Sometimes I just don't have the words, or the time, or the strength, to say what I want to say here. I'm tired, I'm busy, I'm burnt out on politics, and I'm resolved to take a summer solstice from this blogging thing. There's so much to be depressed and angry and bitter and unhappy about, sometimes you just have to say, I gotta get away from this for a while. Not forever, but for a while, to clear the head and clear the thoughts and recharge for the months and years ahead.
I keep saying that, but I haven't been able to pull myself away completely. But I am lurking more and posting less, and that just feels right for now.
I don't have very much I'm capable of saying for myself right now, so I'm keeping more quiet. But I ran across a song from the 80s that makes me think, that's what I would say if I had the ability to be coherent.
So, on the flip, give a listen to someone I've been a fan of since I can remember -- Jackson Browne. The song was about Central America, but it stands in pretty well today. It's called Lives in the Balance.
I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs
On the radio talk shows and the t.v.
You hear one thing again and again
How the u.s.a. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends--
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names
They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Peace be with you all. I'm not gonna be around much this summer, but I doubt I can really go cold turkey, so I'll be here now and then. Stay cool, stay safe, and keep up the fight.