I love life, God—call it what you will,
a mysterious mission to maximize five
senses on our way to a sixth called
peace of mind.

We are political, or not, to the exact
extent politics affects us.

I wanted Reagan to win in 1980 against
Carter, had my reasons, was ready to vote—
they said “Go away, you’re only eight years
old” so I went away until I was eighteen
and “legal” by a discriminatory Constitution.

By then I was drinking alcohol underage
for years, saying “F politics, and you.”

I didn’t care for a while until Saddam invaded
Kuwait, then Bush Sr. lit up the sky with war.

I was all for it, put your body into it, go
get’em armed forces, I mean my uncle was
working for Bush as Secretary of Energy at the
time—a former Chief of Naval Operations.

Breaking the law is political too, and I had been
breaking the law since five on Dad’s lap,
I drank his last sip of bourbon and water.

That put a devil in my life, and murder—among
other things, was okay—so killing Iraqis and war
was just fine with me…

Until I got saved at Betty Ford Center, named after
a president’s wife, I started to find a God that
worked for me, centered in Truth, expression of
it, and the end of fear.

My politics began to change, and as peace came
into my life, non-violence respected, war became
the anti-Christ it always was, but now I saw it.

War no longer served me, unless you go by one
definition of “war” I heard once:

“War is the journey of a seed becoming a flower.”

There’s another, even an opposite way to seeing
all things and matters.

Our political feelings are dormant until something
we love is taken away, or we get annoyed or
offended by a politician or his or her political
act or decree.

“They took away my favorite stop sign, they made
fireworks illegal, they’re thinking of deporting my
maid.”

Something hits home, but until then we’re
“apolitical.”

I had a political awakening almost twenty years
after my spiritual one, in October of 2014.

That’s when I let myself see JFK by Oliver Stone.

When I was firmly on the right, Stone was “a
conspiracy kook.”

But HBO kept airing the dang thing that month,
and one day I sat down and watched it.

*******

CIA killed JFK, that’s clear to me after what has now
been three years of study.

I was apolitical about JFK’s murder until it was
clear they got the wrong guy, that Jackie suffered
PTSD from seeing her husband murdered in a cowardly,
covert way.

The CIA continues to skate, locking up American
documents, their version of omerta as they tweet
how cool they are for not having to obey the law.

Makes me sick in a politicized way, gets one off
the bench and ready to play.

Divorce is a myth, truth is sexy, there’s love in
these lines if annoyed, you read between them.

Loving life and God is good, put what you believe
paramount and enjoy.

But if that ability is taken away or even threatened:

Welcome to politics, you will have to take a stand
or die—the fear used to be that communists would
come from the sky.

Some fears have base, some characterized
by False Evidence Appearing Real, so we
F Everything and Run, those commies are coming
for me, pass me a gun!

Some fear North Korea will hit the red button,
but me—I’m grounded in the solid fact that
we in the United States are as corrupt as any
other station.

We kill our own leaders, lock up evidence, then
parade around “saving other nations.”

God saves, reduces “politics” to just another
passion like art or poetry.

Some are into it, some are not—this argument
about living your life until it suddenly stops.

If politics or law contributed to your loss or
annoyance, I’ll see you at the voting polls
applying the Declaration of Independence.

Vote for Hillary or vote for Donald, go independent
or vote not at all—and accept the fact that there
is a Higher Power in charge, politicians are not
it.

As soon as we realize that, we have peace of mind
right in the middle of political despair’s worst,
saddest pit.