Do You Believe in Magic

“What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.”

—Harry Houdini

The mind is a complex instrument that is capable of processing thought, recalling memories and inducing dreams. We see and hear things that require reasoning and interpretation. That mechanism sometimes short circuits and the results are ambiguous.

In these days of uncertainty we strive to believe in magic—the ability to wave a wand and eliminate poverty, provide health care for all, end war, and restore the planet’s health.

Table Mountain, Capetown, South Africa

Do You Believe in Magic

Jesus emerged from the flames of Notre Dame

plain as could be—a message to his modern-day disciples

that miracles can happen if you look deep enough

into your heart and mind.

Angels still walk the streets, tipping their hats

as they slip between nooks and crannies

smiling with that covert look that says,

“Top of the day. You know I’m with you.”

Walls reverberate with a familiar timbre

speaking in tongues from apparitions

restless with illicit prophecies stolen

from the night preying on daylight.

Mountains step up their dance,

swaying to the torrents of a winter wind,

then gently sashay into a samba when spring arrives

with a new partner for this season’s jig.

Take tragedy and turn it on its end—

fate is but another card manipulated by sleight of hand.

You see an ace but it’s really a queen.

Your eye—a polyglot for deciphering reality.

                                                                               

    (Excerpt from Do You Believe in Magic?  by Jeff Key)

Some use slight of hand to derail these lofty dreams—make us believe that the division of wealth is a Darwinian phenomenon, insurance and pharmaceutical companies can heal the sick, corporations are people, tolerance toward others impedes rights, and fossil fuels still define the planet’s progress.

The Loving Spoonful in their ‘60’s song asked, “Do You Believe in Magic?” We like to believe that magic still happens, but it will only transpire if people are able to see beyond illusion and find truth in the eyes of that elusive rabbit popping out of a magician’s hat.

Saints and Sinners—Brexit

Brexit is the other face of the refugee crisis—tensions that lead to stasis, external risks that lead to asymmetric shocks. —Emmanuel Macron, President of France

Oceans rise, empires fall—We have seen each other through it all. —King George III of England (from the play Hamilton, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda)

Brexit? What is it and why should we care?                                                                                   
In June of 2016 the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to exit the European Union (EU).  Was it because of immigration issues fueled by the EU’s open borders, the EU’s monetary demands, globalization, fear of the EU’s encroachment on Britain’s national sovereignty, independence for Northern Ireland and Scotland, or all of the above?

As the Brexit resolution winds down to its October 31^st deadline, and the EU holds it Parliamentary elections later this week, we are left to ponder the consequences?

Saints and Sinners—(left to right)  Sir Isaac Newton, Queen Elizabeth II, Bronze Woman (commemorating the first public monument of a black woman [African-Caribbean] in England), William Shakespeare, Emmeline Pankhurst (leader of the British suffragette movement), Queen Elizabeth I, Mick Jagger (in the rafters), Henry VIII, Peter Pan, Charles Darwin, Princess Diana, Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill.
                                 
When we Americans look in the mirror do we see striking parallels with the UK?—The rise of nationalism, fear of immigration, economic insecurity, no confidence in the political establishment, anti-elitism, a proliferation of “fake news” on social media.

A tale of two countries—How do we move forward?   We ask the same question on both sides of the pond—How does a nation that was once a strategic world power pull itself together, regroup, and become relevant again? 

We need to reflect upon bygone dynasties and shaky democracies with a resolve to work toward the establishment of governing bodies that take into consideration the dignity, respect and best interests of its citizens—an optimistic roadmap as we move forward. 

Breach—"Healthcare—A Basic Human Right"

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”

—Martin Luther King, Jr.—Chicago Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, 1966

“When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a nuclear war. But today, if anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war.”         — Bill Gates, 2015 TED talk

April 7^th was World Health Day, and the World Health Organization’s theme this year is Universal Health with coverage for all by 2030.

With the world’s rise in population, growing income disparity, and the effects of climate change on health, Universal Healthcare has become a fundamental human right that is essential for the well being of the planet.

Vessel #81—Breach

In the 53 years since Martin Luther King spoke about the inequities of healthcare how far has the world progressed in overcoming these inequities?

 • At least half of the world’s population is currently unable to obtain essential health services (World Health Organization-WHO, Dec. 2017)    

• The effects of climate change are already having a profound effect on the spread of infectious diseases. 9 out of 10 people breathe unsafe air that results in 7 million deaths each year. (WHO, May 2018)

• More than 50% of the world lives with chronic disease (World Economic Forum, Jan. 2018)

* Since the current administration took office in 2017 the number of Americans without health insurance has increased by 7 million (National Health and Well-Being Index). Those that do have coverage saw their premiums rise by 34% in 2018. (Congressional Budget Office, May 2018).

• April 22 is Earth Day—Don’t forget to do something to improve the planet.

Breach

Tempers flare on the cusp of a bulging amaryllis.

Octopeds roam aimlessly with an androgynous gait,

sucking sap with inebriated abandon.

Tumors wake in the night

with an insatiable craving for healthy tissue,

dividing and scattering with the choreography

of a battalion reeling out of control.

The mission, defined by random improvisation,

begins with an order for the insurgents

to march into darkness and leave no survivors.

Somnolent heterotrophs spread their dormant blankets

on shelves lined with a mesozoic membrane.

Crystalline crust splits a glacial sentinel in Nome.

A bovine uterus entertains an entourage in a Chicago slaughterhouse.

A slumbering anemone shares its bed in a Somoan atoll.

The uninvited interloper folds

its pathogenic arms around an unsuspecting host,

using instinct and guile to mount

the climax of its preordained cycle.

A knock on the door at night

freezes worms chewing on battens

and sends chills through the crevices in dreams.

Buckled boots cross thresholds

with an authority forged in spit-shined metal,

and a belief that their tongues and hearts

reside in a place reserved for celestial bodies.

Motion comes to a halt for the impediments of time:

munitions, mortars, missiles, mines,

penicillin, potassium, procarbazine, plutonium,

a call to arms, a call to awaken, a call for help.

Bones turn to ash, ash to earth,

as spirits are set free to wander in a place

somewhere between a reveille and a refrain.

"Beware the Ides of March"

"Beware the Ides of March"—A warning from a soothsayer to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar on his impending death.

As we move closer toward the Ides (middle) of March it’s time to put a finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.

“Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I but 

when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by." 

Christina Rossetti, 1872

Vessel #35—First Cause           Vessel # 59—Shift                      Yesnaby Cliffs, Orkney Islands, Scotland

In scientific terms wind is formed as hot air rises and cooler air moves in to fill the void. With the ability to pick up speed and form a vortex, wind is able to become a swirling tornado or a 
devastating hurricane*.

In political terms rhetoric rises as reason drifts and hot air fills the void—Red vs. Blue, Honesty vs. Deceit, Freedom vs. Order.

Where will the tempest shift next?

    Kaze no Iro

    the color of wind

     turns cobalt under the sea

      green fish kiss the sky

             

     From Unhinged, A Haiku Tsunami by Jeff Key

Vessel # 59—Shift                                                         Vessel # 35—First Cause 
Wood, 105" x 48" x 12"                                             Wood & Flax, 72" x 50" x 10"  

                                                                                                               
• The March 2019 tornado in Alabama reached wind speeds of 170 mph (EF-4 on the Tornado Scale) with a path 24 miles long. It killed 24 people.

• Typhoon Wutip, formed in February near Guam, became the first Category 5 storm ever recorded in the month of February in the Northern Hemisphere with winds reaching 180 mph.

*Tornados are wind masses that form over land, hurricanes form over oceans in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. The same oceanic wind mass is called a typhoon in the Northwest Pacific and a cyclone in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.

It Must Have Been Love

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns,

or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. —A. Lincoln

If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.  

                                                                             — Maya Angelou

February is the shortest month of the year—the month of love, commemorating Presidents, honoring Black History, tracking the groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow—so look for an early spring.....and celebrating some of the most overlooked days of the year—

• Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day (11th)  • Get a Different Name Day (13th)

• Do a Grouch a Favor Day (16th)   • Random Acts of Kindness Day (17th)

          .........and of course— • Be Humble Day (22nd)

It Must Have Been Love

He heard it when he climbed a tree—

sliding down the branches, hugging the leaves,

tumbling to the ground in silence.

She tasted it when she bit into an apple—

juice dripping down her chin,

ripe with the sweetness of yesterday.

He saw it when he turned the corner—

running down the street,

a breath out of focus.

She smelled it when the wind whipped through her hair—

the salty ocean spray

flipping like a seal through her curls.

They reached out to touch it—
cunning and illusive—but caught in the act.
It must have been love.

Vessel #64—Once         Wood,   55" x 69" x 46"

Vessel #64—Once (Detail View)