Barry Yelton
Please don’t shout
the night is still
day is over
and hope.
Now is the time
for quietness
for peace,
time.
She lies so still there
swaddled in silk
with flowers
and family
“The wind passes over it
and remembers it
no more.”
And yet I remember so much
days of hopeful youth
when she sang to me
talked with me
loved me
like no other ever will.
Speak softly now, the angels come
upon clouds of startling light
to take my mother
home.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
This is No Boy Scout Trail
Barry Yelton
From the moment we start up the forty degree gradient
our feet slipping on the wet leaves and rolling twigs
I know this hike was planned by Satan
We struggle up the steeps for three hundred yards
then the trail moderates for a quarter of a mile before the switchbacks
More fun to be had on the switching, rock climbing, root grabbing
seep laced trail. Am I sure I want to do this?
The first backpack is always the toughest. They say it gets easier.
Today seems to go on forever, until I walk 100 feet then stop and pant
and lean over, hands on my thighs, my thousand pound pack
shoving me forward, my heart pounding jack hammer strokes
not good for a man of 54, who’s eaten too many Big Macs
and sat behind a desk for too many years.
My more fit companion is patient. He stops, takes pictures and smiles knowingly.
We aim for a summit seven miles and 3,000 vertical feet distant
We are not going to make it. Let me rephrase...I am not going to make it.
So we stop and drop our packs on some conveniently placed boulders
An outcropping on the mountain side made for an exhausted hiker.
My partner scouts ahead and leaves me in the bear infested forest
(Was that something moving down the trail?)
He returns after what seems three hours with good and bad news
A good campsite for the night, but a steep scramble off the trail
We take it.
I feel better. Night falls, we eat potatoes and onions, grilled on a camp stove
The dark envelops us enfolding our universe
The air gets cold, early April at 5,000 feet in the Blue Ridge
We watch a blazing illegal campfire a half mile down the mountain side
and though tempted, we don’t build one
Settling in to the tent for the night, the wind whispers up the mountain side
singing a post modern melody as old as the moon
the bag is warm, the leaves underneath are soft
quiet conversation ebbs, as sleep comes on the final tide
From the moment we start up the forty degree gradient
our feet slipping on the wet leaves and rolling twigs
I know this hike was planned by Satan
We struggle up the steeps for three hundred yards
then the trail moderates for a quarter of a mile before the switchbacks
More fun to be had on the switching, rock climbing, root grabbing
seep laced trail. Am I sure I want to do this?
The first backpack is always the toughest. They say it gets easier.
Today seems to go on forever, until I walk 100 feet then stop and pant
and lean over, hands on my thighs, my thousand pound pack
shoving me forward, my heart pounding jack hammer strokes
not good for a man of 54, who’s eaten too many Big Macs
and sat behind a desk for too many years.
My more fit companion is patient. He stops, takes pictures and smiles knowingly.
We aim for a summit seven miles and 3,000 vertical feet distant
We are not going to make it. Let me rephrase...I am not going to make it.
So we stop and drop our packs on some conveniently placed boulders
An outcropping on the mountain side made for an exhausted hiker.
My partner scouts ahead and leaves me in the bear infested forest
(Was that something moving down the trail?)
He returns after what seems three hours with good and bad news
A good campsite for the night, but a steep scramble off the trail
We take it.
I feel better. Night falls, we eat potatoes and onions, grilled on a camp stove
The dark envelops us enfolding our universe
The air gets cold, early April at 5,000 feet in the Blue Ridge
We watch a blazing illegal campfire a half mile down the mountain side
and though tempted, we don’t build one
Settling in to the tent for the night, the wind whispers up the mountain side
singing a post modern melody as old as the moon
the bag is warm, the leaves underneath are soft
quiet conversation ebbs, as sleep comes on the final tide
Feeling Like Adolph Menjou Redux
Barry Yelton
I like the snags.
Did I tell you that?
I saw a light at the summit of the mountain
when clouds tagged the ridges
and sunlight played silly games
on the slopes
The light was bright, moving slightly
A star? Maybe but it seemed too close
A hiker? With a 10 Million candlepower lantern if so
No the light did not come from this side
of the divide...
Far over, it came, far over where
fairies fly in formations like bombers
And dreams are more commonplace than here
And people speak well of one another
and hope is not a four letter word
that rhymes with dope.
I walk toward the light, my legs burning
my heart burning
the incline is steep, the rocks impede my path
but still, I must touch it
The light on the mountain
that comes for over there
Then again, maybe I won’t, yes I will
The light can’t avoid me
forever...
I like the snags.
Did I tell you that?
I saw a light at the summit of the mountain
when clouds tagged the ridges
and sunlight played silly games
on the slopes
The light was bright, moving slightly
A star? Maybe but it seemed too close
A hiker? With a 10 Million candlepower lantern if so
No the light did not come from this side
of the divide...
Far over, it came, far over where
fairies fly in formations like bombers
And dreams are more commonplace than here
And people speak well of one another
and hope is not a four letter word
that rhymes with dope.
I walk toward the light, my legs burning
my heart burning
the incline is steep, the rocks impede my path
but still, I must touch it
The light on the mountain
that comes for over there
Then again, maybe I won’t, yes I will
The light can’t avoid me
forever...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Hypocrisy in America
There has been a great deal of discussion in the media in recent years about the celebration of Christmas in the public domain. Some have asserted that displays of the Nativity scene and symbols such as the cross are religious and therefore have no place on public property because of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The Establishment/Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It is a two pronged statement that prohibits an official state religion, like the Church of England, while clearly upholding the right to religious practice and expression. The anti-religionists give the broadest interpretation to the Establishment Clause, while the Free Exercise component is viewed in the narrowest possible way.
If federal, state or local governments were setting up churches or other places of worship and encouraging or mandating people to worship at the state church a religion would have been established. However allowing private groups or individuals, including churches, temples or mosques, to utilize public spaces for gatherings or religious displays should be no more considered the establishment of religion than permitting a fifth grade art exhibit depicting “Mother Earth” on Earth Day.
To believe that such exhibits violate the Establishment Clause is to take such a broad interpretation of it as to strain credulity. The intent of the framers relative to the scope of the clause is evident since the same First Congress that proposed the Bill of Rights also opened its legislative day with prayer and voted to apportion federal dollars to establish Christian missions in the Indian lands.
In my opinion, those earnest worshipers of the Establishment Clause, who on other issues often look upon the Constitution as a “living, breathing document,” are less concerned with the government establishing a religion than they are with marginalizing those who actually have one.
The ACLU, which was established by a Marxist, amazingly seems to battle even the most benign expressions of faith in the public square, such as The Boy Scouts use of a public park, while at the same time vigorously defending the rights of organizations such as NAMBLA, which advocates and promotes the vilest crimes imaginable, citing “free speech.” I suppose the warm waters of free speech end at the shoreline of religious expression. Hypocrisy never had a more shining avatar.
There is not simply a “War on Christmas” taking place in our country. There is a more fundamental conflict of values in progress with underlying agendas on both sides. The groups and individuals that TV commentator Bill O’Reilly refers to as “secular progressives” are aggressively trying to remove all expressions of faith from all public venues.
They want “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. They want “In God We Trust” removed from our currency. They want crèches, the Ten Commandments, and Christian crosses removed from every public space. In short they want any evidence of religious faith confined strictly to private property.
Why should we care about this “culture war?” We should care because by marginalizing Christianity in particular, the secular progressives will move a step closer to their dream of an America without God, Who demands certain behavioral norms that inconveniently conflict with the laissez faire moral attitudes of 21st century America. The ACLU and other radical “progressive” organizations want to manipulate what America sees and hears while maintaining their imagined status as defenders of “free speech.”
They know that if you marginalize God by confining religious expression to private property you limit and diminish the message. By limiting the message, your secular progressive message has less competition in the public marketplace of ideas. They don’t want children to see a Nativity scene on a courthouse lawn and be curious about the Child in the manger.
Once you limit religion to the private sector, then you have less resistance to your goal of a Godless, faithless, libertine America where the only behavior not tolerated is the expression of faith in God. Nothing else explains the rabidity with which the secular agenda is being pursued today, after over two hundred years of mostly peaceful coexistence of government and religion in our country.
The imaginary “wall of separation” between religion and government does not mandate that religion be shoved out of public life. It simply means what Jefferson and the other framers intended and that is the prohibition of formal state religion - nothing more.
The soothing words of those who see no problem banishing God from public life, whether it is a cross on public property or the act of wishing someone Merry Christmas at the mall, are calculated to make the average American believe that all is well and that there is really no problem with keeping religious expression strictly in the private arena.
They even try to foist upon us the canard that somehow public expression of religious faith “cheapens and demeans” that faith. Institutions like the ACLU and their fellow travelers, such as George Soros, don’t spend tens of millions of dollars every year fighting public religious expression and traditional values for nothing. They are cleverly hiding their true intent, hoping that the apathetic majority won’t notice – until it is too late.
The Establishment/Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It is a two pronged statement that prohibits an official state religion, like the Church of England, while clearly upholding the right to religious practice and expression. The anti-religionists give the broadest interpretation to the Establishment Clause, while the Free Exercise component is viewed in the narrowest possible way.
If federal, state or local governments were setting up churches or other places of worship and encouraging or mandating people to worship at the state church a religion would have been established. However allowing private groups or individuals, including churches, temples or mosques, to utilize public spaces for gatherings or religious displays should be no more considered the establishment of religion than permitting a fifth grade art exhibit depicting “Mother Earth” on Earth Day.
To believe that such exhibits violate the Establishment Clause is to take such a broad interpretation of it as to strain credulity. The intent of the framers relative to the scope of the clause is evident since the same First Congress that proposed the Bill of Rights also opened its legislative day with prayer and voted to apportion federal dollars to establish Christian missions in the Indian lands.
In my opinion, those earnest worshipers of the Establishment Clause, who on other issues often look upon the Constitution as a “living, breathing document,” are less concerned with the government establishing a religion than they are with marginalizing those who actually have one.
The ACLU, which was established by a Marxist, amazingly seems to battle even the most benign expressions of faith in the public square, such as The Boy Scouts use of a public park, while at the same time vigorously defending the rights of organizations such as NAMBLA, which advocates and promotes the vilest crimes imaginable, citing “free speech.” I suppose the warm waters of free speech end at the shoreline of religious expression. Hypocrisy never had a more shining avatar.
There is not simply a “War on Christmas” taking place in our country. There is a more fundamental conflict of values in progress with underlying agendas on both sides. The groups and individuals that TV commentator Bill O’Reilly refers to as “secular progressives” are aggressively trying to remove all expressions of faith from all public venues.
They want “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. They want “In God We Trust” removed from our currency. They want crèches, the Ten Commandments, and Christian crosses removed from every public space. In short they want any evidence of religious faith confined strictly to private property.
Why should we care about this “culture war?” We should care because by marginalizing Christianity in particular, the secular progressives will move a step closer to their dream of an America without God, Who demands certain behavioral norms that inconveniently conflict with the laissez faire moral attitudes of 21st century America. The ACLU and other radical “progressive” organizations want to manipulate what America sees and hears while maintaining their imagined status as defenders of “free speech.”
They know that if you marginalize God by confining religious expression to private property you limit and diminish the message. By limiting the message, your secular progressive message has less competition in the public marketplace of ideas. They don’t want children to see a Nativity scene on a courthouse lawn and be curious about the Child in the manger.
Once you limit religion to the private sector, then you have less resistance to your goal of a Godless, faithless, libertine America where the only behavior not tolerated is the expression of faith in God. Nothing else explains the rabidity with which the secular agenda is being pursued today, after over two hundred years of mostly peaceful coexistence of government and religion in our country.
The imaginary “wall of separation” between religion and government does not mandate that religion be shoved out of public life. It simply means what Jefferson and the other framers intended and that is the prohibition of formal state religion - nothing more.
The soothing words of those who see no problem banishing God from public life, whether it is a cross on public property or the act of wishing someone Merry Christmas at the mall, are calculated to make the average American believe that all is well and that there is really no problem with keeping religious expression strictly in the private arena.
They even try to foist upon us the canard that somehow public expression of religious faith “cheapens and demeans” that faith. Institutions like the ACLU and their fellow travelers, such as George Soros, don’t spend tens of millions of dollars every year fighting public religious expression and traditional values for nothing. They are cleverly hiding their true intent, hoping that the apathetic majority won’t notice – until it is too late.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Across the Space, by Barry Yelton, 2007
now in lasting twilight
your mind sight seeks renewal
reaching upward toward the pinpoints
on the hoary head of night
toward never worlds seen only
in your visionary dreams
with ostentious variations
on your planetary theme
the third stone marks exception
to the universal rule
of mindful, random glories
and oppressive, lifeless orb
On that great day of speaking
when the vastness whirled to being
It was known that you’d come seeking
and perhaps known what you’ll find
your mind sight seeks renewal
reaching upward toward the pinpoints
on the hoary head of night
toward never worlds seen only
in your visionary dreams
with ostentious variations
on your planetary theme
the third stone marks exception
to the universal rule
of mindful, random glories
and oppressive, lifeless orb
On that great day of speaking
when the vastness whirled to being
It was known that you’d come seeking
and perhaps known what you’ll find
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Reunion!
A national Yelton reunion is being planned for October 18 & 19, 2008 in Rutherford County, NC. All the Yelton's who are descended from James and Isabel Hinson Yelton of Overwharton Parrish, Stafford County, Virginia, circa 1722, are invited. Others who may be from other lines, unknown to our family genealogist are welcome as well.
There will be cemetery and historical site tours on Saturday the 18th and a covered dish luncheon and reunion events at the Cliffside Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Cliffside, NC. on Sunday, October 19.
Email me at yelton18nc at aol dot com if you want more information.
There will be cemetery and historical site tours on Saturday the 18th and a covered dish luncheon and reunion events at the Cliffside Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Cliffside, NC. on Sunday, October 19.
Email me at yelton18nc at aol dot com if you want more information.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Time and Again
Here it is, second half of the first month of the New Year. 2008 somehow has a ring of unreality to it. I had just settled into 2007 when all of a sudden, it's over!
Everything changes and yet nothing does. The world and its woes are like a broken record, forever repeating the same mistakes, crimes, and other perfidies. Warms the heart; it does.
I laugh when I hear people talk about how this is the 21st century and the old mores are as passe as hoop skirts and gingham. As if somehow we have transmogrified into another species in the past few years and none of the verities of the past applies anymore. This is the thinking of the shallow minded and the callow.
If you think the law of gravity has been suspended; just take a step off a tall building and see. The same with basic mores. A brave new world is neither new nor brave, just morally convenient for those who can't see beyond their noses.
And there you have it, more musings from temporally challenged. You can pay attention or not. Free will hasn't been suspended either.
Everything changes and yet nothing does. The world and its woes are like a broken record, forever repeating the same mistakes, crimes, and other perfidies. Warms the heart; it does.
I laugh when I hear people talk about how this is the 21st century and the old mores are as passe as hoop skirts and gingham. As if somehow we have transmogrified into another species in the past few years and none of the verities of the past applies anymore. This is the thinking of the shallow minded and the callow.
If you think the law of gravity has been suspended; just take a step off a tall building and see. The same with basic mores. A brave new world is neither new nor brave, just morally convenient for those who can't see beyond their noses.
And there you have it, more musings from temporally challenged. You can pay attention or not. Free will hasn't been suspended either.
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