PEACE across the land and around the WORLD

SImon Says Peace

 

Dream Catcher

Maya/colored pencil & pastel

Peace
Love
Light

chapter 3

chapter one
before
chapter two
after

before
I knew
after
I realized

I pray
I can write
chapter three

before my spine
becomes unglued

joy august ripsaw

joy august ripsaw


let cling to our skin

they cling to the legs
Ignorance and Want
beneath rich velvet robes
two malnourished beings
present in Their suffering
we remain focused on our priorities
during this season of hope and love
wrap tenderly our hearts
with Their existence
let us go forth
in humble spirit
and grand charity

fiercefor Rocky
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
The Ghost of Christmas Present

winning and losing

there was a dual wrestling meet last night
all these boys, young men really
hoping their practiced discipline and best efforts
would place them on this side of glory
a raised arm at third period’s end
a personal win
points for their team

quick food, hot coffee and school spirit
we bought an event tee for the big son
I didn’t look at the shirt ’til later
against the black cotton weave
was the image of a handsome, young man
135 pounds
his chiseled arm raised in victory

it was then I realized
the tournament was named after this wrestler
he’d died in a car accident two years ago

and I knew
whether the big son
won or lost
we’d been winning all along

at this time of year
when the magnifying glass
boxes in our hearts
may thoughts of warmth
go out to those
whose children are no longer here
but live on in their souls

Baby Elf

Baby Elf

illustration previously published

Thanksgiving is a fowl day for some…

Today I saw a turkey with bribe money crossing the road to hide behind some chickens

Drumsticks

Turkey art first published last Thanksgiving

“Peace on Earth was all it said…”

STRIVE FOR PEACE ABOVE AND BELOW EVERY ROCK
nutcracker blue jacket

nutcracker red jacketfun little nutcrackers (I hope) created for art class project

the antithesis of wisdom

I don’t agree with Golding
I believe there is tremendous capacity for Good
innate human Kindness
though Survival is instinctual
education is the bedrock of Peace
Savagery is learned too
but it is the antithesis of wisdom
lord of the fliesin William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, the wild boar’s head symbolizes the devil…
The big son is currently reading this novel in school though he’s read it many times before.
This head was made for a class project.
It’s constructed with a large styrofoam ball, a plastic cup, a partial cat mask, sponge pieces for filler, oodles of duct tape to hold all this crap together then covered in clay and painted…it was quite fun to art direct 😉

southpaw warrior

southpaw warrior
wielding a just sabre
for righteousness
unsheathed in sparking white
gaining action by wind arc
inked blood contract
philosophies demanded
upon lofty principles
enforced with pride
beliefs carved upon singular roads
will not lead
southpaw warrior
to peace

Who

Who

warm queen of the night

to be a queen
of the night
is far better
than
to be a
princess
by the day

to be happy
single
is far better
than
to be a mismatched
duo

to be warm
while living
is far better
than
to be
cold
while–

swirl skating

swirl skating


Queen Waiting created today while waiting in a waiting room

never been accused

fashion
I’ve never been accused of having it
there, out there
those ladies and gentlemen
you know who they are
they know who they are
who lived their first lives as display mannequins
clothes on their forms look right
and perfect
me
I stopped looking in mirrors that dip below eye-level
long ago
fashion
I’ll never be accused of having it
still
I’ll always appreciate those who do
it is, after all, an art form
ernst homageinspired by ‘subbing’ a fashion class – this – my homage to iconic fashion maestro, Erté, circa 1915-1932
created yesterday