Welcome to
Poetic Refreshment Magazine
“Bridging Gaps In Understanding for the Betterment of Humanity,
and Entertaining the Soul With the Spirit of Rhyme”
The Prevention of War
Including an Interview with Rudy Asercion
Director of Public Relations, American Legion War Memorial Commission
Creation or Evolution?
Either Way, We’re It!
Poetic Fiction
Science Fiction Fun and Possibility In Rhythm and Rhyme
“On the Other Hand . . .”
The Series That Looks at Other Points of View by Spending Time In Others’ Shoes
“If You Could Tell the World One Thing,
Of All The Things You’ve Learned In Life,
What Would It Be?”
Bill, Medi-Vac Pilot, Vietnam War, Responds Thirty Years Later
Rambling On . . .
Sailing the Winds of Human Experience
This Month: Memories of a Paramedic
Plus: Lyrics for Song Makers
In these times when the youth of our generation may not be
mindful of the realities of social potential, and can be easily
swayed to turn against, and be disrespectful toward, the very
establishments that allow them the blessings of prosperity and
liberty they enjoy, it seems essential to take preventative steps
to affect their conscience in an attempt to foster appreciation for
the wonderful local, state, and federal governing bodies whereby
they are offered safety within such rich existence.
As a poet who has traveled from shore to shore of this great
nation, observing the goodness of its people, and the
manifestation of its legislation, I am compelled to offer my talents
as a writer to stimulate awareness of how fortunate we are as a
people to thrive within the protections of the laws, organizations,
and corporations that have made this Country a global symbol of
freedom and democracy. Having evolved myself through
different beliefs and lifestyles, and having traveled in anonymity
among those whose beliefs are cause for concern to any
intelligent fore-thinking soul who understands that military
strategies of other countries may involve creation of hostilities
among one’s own people by various means to weaken it and
threaten its integrity, it behooves such poet who recognizes the
danger of our times to take all necessary steps to prevent, as
much as possible, the turning of the individual minds of a nation
against each other to allow the chaos of anarchy to open the door
for mortal conflicts, civil war, and the interruption of peace we
have long enjoyed thanks to the dedicated mind and might of our
established government.
In a video game-addicted population that spends hours
pretending to inflict horrible acts against strangers, in the name
of fun, it only takes a few social ingredients
to corrupt our future into the hands of those who do not
understand the long-term consequences of their violence when
they are tempted to utilize their strength for destruction. As a
man gifted with the talent of rhythm and rhyme tested and
proven effective among many levels of society, and being grateful
for the life I have lived under the wings of this Great Nation, I
offer my services to initiate a campaign for government
appreciation that is aimed at the heart of those at risk for
denying its blessings.
Respect for Order
Order must be maintained,
else our survival falls apart.
Without the strength of law,
our decay would surely start.
The benefits of taxation
are proven by our way of life,
such as hearing our favorite song
romancing late into the night,
or when we’re driving on an asphalt road
that many people worked to pave
rewarded by a paycheck
tax-paying sources gave.
Cheers to this great country
for its Ivy Leagues and stores!
For its bridges and its liberty
this thankful heart adores!
Our stability and security
come from hard work and perseverance.
Legislation and enforcement
prevent destructive interference.
Our minds and hearts can rest in peace
when we are sheltered, fed, and safe,
and when we’re free to dream and travel
blessed by fate that feeds our faith.
We are only mortals
bound to make mistakes,
and the Present, like a mother,
giving birth to Future, aches.
We must be forgiving
and help the disrespectful see,
so despite what Was, or Is,
we improve what Yet Will Be.
Joseph Stegner
Struggle for Survival
Since the dawn of recorded history,
mortal combat has been a fact.
We are even told the first son of man
was murdered by his brother’s act.
We only know what we are told,
though, indeed, we were not there,
But war has plagued our species
at different times, most everywhere.
Here in these United States,
when they were not united,
by nothing more than color uniforms,
opposing teams were shot when sighted
As barbaric as the past may seem
when we are looking back,
at the time of such atrocities,
they were thought the proper track.
Vaccination against such ill
is this poet’s attempted task,
even if it seems unrealistic
that war’s prevention one should ask.
Like running toward the ocean,
and telling the next wave to stop,
so it is the advancing of armies
ignore the pleas of their human crop.
Speaking a different language,
with orders to ignore,
despite the pleading of mothers,
families are slaughtered in war.
This is not unfounded fiction,
or the words of the mentally ill.
These are horrific facts of history
that masses swell to kill.
“An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure”
the adage of old we are told.
Therefore to different purpose
I struggle to not be sold.
Because of my medic background,
and the tragedies I’ve seen,
from potentials affecting our species,
my soul cannot be clean.
War is hell by human hands,
thus, before its flames are lit,
in the evolution of creation,
we must evolve to conquer it.
Energy used for destruction
can propel us to the stars,
proven by the engines
we use daily in our cars.
Gasoline fumes are combustible.
Technology harnesses well.
Likewise, our warheads on missles
can bring us to the heavens, instead of Hell.
Sincerely,
Joseph Stegner
April 24, 2005
Is It Just a Fantasy?
Is it just a fantasy
that somewhere in our roots
we share what can bring peace to every one?
Or is it more reality
that our species has to war,
evolving from the sword to long-range gun?
Is it fact or fiction that we are all created,
and the saints are worth an ear in which to hear?
If we, within two hundred years,
evolved from horse, to car, to jet,
why can’t we then believe such road is near . . .
one where we sail solar winds
beyond the planets we can see,
as we reach for that horizon
like we once approached the sea.
As if the world just ended,
beyond our plane of sight,
the thought of crossing oceans
made the weak heart lose its might.
Some believed such journey
was not intended for our feet,
and doubted that survival
would be granted to such feat.
but we have long-since proven
that the Earth indeed is round,
and if we travel on the water,
we will still be on the ground.
Within the very elements
that exist within the Earth,
there is the energy and resources
by which to propagate our birth.
Like ships that float on water
can be lumber, glass, or steel,
so ability to survive deep space
is possible and real.
If we do not have faith,
then there is no need we should try,
but doubt was once insisted
that we could not traverse the sky.
Yet here we are with Concord jets,
and shuttles out in orbit,
and on the surface of distant moons,
and Mars, our rovers sit.
Is it just a fantasy,
or can we reach the stars?
Humans have intelligence
to evolve there with our cars.
June 13, 2005
********************************
Rambling On . . .
Sailing the Winds of Human Experience
Among my Medic Memories . . .
“Help me, I’m Stuck!” she screamed in the dark,
as I walked past her friend in the road.
The over-turned van, with people ejected,
crashed when the driver’s eyes closed.
Asleep at the wheel on 101,
one mile south of Salinas . . .
the brightest of lights in the star-speckled sky
no other than far away Venus.
Twisted, deformed, in a pool of her blood,
a testament to not wearing seatbelts.
Triage the living . . . decide who goes first . . .
in the upside-down van, there, she knelt.
Rather, her knee cap was stuck under the roof,
torn from its bend in the leg.
The driver was worse, as he quietly moaned,
but her pain made her yellingly beg.
When you don’t wear restraints,
should your car ever flip,
your body moves at freeway speed.
Glass that is shattered, from striking the road,
cannot keep you inside, despite need.
or perhaps I should tell of the bullets and knives
that have left their own scars on my heart . . .
the trauma I’ve seen,
and the blood that I’ve washed,
that tore my life slowly apart . . .
In the middle of crowds,
with spotlight on,
“Medic, you must do your job!”
Swallow your tears,
turn off emotions,
and endure what each call starts to rob.
Forget what you’ve heard
when the families wailed
because magic was not in your scope,
and due to the damage you could not reverse,
with the Reaper did your patient elope.
Drive home in the morning,
to your family still sleeping,
unable to share what you’ve seen . . .
as the stains on your mind
seep into your veins
from the images you cannot wipe clean.
Keep your chin up.
Keep your heart unattached,
and do what a medic must do.
Sickness and Death
are merely the facts
of what, on your job, you must view.
To be continued . . .
The Prevention of War
Including an Interview with Rudy Asercion
Director of Public Relations, American Legion
War Memorial Commission
“What is the topic of your article?”
he asked, when there we met,
when an interview for Poetic Refreshment
I was introduced to get.
“The Prevention of War” I said with strength,
and a pleading in my eyes,
one that begged with love I felt indeed,
that I yearned he’d recognize.
“Sit down.” he replied respectfully.
“Your timing is superb.”
“We have just finished some research”
which he began to share in word.
Among the things he revealed to me,
profound for this report,
was how much thoughtful heart and skill
is spent on tools of last-resort.
He likened it to art forms,
which touched that goose-bump nerve in me,
for that means labor born of love
envisions their success to be.
All the soulful planning,
which gave the weapon form,
meant all that time and energy
aimed to make Cold whom Life made Warm.
I left the ambulance to conjure verse
after seeing people die,
believing how we feel inside
always gives our actions Why.
I surrendered pay and title
as an Oakland Paramedic,
to defend Life, as a poet,
from Disrespect’s real epidemic.
The heart that drives an artist
who prepares to meet the worst,
wants to ensure that when life’s threatened,
its existence is not cursed.
“What can one expect,
if so much heart goes to such cause?”
When weapons are constructed,
use often follows unseen laws.
He went on to say they studied, too,
the evolution of such means,
from small arms to the Hydrogen Bomb,
our need for peace now clearly screams.
We are at a point in history
when potentials are quite bleak,
and it is in such times of challenge
that our will cannot be weak.
The presence of humanity
is more fragile than our tools.
Though we’ve unleashed Creation’s power,
it can destroy, if we are fools.
If we, as a thriving species,
who have proven we can rise,
who, from the ground and all its elements,
turn thoughts to planes that fly the skies,
were to harness our abilities,
and what soldiers true possess,
instead of into combat,
into the heavens we could press
by mastering the depths of Earth
and the pressures of the sea.
As our roots reach in the ground,
Outer Space can bloom our Tree.
If our sights were set so far ahead
with belief that we are loved,
then the Origin Who branched Us All
can prove our place ‘round stars above.
But if we are too cowardly
to attempt such fateful trek,
history confirms that war,
of the future, makes a wreck.
The limits of resources,
and the ownership of land,
always finds that combination
leads to strategies well planned
that can take by force the wanted source
of what the wanter does desire,
and against whom Life created,
Hell unleashes summoned fire.
But there is hope!
Whether you believe we were created,
or we are forms of evolution,
that we are Life, right Here, and Now,
needs no false convolution.
We are that link of Yesterday
that meets up with Tomorrow.
We are the ones who build the world
that can bring pleasure, pain, or sorrow.
It is not enough to just say “love,
live in peace, and never fight.”
If our population never thinned,
lack of food might be our plight.
Unless we broaden our horizons
to include rich outer space,
where minerals and energy
can transport us off Earth’s face,
the realities of death by war
will always be around,
because people become subjects
to those who want to own their ground.
A Proposition for Survival
What if each country now existing,
and each family name within,
were given plots among the stars
so that such efforts might begin
to focus our attention
on making that dream real,
so the lands of distant planets
the adventurous can feel?
Humans are amazing!
Just look at what we’ve done,
and consider our potential,
and stars as warm as our own sun!
Education is that master tool
whereby “impossible” is not,
and from what never was before,
we invent with what we’ve got.
Cars and planes and rocket ships,
cell phones, games, and satellites . . .
electricity and processed fuel
to keep us warm on freezing nights . . .
Buildings eighty stories tall,
and chambers deep in Earth . . .
and submarines on ocean floors
all prove we can be near our birth.
Instead of being foolish forms
who wilted despite chance,
we can continue our intelligence
and prolong our species’ dance.
Our bodies are quite delicate,
and our chemistry, as well,
but that indeed we are Beloved,
religions oracles still tell.
Instead of into hopeless doom
of what keeps happening again,
we can evolve in sweet creation
so that the cosmos welcome men
and the women who beget them
from the tender of the womb,
who nurse with their own nipples
not to send love to its tomb.
There is a truth to our equality
that many factors can obscure.
That we are born, and someday die,
is a common ground that’s sure,
but what we can accomplish
while we are still alive
should inspire our togetherness
to find a way that we can thrive.
Friends are always better
than the presence of a foe,
so instead of into battle,
into Great Destiny, let us go.
Please.
Joseph Stegner
August 21, 2005
****************************
Creation or Evolution?
Either Way, We’re It!
Creation, or Evolution?
Do we really know?
How old is the Earth, compared to us?
How far can our looking back go?
Some say it is sin to doubt holy words,
and the Bible’s account is exact,
and if anything sounds to the contrary,
fear makes it labeled “Not Fact.”
As a man who has studied the Scriptures,
and given much of my life to its quest,
it seems that these times now upon us
could use what might settle unrest.
“In the Image of God We Are Made!”
many accounts will attest.
and it’s only our human shortcomings
that make us not be at our best.
We are alive, and are present in time ~
that instant before What Will Be.
And here, as you read, you are as that link,
with eyes, from the past, that can see.
Evolved or Created? Some argue quite fierce,
as if they are certain they know.
Since Life is Alive, and Unending,
who are we to say how our forms grow?
It is written “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the word was God.
The same was in the Beginning with God”
(Words of St John)
From nothing we came, and are manifest ~
from sperm, as the seed, in an egg.
Yet, despite how we swam to the ovum,
on the earth moves our arm and each leg.
The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus,
if observed from above, at its spine,
is similar in shape to our own,
though bigger, in a far away time.
(visit UC Berkeley Life Sciences Bldg/Museum)
Look at the side of a mountain,
one eroded, or cut to reveal
layers of ages of change on this globe
that only guesses can guess what was real.
That will make some Faithful squirmish,
and insist that they know what is true.
Though “Almighty” means Anything’s possible,
will insist an illogical view.
Evolution or Creation?
Does it matter in the end?
Are we creating a world to be proud of?
Or on excuses do we like to depend?
Some will say that the day is long over
wherein human’s reached to their prime,
but if Life, and its Source, Is Eternal,
who are We to put limits on Time?
It matters not if I came from a monkey,
a fish, or even a seal.
What matters is the use of my being,
whichever belief has appeal.
I am only a mortal,
though my love for my Maker is felt,
so I will not fight that Creation,
by my limited sight must be dealt.
What began from a Word in deep space,
or wherever Light suddenly shone,
became all the matter existing,
and from soil all food has been grown.
Only one sun ignites the day sky,
despite different things we believe,
and Jesus, himself, said the Wicked and Just,
from above, do equally receive.
Is the question a matter of ego?
Who knows what others do not?
Who has the secret to Heaven,
or the keys few others have got?
Who has a friendship with Knowledge
that shows a superior trait,
while accusing a fellow creation
of inferior intellectual state?
Is someone the better when someone is worse?
Does our body compete with its cells?
Does the Ear have less value or function
if the Nose cannot hear as it Smells?
If only we unlocked our potential
by focusing on what we can improve,
instead of arguing over the details
that we don’t have the power to move.
.
Perhaps ONCE from man came a woman,
but since then, from a Woman all come,
and the milk of her breast is our sustenance,
despite what in Eden was done.
If indeed we are born of one maker,
than silly it is to put down,
for even those who are errored in thinking
are descendants of the one with the Crown!
Who is so bold to see royalty,
and mock, or make fun of their face?
Likewise the difference among us
shouldn’t be our excuse to disgrace.
We are All, each of us, breathing ~
in between What Has Been, and Will Be.
Evolving on Earth, or Created,
our hearts beat in pulses for free.
The good we should do to each other
shouldn’t need fear of Hell to induce.
Our common bond sharing Earth’s elements
should be enough to inspire a truce.
Some will continue “it matters a lot!”
for survival should belong to the best,
and resources shouldn’t be wasted
on those who have failed Struggle’s test.
Insisting that ALL are created
might make an aggressor feel sick,
when such might suggest opposition
is the result of believing a trick . . .
one whose deception began in the heart,
and the way that a mind can perceive.
Who wants to think what appears to be true
is not what is best to believe?
Look at the Wild, and ways of the feast
when predators choose whom to eat.
The prey who sustains who has won,
by ‘selection’ was handed defeat.
We are a civilized species,
so we mustn’t use guides of the field
to dictate how our human behavior
should order the power we wield.
If indeed our forms are Divine,
and Divine is the Root of our Vine,
then let us look forward to how it can be
when our species unites with its mind,
and places its efforts on getting along,
and inhabiting the challenges we face . . .
populating the Earth, the Sea, and the Moon,
so Humanity, and Technology, keep pace.
We have proven remarkable ability
to extract and combine what we need
to make what exists in the earth
into tools that can shelter and feed.
Let’s not give up and divide once again,
and start fighting over what we can’t change.
However we came to existence,
we are here with One Earth as our range.
Creation or Evolution?
Which ever, we are IT!
Like a key in the lock of our destiny,
in the Present, we perfectly fit!
Joseph Stegner
August 24, 2005
Forgiveness
“The Absence of Forgiveness
Is an Arrow to the Heart of the Future”
Oh, how what can be of good
is never let to bloom
when the swallowing of guilt
sucks it down into its tomb
When potential that is brilliant,
of the best of could-be fates
is discouraged or prevented
because of unforgiving states.
Yet, who can blame the tired,
or those who fear what Kindness does
responding to an ill event,
however long ago it was?
Forgiveness is essential,
but so is being free of harm.
Who wants to be insecure
that a threat merits alarm?
If one wants to be forgiven,
they must not give cause to doubt.
When we are safe to be most vulnerable,
it brings our best potential out.
Making friends with enemies
in noble and divine.
Even Scripture says forgiveness
should be extended every time.
When people want to argue,
or people want to fight,
the best of true intentions
eludes judgmental sight.
The glory of a person’s heart
is not seen by scowling minds,
and the eye that looks for evil,
if it tries, it often finds.
Any one can call someone ugly
for something, before, they had done.
Improving a soul to do better,
is like making a crippled soul run.
Forgiveness is a magical action.
It can unleash some wonderful things.
Every one is made to feel better
by what Mercy’s tolerance brings.
Joseph Stegner
August 25, 2005
(Publishished to the web November 17, 2005)
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