Friday Poetry

I came home tonight late from work having negotiated a very difficult settlement for a client of mine. As settlements go, it was bittersweet... enough money that I recommended my client accept the offer but not nearly what she deserved or what she needed.

Soon after walking in the door to my home, my proud wife told asked me if I had heard the news. I told her the obvious... 10 hour settlement conference no outside news had reached me. She then let me know that Keith Olbermann had announced that tonight was his last show on MSNBC.

It's no secret that Keith wears his heart on his sleeve and in recent months his criticism of our President has often irritated the crap out of me. But, here's the deal... in my lifetime no single human being has had a more positive impact on how the news is delivered to this country than Keith Olbermann. While a ridiculous wealthy man by the name of Rupert Murdoch has been able to corrupt the delivery of television and newspaper news in this country in a way that nearly irreparably harmed everything that this country was founded upon, one man stood up and said no. He said no in a way that captured the hearts and minds of a huge portion of our country.

My conservative friends are strutting around tonight likely branding Keith Olbermann a pariah they are glad to be done with. And, my response is oh, if only you were so lucky. I do not have to wait for word from Keith himself that he will eventually be back bigger than ever and now likely with an event more strident and devoted following. But, here's the deal. At a time when our media had folded up it's tent and totally sold out on its responsibility to report the truth to the America regarding things like the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, Habeas Corpus, and other horrific political garbage that the Bush administration cast upon all of us. Quite literally, one man stood up and called "BULLSHIT!" He did it nightly and he did it even when his bosses wanted him to stop.

As a result, he quite literally created a following so large that MSNBC has become the answer to the absolute garbage being cast upon this country by Fox News and everything else owned by Rupert Murdoch. Someone this good will not just go away. When I discover where he returns to and how, I will be there listening and so will millions of other Americans who care so deeply about who we are as a nation.

Today, in honor of Keith Olbermann I am glad I am late to posting my Friday Poetry. For his father, for him... it has to be James Thurber. Somehow this one even fits the mood.

The Last Flower - Cycle of Civilization

World War XII, as everyone knows, brought about the collapse of civilization. Towns cities, and villages disappeared. All the groves and forest were destroyed, and all the gardens, and all the works of art. Men, women, and children became lower than the animals. Discouraged and disillusioned, dogs deserted their fallen masters. Books Paintings, and music disappeared from the earth, and human beings just sat around doing nothing. Years and years went by. Even the few generals who were left forgot what the last war had decided. Boys and girls grew up to stare at each other blankly. Love had passed from earth.

One day, a young girl who had never seen a flower chanced to come upon the last one in the world. She told the other human beings that the last flower was dying. The only one who paid attention to her was a young man. Together, the young man and the girl nurtured the flower and it began to live again. One day, a bee visited the flower, and a humming bird. Before long, there were two flowers, and then a great many. Groves and forests flourished again. The young girl began to take interest in how she looked. The young man discovered that touching the girl was pleasurable. Love was reborn into the world.

The children of the young man and the girl grew up strong and healthy. They learned to run and laugh. Dogs came out of their exile. The young man discovered how to build a shelter. Pretty soon everybody was building shelters. Towns, cities, and villages sprung up. Song came back into the world, and troubadours and jugglers, tailors and cobblers, painters and poets, and sculptors, and soldiers and Lieutenants and Captains, and Generals and Major-Generals, and liberators. Some people went to one place to live, and some to another. Before long, those who went to live in the valleys wished they had gone to live in the hills. And those who had to live in the hills wished they had gone down to live in valleys. The liberators, under the guidance of God, set fire to the discontented. So presently, the world was at war again. This time, the destruction was so complete that nothing at all was left in the world, except one man, one woman, and a flower.

This week's Friday Poetry is hosted by Tara at A Teaching Life.