Remember Dignity (1989)

There I was thirty (30) years old, still nowhere in life, nowhere in time, while all else passes me by. I'm in limbo, awaiting a decision from people, who know nothing about me, except what they were told by other people, who also know nothing about me. This is, truly, the real, cruel world. A dictatorship run by a small group of people, with small minds. People who seem to have no respect, no humanity, at all for the life around them. As long as there is a profit, in the degradation of a large number of people, such as the population of Toronto (where I live), such petty minded people are in for the long haul.
As I sit here, I wish I could understand the falsehoods of life as it crowds me in in darkness, an anvil hanging over my fate, a guillotine, to sever the truth from illusion and lies. I will remember this day.

Today is Remembrance Day, when the people of this nation and the others around the world, remember those who died during all the past wars and conflicts, the earth has, unwillingly, been a partner to. They always remember those who died fighting, those they call heroes, and even those who were cowards. You know behind the desks, or those giving orders, having never stepped foot on a battlefield. Those who gained rank, not through their prowess at Command, or Combat, but by being born with the right name, related to someone important, or have enough money to buy a position. Yes there are those whom have earned their rank, those who would rather seek alternate solution to war. They, who seek battle and confrontation are those who, we as humans can do without! Poppycock! you say.

They rarely remember the victims, the children, the animals, the vegetation, the Earth. The first casualty of war is not innocence, it is dignity. Those to be remembered have irreplaceable dreams, lives, all destroyed. For what? World domination, and conquest; to liberate one group, while oppressing another; worrying what is going on in someone else's backyard, while you neglect the atrocities in you own front yard. I had an irreplaceable dream, many have had it. Now it is but a memory, a breath of fog, drifting through windmills on a desolate landscape.

No-one should ever be allowed to forget the destruction all have caused to this planet, our sanctuary, the place we all call home.

- Remember the Good Old Days! -
There was once a time I wanted to help my fellow man. Now, I an forced to pick and choose, who deserves and is non-deserving of help. That is wrong. We should help those who need help, any help. I have never had a bias bone in my body, I don't recall being born with one. I feel I'm being forced, I will fight to keep the open mind I'm cursed to have, and not let society and its inhumanities dissuade me.

Today on television, I watched in succession "Hanna's War", "Biloxi Blues", and "Full Metal Jacket", these bring to mind images of other films of their ilk, "Hamburger Hill", "Platoon", "Heartbreak Ridge." In some of these movies, a great deal of degradation to a soldier is inflicted by his/her peers, superiors or senior persons. I feel as though I'm on my first "Tour of Duty." The second casualty of War, is still not innocence, it is humanity. Why is it that those who promote war, never fight in them?

Reality and Life are two Realms in the same time frame. "Past", "Present", and "Future" are related only by Time. The most important period being, the Present, followed by Future, and lastly the Past. Cherish them in this order always. I was taught this by my father along time ago. Yet, the "Past" teaches how to handle the "Present", which sets the "Future" in motion.