Four Views

Being Agnostic, over the years I've thought quite a bit about God and so have written quite a bit about the subject. Following are four poems I've written about the matter of God that adopt a variety of viewpoints. The first poem is quite optimistic, the second quite cynical, the third skeptical, while the fourth imagines what a conversation with God might be like. You certainly can't say my views on the matter of God aren't well rounded :) Over the years, I've found you learn more by asking questions about God than by assuming you have answers.  Perhaps the most insightful thing I've found over the years, is that regardless of whether or not there is a God, at the very least, there ought to be.  

Words Blind

Words can blind you

Make you think the word

is the thing.

Drape what you believe you see

in preconceptions and assumptions.

Shade what you and others experience

with shadows of news bites

catchy phrases

and rhetorical spin.

Or put cloth over your eyes

with fossilized passages

whose meaning

has been lost to time.

Every creature you ever see

just by virtue of existing

is a waking enigma clothed in a mystery

wrapped in a dream.

If someone as simple as a man

is such a thing

how then in the farthest reaches

of our imagination

would we ever expect to figure out

something like the powers that be

that made this place

by blinding ourselves

with words like “God?”

It's true, a single word

can mean everything to you

or nothing at all

As you so choose.

On one hand, it's just the word

some people use

for the best thing they can imagine.

On the other hand,

after nine thousand years

it carries

about four train car loads of baggage.

So, what do you call

something so fair minded

that it gives enough quickness to cheetahs

that they can catch some food

while giving enough speed to antelope

that they can run away from trouble.

And is so compassionate

that it makes every single baby beautiful

can forgive mistakes men have rarely forgiven

and offer up chances in life over and over again.

With wisdom so deep

it can watch human hearts

mend and break at the same time

without going bat shit from time to time?

Personally, I'll not give it a name that blinds

I'm just some dude with a pen

and a couple thoughts now and then

I just ain't that smart.

Dewey Dirks

My God Spot

Walkin' down the road blue & dejected

Found an old oil can, rusty & hot

Took it on home, named it Spot

Made a place on the shelf

I don't know, maybe I'm odd

Kinda liked it there, called it God

Came in a dream wondrous to see

Spot said the Word & then there was light

Praise Lord Spot, He made things right

Now I'm his prophet & He's the Lord

I was lost 'till Spot made me whole

Praise Lord Spot, my life is full

He spoke to me one stormy day

Got some commandments, got a whole lot

Got the low down straight from Spot

Got some followers & some big green tanks

We're Spottites you see, ten thousands & more

The Spottites & me, are wagin' a holy war

In a thousand years all over this land

They'll still raise their voices in praise of Lord Spot

Just an old oil can rusty & hot

Dewey Dirks

Don't call me collect --God

Perhaps on some golden throne

alive in the sky, you watch over each of us

--rain warm love, bathing one by one

man and sparrow with most tender care

Or, like a child at play

did you make the clock your grand experiment?

then, called to dinner, you plan to be back at eight

wondering if we'll still be tocking

Are you a big ashen bearded daddy?

with all the answers up there

will you spank us forever if we don't believe?

Maybe you're a cosmic hippie

you say "Hey don't you remember?

ten thousand years ago

we all stood at Salisbury in ecstasy"

Then, with hand to forehead you say

"Or maybe it was nineteen seventy-one

you know, all that acid still gets to me"

Are you a wrinkled old man?

stuttering, the very edge of senility

you wait at the gate, white picket complacency

We come home for a hug and obligatory visit

the younger playing Grandfather for a free dime

Perhaps you are a crone, ancient and wise

living in rock, road, brook, and tree

You made a hard, wondrous, magical land

where stumbling, we acolytes slowly learn of beauty

With fire on your finger tips

maybe you throw lightning bolts

make floods, cause the sky to darken

Perhaps you'll let five thousand faithful in

"All the rest be damned!" you say as the earth quakes

Perhaps one time, some time, ever time

we'll be sitting in the park, you and I

Muhammad, Gautama and Einstein play dice across the way

cool green grass, white daisies, blue sky, shade trees

I say, "You know, I wondered always if you were a figment"

You say, "Don't we all, my friend, begin and end in fantasy?"

Dewey Dirks

Route 27

Late one night

I was out for a ride on the bike

On a long desert road called State Route 27

The moon was full and bright

Stars peppered the warm August sky

The road was empty

And the night was asking

For a high speed run

I decided to open it on up

Let her go right to the edge

Let her really breath

I brought her up to around one thirty-five

And settled in for a ride long, fast and low

The headlight shouted out brightly in front of me

And the engine wound out in a high pitched yell

As the white lines blinked quickly on by

silent and oh so fast

My senses were as alert

As they could possibly get

And in spite of the darkness

Every detail of the passing road

Jumped out at my eyes

I swear I could see

The gravel embedded in the rushing asphalt

And the barbs on the wire fence

At the side of the road

Like so many times before

I fell once again, in love with life

The rapid beat of my heart

And the quickness of my rolling breath

Just then in my shimmering mirror

On the horizon behind me

I saw the headlight of another bike

Coming up hard, coming up quick

Ten seconds later

A slender figure on a dark blue chopper

blew by me like I was standing still

I rolled the throttle wide open

Pretty soon I was doing about one forty-three

But I couldn't catch her

And I watched her taillight

Quickly become a distant dot on the road

Right before it disappeared

It looked like she pulled over

I backed on down

Before long I was coming up beside her

I came to a stop

And shut off my bike

--Figured I'd rest for awhile

And chat with the lady

Leaning on on the seat of her ride

Having a smoke

Was a beautiful woman, maybe forty

With deep blue eyes and long dark hair

She and her bike had kind of a glow about them

Very subtle but bright at the same time

Friendly but kind of mysterious

Very quiet, kind of peaceful

Unquestionably kind

I nodded hello, not knowing exactly what to say

She nodded back and said

In a voice like a love song by Dido,

“Evening. Nice night for a drive.”

I looked back at her

And knew I had to wonder out loud

I smiled as best I could and asked,

“Just who are you?”

She shrugged and said,

“Oh, they call me by lots of names.

You probably know me as 'I am,'

or 'Alpha and Omega,' “Allah or 'Brahman'

Or some of that other useless stuff humans like to say.

You all really need to learn

Any word you want can mean everything

Or nothing at all

As you so choose.

Why don't you call me 'Sparky,'

Or 'Wiggles,' or 'Effy?'

That would suite me just fine.”

“You're God? Or maybe an Alien?” I asked

She chuckled and said,

“I'll leave all that up to you.”

I looked at her confused

“What are you doing here?” I asked

“Like you, I'm just out for a late night ride,” she smiled.

I still didn't know exactly who she was

But I did know she was someone very, very special

“I've got so many questions...” I stammered,

“I don't know where to begin.”

“One of the really nice things about people” she said,

“Is that they are very curious creatures.

Always full of questions.”

“So what's the right point of view?

We have so many...” I asked.

“You know all those religions and philosophies

That people bicker over

and fight about all the time?” she said,

“Well, they all have a few good ideas,

every one of them.

They all carry around a bunch of bullshit too.

And science is pretty much the same way.

People really need to learn to think

In a many-sided fashion

Instead of just bivalently.

You can put that in your pipe and smoke it,” she smiled.

I thought about that for a minute

Then I asked,

“So what does the future hold?

People seem so messed up a lot of the time.”

She took a drag on her cigarette and said,

“You know, some guy once said

That the meek would inherit the earth.

Well, I've got some news for you

---they inherited it some time back.

But humanity is kind of a fixer-upper species

And change can happen only so fast

Without making a big mess of everything.

Imagine the best of the 20's and 60's

Imagine the golden ages of music

And the intellectual leaps forward

During the Renaissance

These are previews of things to come

But humans have a ways to go

You've got to get it through

Your thick, Cro-Magnon heads

That every time you disagree

It's not good to start killing each other.

And you've got to learn to make governments

That don't attract power mongers quite so fast.

It's also important to learn to make companies

That have a conscience

And a genuine sense of human decency

And you humans really need to learn

To share a lot better.

“I said, “Geeze, we sound like bratty children.”

She chuckled, “Well, Homo sapiens

Is a pretty young species.

If all humanity were a single person

You'd be around twelve years old, by my reckoning.

So you see, you're just starting to grow up a bit.

Far in the future, when you're much older

You humans will have great adventures

And do great things, if you ask me.

She took a drag on her smoke, then continued,

“I have to tell you,

There will always be some inequalities

Because that's the only way to build a world

In which you can strive

But one day people will seek to better their spirit

With the same enthusiasm

That today they use to build better guns

And make more money.

There will also always be people better and worse

Because that's the only way to make a world

Where those who need to can learn to improve

But one day the worst of men

Will be as kind than the most generous human

Of your time.

One day men will fight their personal ignorance

And fear of their own inner beauty

With the same determination

They use to fight each other today.

All this might sound kind of strange

Considering the way humans are right now

But you can make this future

A reality one day for all mankind

By making it a reality for yourself today.

For humans, improvement happens

From the bottom up and from the inside out

One person at a time.

Now, don't think of being a good man

Like it means you gotta be

All pansy and syrupy sweet.

One day humans will be kind of like

The good-bad guys of the universe

They'll have kind dispositions

And big hearts

But with a lot of edge

Like a good rock and roll song

But humans need to realize

The most powerful things in life

Don't always end up fighting each other

You all have the bad habit

Of often thinking the greatest tests in life

Involve war and fighting and killing each other

When the biggest challenge a human can face

Is learning how to love better

Effy took one last drag off her cigarette

She glanced at it and said,

“Did I bother to mention

You really need to get off peoples asses

About smoking these things.

It's really not worse than overeating.”

Then she smiled and said,

“Damn! Enough talking. Lets take a ride.”

She got on her bike and cranked it on up

I could see the sky move a bit when it started

I got on my bike

And hit the button to light the tubes

Effy waited as the ground shook

With every thump of her engine

Then we pulled out onto Route 27

And pretty soon we were doing around one twenty-five

We rode beside each other till almost dawn

Just as the sun broke the skyline

I felt kindness and compassion wash over me

Along with a dose of 'fuck a fine mess' too

Then Effy down shifted

And gave me a thumbs-up

About ten seconds later all I could see of her

Was a tiny red taillight fading into the horizon

But I'll tell you, as the night had rolled on

With us riding side by side

I knew what it was to feel joy

Dewey Dirks

Bickering

Bickering

Christians you need
to get a clue!
Muslims
are not
going anyplace
anytime soon

Muslims, wake up!
Christians
are not
going to go away
anytime soon

Hindus get a clue!
Muslims and Christians
are going to be around
as long as you

People
who prefer science
wake up!
Religions have been
around a long, long time
they are not
going to go away
anytime soon

Religions of the world
Get a clue!
Science is here to stay
it ain't gonna disappear
just for you

The whole bunch
of you have been
bickering and fighting
for hundreds of years
Seems like you'd all get a clue
after this amount of time
none of you are going away
anytime soon

You all have a clear choice---
You can continue to fight
and bring down
our whole civilization
sooner or later
Or you can do what's
intelligent and wise
and learn
to live with each other
The choice is
up to you. 

Dewey Dirks

What Do We Know?

What Do We Know?

Whale song, whale wanders
Diving deep
Into endless blue seas
Journey far with tribal friends
Living three hundred years
With not much to do but think
What do they know?
What do they know?

Cougar wanders, pad softly
Two thousand miles
Across half a continent
At one with the land
Cougar ponders washing a paw
Living quietly, just him and the world
Not much to do but think
What does he know?
What does he know?

Dolphin swims deep
Jumping in joy beside a ship
Is dolphin play
Journey far across oceans
Happy with life,
Never fight each other
Not much to do but think
What do they know?
What do they know?

Albatross wanders, soars high
Living in the sky
For weeks at a time
With not much to do but think
Touch the sun
Talk with friends
What do they know?
What do they know?

Men wander, living large
Lotta desires each day
Lotta men
Need a whole lotta things
Live in big cities
Have big tribes
We call countries
We fight each other
Over scraps of green paper
And a square mile of land
Hoping endlessly
Always inventing
Forever wondering
What it will bring
What do we know?
What do we know?

Dewey Dirks

Attention

Attention

Attention, attention,
Everybody needs some,
wants some,
gotta gotta get some.
Most believe a little attention
will keep them from being lonely.
Most believe a little attention
will keep them from weeping.
Most believe a little attention
means they're an important person.
Most believe a little attention
will help them pass the time.
It can be an obsession.
Gotta get that attention.
Gotta get some now.

Some get attention by being good.
Some get attention by being bad.
Some get attention by being honest.
Some get attention by being authentic.
Some get attention by being dishonest.

Some get attention by trying to live a lie.
Some get attention by being dumb.
Some get attention by being smart.
Some get attention by stealing it from others.
Some get attention whether they want it or not.
Some just can't seem to get enough attention
no matter what they try.

The secret to attention
is learning that you're okay even without it.
The secret to attention
is that those who have too much
usually want less.
The secret to attention
is learning that sometimes when it seems
like you don't have any
is when you've got a lot.
The secret to attention
is learning that when you get too much
the attention you get
can become more important than you.                     

Dewey Dirks

Three New Books....

Just a note to let everyone know, I've completed a new manuscript this year called “Journey” and I've got around forty pages left to go on another manuscript called “Fifteen Sides.” Right now I'm looking into publishing options for these two manuscripts and “Lullabies and Legends” as well.  So much has changed about the publishing industry in the last few years, with the rise of e-books on Kindle and Nook and the bankruptcy of Borders Booksellers, it's really kinda confusing trying to decide what the best options are for bringing these manuscripts into publication. 

Good At Something

Good At Something

Paula tends bar down at the Corral
If ever you go down there
She's got a long, tall Miller, a sparkle in her eyes
A good ear, and a friendly smile
And if you've got a problem big or small
Paula will even give you a welcome conversation

She'd be surprised if she only knew
How far what she's happened to say has gone
With the desperate and lonely, and the forsaken
Who've walked through her doors
On a thousand slow Wednesday nights
And not wanted to leave her till dawn

There's a guy who comes in every day
Paula fell in love with him a long time ago
He's a blue collar man, down to earth
With a good, honest way about him
But he's already taken, and happy
She's never said anything
Hopes only the best for him
It's no matter, she tells herself
She gets to see him every day
And when she wants more company
There are many very willing
To give her all the time she wants with them

Two blocks south, and four blocks west lives Emily Blair
She's got a husband and three kid's
'tween the ages of ten and nineteen
Been married going on twenty-one years now
She works hard for her family each day
All she asks in return
Is that you pick up your own socks from the floor
Give her a kiss on the cheek when it's bedtime
And make sure you clean up all your food
Before you ever dare get up from the table

If Emily could jump forty years down the line
She'd be surprised to find
Three adult's always telling their children
“You know, your grandma always used to say...”
And, “Your grandma taught me this, now I'll teach you..”
She'd see her words and her love
Echoing the long years away
And though Emily doesn't realize
While he's at work or at play
Her man talks of nothing but her all day, every day

All the Earth is a single town
A small blue dot in a very big sky
Men are mostly good or bad or in between
We all are small town born
And each grow up to play a small town part
In a small town play

Sam is Emily's husband
He's been a welder since he was fifteen
Every day at five pm he stops by the Corral
Chats with Paula
Has a drink, says hi to a few friends
Then along about six-thirty
Emily stops whatever she is doing
And smiles when he walks in
He's grins  back, and gives her a kiss
Says, “Hi babe, how was your day?” 

If you live anywhere in the tri-state area
It's likely you've driven across a bridge or two
Held together with beads carefully crafted
Born of the blue arc in Sam's old welding rig
Sam doesn't know it
But a thousand times a day, Emily thinks about him
Hopes his job is going okay, wonders what he's up to just then

Find out what you ought to be doing
You have but to ask, life will give you a job
Everyone is good at something
Sudden and sweet or long and very slow
In ways you see and ways you don't,
All you say, all you do
Touch the ones standing next to you
Take care that you do what you should

Sam talks a lot down at the Corral
To the biker we all call Slim
From where he came, no one knows
Slim's fifty-five and never put down his colors
He's always got a good word
His laugh is big, his smile soulful and warm
He knows what it is to ride alone on a long, straight road
Knows what it is to walk the sharpest edges
Slim's got a story or two
Lord-God if you've got the time
If you look across the years, you'll find them peppered
With crossed-up kids bent straight by him
A hundred times he's been at parties
And talked cranked-out pairs of bikers
Out of knifing each other

Slim and Paula got a thing on the side
But he knows her eyes are forever on another
He says he doesn't mind
He knows the man, and he's a good guy
He tells himself it's an ideal arrangement
Slim says that love is just another tie that binds
And one of these days, he'll hop on his hog and ride

Paula and Slim, Sam and Emily
All good people without a single doubt
But every day down at the bar
Sam breaks Paula's heart
While Paula is busy breaking Slim's
Two blocks south, and four blocks west sits Emily
Never knowing her good love has caused so much mayhem
All the while, the four spread kind tidings
In ways that remain unknown and hidden to them

Paula and Slim, both so good
At handing out wise advice
Are flaming fools when it comes to their own love life
And Sam and Emily, who have a love that will never know death
Never tell how much each one means to the other
All of them make their own mess
All of them draw their own straight and crooked lines
I suppose it only goes to show
That even the luckiest and most astute
Can act like complete idiots some of the time

Do what you do best
And you'll do well as you can
Everyone in life can find a groove
Everyone teaches, everyone learns
Remember the ways that you act
Always have more than one side
Wise to know, we all tell two stories
The fable, good or bad
Of what we seem to do
And the secret tale
Of what life has put us up to
Quietly, and unnoticed

Dewey Dirks

Happy Fourth Of July

USS Constitution

Happy Fourth Of July Everyone!

Everyone Is

Everyone Is

Everyone is a fool
For at least
Five minutes a day
The trick
Is to try to keep it down
To just five minutes

Everyone can be as wise
As hope
And human wisdom
Know how to be
For at least
Five minutes a day
Consider yourself
A resounding success
If you can
Get it up to ten

Dewey Dirks

King Of The World

King of the World

It was late one Thursday night
Down at the Blue Light Lounge
When I walked in no one was there
But Ted, my asshole bartender
And some old biker
With a snow white beard and long gray hair
I sat down beside him and ordered up a beer
I said, “I'm Slammed-Out Sal
And I run this neighborhood
Just who the hell are you
And what are you doin' in my bar
Drinkin' my booze and breathin' my air?”

He laughed and said, “Good to meet you Sal.
I'm Knife-Nose Frank
And I'm king of the world”
Ted winked at me
I took a drink and smiled
Figured I'd have some fun with this toad
“You're tellin' me you run the whole damn world?” I asked
“Hell yea” he said, “everyplace, everywhere”
I said “I bet you're old, maybe two-hundred or more”
Three-hundred five, and a few weeks” he grinned

I took a sip of coor's  and said
“You don't run it very good. 
Everyone's always fighting”
He said, “You know, I like everyone
But you gotta run things with an easy hand
And people are like kids, spoiled and scrappy
They're gonna do what they're gonna do
And they're gonna play rough
A time or two
Gonna get a bloody nose every once in awhile
What can you do?”

“How come there's so many countries?” I asked
Seems like it'd be better
If we was all had one government
“I like variety.  Variety is good” he smiled
“What about all these different religions?” I asked
“People are gonna think what they want to think
There's something for everyone
Freedom of religion is good,” he smiled
So what's the hardest part
Of running the whole damned world, Frank?”
“Keepin' the proper mix
Of house cats and dog people” he said
“Just what ever do you mean, Frank?” I laughed
He took a drink and grinned back at me
“Well, house cat people are curious and playful
And lots of times they get into trouble
But you gotta have them
Or no books would be written
Paintings wouldn't get painted
Nothing would get invented
And songs would 't be sung
House cat people are a little chaotic
But they do a lot of good things too

Now, dog people don't like change
And they don't invent much of anything
But they follow their masters loyally
Keep life stable, work very hard
And help countries live a long, long time
But the house cats and the dogs
Don't understand each other sometimes
Some days each one looks down on the other
Keepin' the mix even
And keepin' one from stomping the other one out
Is the hardest thing I usually do”

Knife-nose Frank stood up and stretched
Said “It's been nice talkin' to you Sal
But I've got to go
See about some riots in Uzbekistan"
I stood up too
I figured I'd follow him outside
And kick the shit out of him in the parking lot
Then Frank pulled a thousand dollar bill out of his wallet
And slapped it on the bar
He winked at Ted
“Keep the change,” he said

I looked at the money
And followed him outside
Just then a black helicopter flew overhead
And Frank swung his leg over a pure platinum V-4 chopper
When he fired it up, my heart stopped for a second
And I swear the sky moved
He nodded at me and slipped it into gear
I don't remember him leaving
But as suddenly as he was there, he was gone
My eyes were wide when I walked back in the Blue Light Lounge
Ted must have noticed the look on my face
“Do you want to keep this money for yourself?” he asked
I figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry
“No, you take it” I said,
“I think we'd better do what he wanted”

Dewey Dirks

Enjoy Your Life

Enjoy Your Life

Enjoy your life
care for all you encounter
remember your dreams
are something to strive for
and will help you in what you do
don't despair the times that are hard
because your dreams in life
will help you through
the times that are rough

Dewey Dirks

Dreams

Dreams

If you have a dream in life
If you strive for success in what you do
Sometimes the biggest obstacle
to achieving what you want to is you

Sometimes you fear that you're not good enough
to ever be successful
Sometimes you fear success
will tear you away from your loved ones
Sometimes you fear you're too messed up
to be ever be successful
Sometimes you fear if you find success
everyone will be out to get you

Remember success is not about
writing a perfect book
painting a perfect painting
singing a perfect song
or making a lot of money
What success is really about
is taking your life by the hand
and walking into a bright new day
Where what you believe in
is you

Dewey Dirks

Announcement---

Quite a few people still drop by this blog instead of my Wordpress blog, so beginning today, I'm going to start posting regularly again to The Questioning Way here on Blogger.

Memorial Day----

A hero is someone who does decent things in a way that everyone notices but it is heroic to do decent things when no one takes notice.  Hero’s tend to get applause from everyone.  Someone who is heroic usually has the love of only those who know them best.  Personally, I think it’s far better to be heroic than to be  a hero…...

Balance----

Balance

People are creatures
Born of spirit
Born of earth
Like all the other creatures
Who inhabit our little blue planet
We all have an inclination
To look for danger first
This is why our news
Show our problems, show our grief

It's common to believe
You should error
On the side of safety
But this is just a way to say
“Listen to your fears
Listen to grief”
Far better
To ignore your anxieties
Balance yourself with care
And error on the side of optimism

If you gotta make a mistake
Do it on the side of compassion
Rise to the hopes of your spirit
Balance yourself
With the piece of you
That looks for the best in life
And in people

In all that you do
In all who you meet
Give living half a chance
And the benefit of a doubt
You'll be surprised
How many times
Life rises to the occasion

Dewey Dirks 2011

Book Review----

Review of “Dave Riggler's Stories”


Today I'm going to take a look at “Dave Riggler's Stories” written by Brian Hartman.  “Dave Riggler's Stories” is series of six short stories in one binding about a man who was born with spina bifida, a spinal problem that prevents him from walking.  The book is small, at about forty-five pages.  It is presented as a series of scenes from Dave Riggler's life starting with a story from his early youth before his was in kindergarten.  It follows Dave through his life ending with a story about dating from his thirties.  Mr. Hartman is the sort of writer who says a lot in just a little space.  The book is absent of drawn out or flamboyant descriptions, and the work carries itself quite successfully on storyline, conversation and poignant choice of narrative alone.    
As I read the book, I quickly began to like Dave for his kindness and his determination.   A few pages in, and I couldn't put it down.  Dave is a fellow who approaches his handicap and life in general from a very pragmatic viewpoint.  It's very interesting to read his views on daily life and his opinion of the medical community such as the physical therapists who try to get him to walk with a walker when he was a teenager.  Time and time again, Dave shows considerable empathy for the lives of those whom he happens across, such as a suicidal woman he meets one night in a bar, and a homeless man for whom he buys a meal.  In one of the most dramatic passages of the book, Dave recounts his experiences on 9-11 as he watches the disaster unfold while working in a multistory building himself.  He watches the news in shock as he thinks about all the people in the Twin Towers and about those among them who are in wheelchairs and likely would not be able to escape a building in which the elevators no longer work.  
Two themes run throughout the book.  Daves experiences with the medical community and his experiences with trying to find a partner.  He mentions in one passage that by a certain time in his life he'd undergone surgery thirteen times.  One has to read a book like this to begin to develop an appreciation how significant a part doctors, psychologists, and surgeons play in the life of some handicapped people.  
I finished the book wanting it to be longer so that I could come to know Dave Riggler even better.  He's is the kind of person you'd like to spend a few afternoons at coffee with.  If the book has any shortcoming at all it's that it could be of greater length.  At the same time, in forty-five pages, Mr. Hartman very successfully gives you a heartfelt, well rounded, very well written look at the daily life and emotional wanderings of a man who goes through this world on wheels rather than on legs.  The fact that Mr. Hartman is able to accomplish this in a work of this length only confirms the fact that he approaches the art of the pen with a very great deal of skill.  I recommend Dave Riggler's Stories as a must read for anyone interested in learning about the heart and mind someone who is handicapped.  I would like to thank Mr. Hartman for the opportunity to review his fine book.  It has been a real pleasure to read.   ------Dewey Dirks

Same Old New....

Same Old New

Love in each of us
Caution in all
Connection and detachment
In everyone
A brotherhood of humanity
Full of individuals
Intelligence in all of us
Idiocy too
Every upside
Has a downside
The fleas always come
With the dog

I've seen the love in someone
Appear at just the right moment
And save everything for them
Possibly worth saving
I've also seen the love in someone
Maim the people they most care for
As it blinded them
Into becoming a fool
I've seen fear eat people alive
As it destroyed
What was in their heart
So too I've seen the fear in someone
Save them from great harm
When at the right moment
They heeded caution

Even the best runners
Trip and fall
Every once in awhile
And the slowest among us
Can be quick to learn
Even the smartest of us
Have found themselves
Acting like an idiot
A time or two

Impermanence
Is mostly permanent
Every day I awake
And look in the mirror
To find the same old
Someone new
Every morning
I look out the window
To find a new world
Full of the same old change
Every day it's the same---
I learn something new


Dewey Dirks  copyright 2011

Love isn't enough----

If you want to care for people as the Gods do, you have to do much more than just love them. You have to like them.....Then you have to like them in spite of the fact they're a pain in the ass....Then you have to like them in spite of the fact they think you're a pain in the ass too.

Death Gets....

Death gets us all, it's true.....But life gets you first. 

Strange Picture----

Life is art.....Are you painting something you like?

It's About Time---

All The Rest Be Damned!----

Today I'm going to use a poem and a video that have previously been featured on the Questioning Way blog to make a point----

Shit. Damn. Fuck. Hell.  I've used all of these words from time to time in my writing and speaking.  They are an integral part of the lexicon of vernacular English as it is commonly spoken and written in the United States in the early 21st century.  They are very important to our language and are widely used because sometimes it is just impossible to employ any other word besides one of these as we each try to express the emotions we feel every day.  A little further down the page, I'll illustrate this point a bit more poignantly.  With the exception of one MMO computer game that I'm a massive toad for called 'Spore,' I rarely stay for long any place on the world wide web that tries to censor me if I happen to use one of these words to express myself.  Now, it might not seem like such a big deal if this or that website has a problem should I use the word shit or hell when I feel so inclined, but I know that the desire to censor speech and thought is a dangerously contagious disease and an astoundingly slippery slope that must be guarded against constantly.  With truly frightening speed it leads to vagrant attempts to control free thought such as experienced by woman in following video, which tells the story high school teacher who was recently harassed by a TV station for having the audacity to be a teacher and a erotic romance writer at the same time.  The principle of free speech is of the utmost concern to all of us if we are to remain a country that in the farthest reaches of the imagination, could be called 'free.'

Fortunately, thousands of people came to this woman’s aid with a show of support (The Questioning Way blog included) as her  story made it's way around the web.  To the TV stations credit, they later aired a piece correcting their mistake, but only after so many people came to her defense, it became painfully obvious to them they really screwed the lurch.
I've also felt the sting of serious attempts to control what I say and write.  Some years ago, I was invited to publish some poetry to a federally funded website ran by the National Endowment for the Arts.  At the time it was a pretty nice break for me because the site enjoyed thousands of viewers.  Among the work I published there was the poem “Don't Call me Collect---God”  It was subsequently banned from the site for using the word 'damned' because I had God saying “All the rest be damned!” in one of the lines of the poem.  If you don't think that swear words serve a vital function in our language, just substitute the phrase  “All the rest be darned!”in place of original phrase and see how the poem reads.

Don't call me collect  --God

Perhaps on some golden throne
alive in the sky, you watch over each of us
--rain warm love, bathing one by one
man and sparrow with most tender care

Or, like a child at play
did you make the clock your grand experiment?
then, called to dinner, you plan to be back at eight
wondering if we'll still be tocking

Are you a big ashen bearded daddy?
with all the answers up there
will you spank us forever if we don't believe?

Maybe you're a cosmic hippie
you say "Hey don't you remember?
ten thousand years ago
we all stood at Salisbury in ecstasy"
Then, with hand to forehead you say
"Or maybe it was nineteen seventy-one
you know, all that acid still gets to me"

Are you a wrinkled old man?
stuttering, the very edge of senility
you wait at the gate, white picket complacency
We come home for a hug and obligatory visit
the younger playing Grandfather for a free dime

Perhaps you are a crone, ancient and wise
living in rock, road, brook, and tree
You made a hard, wondrous, magical land
where stumbling, we acolytes slowly learn of beauty

With fire on your finger tips
maybe you throw lightning bolts
make floods, cause the sky to darken
Perhaps you'll let five thousand faithful in
"All the rest be damned!" you say as the earth quakes


Perhaps one time, some time, ever time
we'll be sitting in the park, you and I
Muhammad, Gautama and Einstein play dice across the way
cool green grass, white daisies, blue sky, shade trees
I say, "You know, I wondered always if you were a figment"
You say, "Don't we all, my friend, begin and end in fantasy?"

Dewey Dirks Copyright 2010

Buzzard Breath----

....This poem goes to prove you can never take life too not seriously...or is it too not unseroiusly not....;)

Buzzard Breath

Lord it's hot up here today

an' all this smog

from yonder city

is flat out chokin' me

Lookit that car down there!

man is he goin' fast!

maybe he'll run a rabbit down

an' I'll have sumthin' to eat

Oh no! here comes Hank!

he's that asshole from Death Valley

an' I'd bet a dead rattlesnake

he thinks he's gonna bum some food from me

Hell, if birds had teeth

that sucker'd steal yer tail

while he was smilin' at yer beak

Well hullo there Hank!

howzitgoin ya ole scavenger!

long time no see! Oh I'm jist fine

What's that? Nope nuthin's bin kilt off yet

not even a horny toad

What? Yer leavin' already?

nice seein' ya Hank, fly by more offin'!

taker' easy an' have a good thermal!

Well, there he goes...

I hope he flies into a 747

Dewey Dirks copyright 2011

Pirate Girl

"Pirate Girl" video.  Music, "Remains of the Day" by Blood Ruby

Lotta causes.....

A very wise man once said, "There are many causes I would die for, but not a single cause that I would kill for...." Sounds like a good philosophy to me. If more people felt that way we'd all live in a better place

Melody Version Two----

Here is a new version of the video "Melody"  We had such a problem with the licensing on the last one we decided to put it to new music....


Update---Man, going live with one of these things can be a mess.  We had a couple details wrong and had to do a new edit of the video real quick and post it back up--the version you see here is actually the third version I've post up today gggrrrrrrr ;)

Heaven and Earth----

Heaven and Earth

Some say heaven is high above us

and hell lies far below.

Some say that life for most is hell in a hand basket

but that for a few it's pure bliss.

Some say earth is the land of labor

where day by day we all break our backs.

But you know, life is a long, long walk

with more than one place to go

and more than one place to stop.

What you get back

has a lot to do with what you put in.

And what we think we see

can be a tricky thing

because life is inside of you

and outside at the same time.

Life is trouble for each of us

some of the time

but little bits of heaven

touch us all every day

in the smiles of strangers

in the touch of your lover

in the eyes of a child

in jokes from a friend

in the purr of your cat

in the wag of a dogs tail

where the love you give out

is the love you get back.

Now, those bits of heaven

that you have every day

can carry you through a lifetime

like a river flowing out to the sea.

But don't hold on too tightly

as the moments pass by.

Love and happiness

enjoyed for a moment then released

return to visit

more than once each day.

The roads we take

can be a hard, winding ride.

We all know

what this old world can do.

If you loose your way

just hold a newborn babe in your hands.

Little bits of life

spread all around five minutes at a time

grow into eighty years of good memories

like a great field of cool green grass

stretching out across the long years behind.

Dewey Dirks Copyright 2011