Militant Humanist Manifesto (Early Draft)
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
3M ago
STOP THE BOMBS! CEASEFIRE NOW! (actionnetwork.org) Meet The Companies Profiting from Israel’s War on Gaza Updated/Revised 1.8.2024       Who Are You? Someone, who may be a friend, tells me she will not be a “Militant Humanist” that crafts words to help destroy the enemies of the world. Who is this “enemy” she asks, and wants to know how someone could be a militant and a humanist at the same time; says even if she could use her writing the way I ask, being aggressive is against her nature; says what is happening in Gaza is too much for her to consume in large doses, as she is st ..read more
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2024 Resolution: “Till We Have Faces”
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
4M ago
  Who will be able to forget all the suffering that began on October 7th and grew to unbearable before New Year’s Eve, yet continued while the world watched? Who does not know a genocidal war is now devastating Gaza and its people—this alien disease now making a sick world sicker? It would  be good to remain an optimist—a believer in humanity’s inherent goodness— to believe in recovery and healing.   Charles Dickens wrote about mid-nineteenth-century England and France: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” If he were alive today and witnessing the inhuman slaug ..read more
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Lighting a Candle
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
4M ago
Lighting a Candle   Where were you on September 11 2023? Where were you on October 7 2023? A more earth shatteringquestion: Where are you now December 7 2023 the first dayof Hanukkah while generals are “mowing the grass” in Gaza?     A God Nowhere      near a human animal, even superior      to a sitting king, he must be a God,      since only Gods commit      mass murder with holy impunity. So I      watch on one knee since,      after all, the record shows ..read more
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Graceland to Gaza on Dia de los Muertos
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
6M ago
  Liz, Are you ghosting me? Did I scare you again? Been online for a while after a huge meal and taking a nap; then began wondering what happened to you. Thought we were just starting. Remember our last email exchange? I searched for a picture of that dark archway in Graceland’s Jungle Room, but every shot was missing the wall it was set in. Nearly gave up before seeing a fuzzy image of it. I get why you missed the white door beyond it on your Graceland visit, especially if Elvis’s den was crowded. The door’s draping curtains and narrow alcove lighting obscure it too. My years in Met Muse ..read more
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“The Arc of The Moral Universe is Long…”
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
6M ago
 www.btselem.org www.ifnotnowmovement.org www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org     Boricua Standing at Divided Attention   Standing at attention conjures up images of soldiers listening, eyes front, back straight down to toes pointing at dictated angles. In the fifth grade, Viet Nam war smoking, piling up body bags in jungles out of sight, I imagined being drafted…and not going. Training to kill or be killed made no sense. Now that I know the true reasons for war, who wages them, at whose expense, all seems lost. There is simply way too much money in war—too much power to give up fo ..read more
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Kathy Chang(e) Oct 10, 1950 – Oct 22, 1996
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
1y ago
  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++         The Peace Sculpture Wore In the end the last birds will be mocking birds. R.B. June 11, 1963. On a busy South Vietnamese street, a Buddhist monk sat like charcoal in flames smoke, palms together in protest of religious persecution, as bystanders watched. Did you know his myth—Kathleen? How his heart found whole was placed in a shrine? How The New York Times would run your story?&nb ..read more
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Whale
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
1y ago
    Whale   There’s no telling who you fall in love with. You like whales? I heard they mate  for life. Not true. I saw in a dream a snow man melting in the rain… broom falling away from half a body… one rock of an eye sliding off… landing in a puddle by his side. No one should go that way.   See me in this picture? See how young I looked? No… it’s not really me or her. I carry it anyway… to remind me of a girl just like her. Who gave me this picture? Humor me… let’s just say that’s me standing next to… let’s call her Maria. Yes… she speaks Spanish! Of course! Do you ..read more
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Quietly Quitting
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
1y ago
  Gifted My box of Motown long playing                     vinyl albums was gifted                        black gold.     Forget Birthday Cake All the ghosts that haunted my 64th birthday this August made perfect sense. Piling on to be continued, no mercy in sight.      Pain Management When you spend your adult life digging for the truth government hides in the open ..read more
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Last Night’s Distraction
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
1y ago
  Dr. Jane Goldberg’s Reality TV Group Therapy first appeared on a Manhattan cable network in 2009. The show lasted nearly 20 episodes; most were accessible on YouTube for a few years. I left around session 12. I could find only the first show last night; too bad. The show was experimental and could get very sad as well as hilarious at times. And yeah, I can still be an emotional eater. Best wishes to everyone involved.             Peace, Andrés   ..read more
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A Book Grows in Queens
The Practicing Poet
by Andres Castro
2y ago
And my gratitude to the editors of the body centered Rogue Agent Journal for including “I Pledge Allegiance” in their upcoming June issue.  ..read more
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