene the planning committee which would develop, identify and elect the steering committee for the conference.

Moral: It is kinder to silence your neighbors by fang than by forum.