Running with Wild Horses

Running with Wild Horses The buzz about the movie "Into the Wild" had not eluded me; so on a drearily rainy Saturday I decided to invest some time in viewing it. I am glad I did. If you have not seen it feel free to read on, the ending or even a significant portion of its contents will not be divulged in this piece, although I intend to reference a brief scene from this emotionally explosive movie. It involves a scene where the lead character or really person, since the film is based on the life of a real person, finds himself running beside a herd of wild mustangs. Viewing his gleeful abandonment evoked a memory from my own boyhood. Coming of age in the catalytic sixties and turbulent seventies, and the major and minor events that defined those decades, had a profound effect on my development as a young man. Like many of that generation of baby boomers, I came to reject all authority and question all prior wisdom, unless it was written in the lyrics of a favored rock ballad. My parents were clueless and backward, my teachers were buffoons and worse, the police were knuckle-dragging Nazis, and all other adults were, in the mind of at least one sixteen year old teenager, brain dead robots bent on blowing each other up in the Cold War. In the midst of these chaotic times I decided to do the only thing that made logical sense, split to California and join the revolution (the one the Beatles sang about)! I made it as far as Amarillo. Running away was often my answer during that tumultuous time of my life. Every adult in my life wanted me to toe some line that seemed to be always moving. Make the grades; make the team; make the right friends; make your bed; etc., you get the picture. All I wanted to do was have fun and be liked by my peers but pressure from my parents and other authority figures made me want to run. Run to a place where MY agenda was paramount and where the party never ended. Most runaways never get too far from home. That is why Law Enforcement is hesitant to get involved unless some time has elapsed since the disappearance or some sign(s) of foul play are obvious. Reality, in the form of hunger, homelessness, or fear, makes the home and family they leave less reprehensible. Swallowing pride and tongue, many slink home midst tears and apologies. I know this because that was exactly the state in which I found myself every time rebellion led me to leave hearth and home for the illusory "greener grass". Amarillo is not even halfway to California from my little hometown in North Texas. However, to this teenaged boy it may as well have been China. Why I stopped there, if memory serves me correctly, was for at least two reasons. The first was because that was where the ride I had hitched dropped me on the first night of my trek to the Golden State. Secondly, I was already out of money and short on ideas on how to get more cash quickly. A truck stop with a "Help Wanted" sign seemed like a match made, well somewhere, so my mobile benefactor let me out there. The truck stop manager skeptically scrutinized the skinny runaway requesting employment, not believing for one second that he was seventeen and thus able to work without parental permission. The fact that I looked fourteen, despite being a full two years older, did not help my cause. He hired me anyway, the reason becoming quickly apparent after starting my new career washing the grease and grime off of eighteen-wheelers, by hand! Who else would do it? My dreams of revolution in the streets of Berkley, sweet southern California girls, and blissful parties on the beach (hey, I grew up watching Frankie and Annette), quickly vanished in the muck and mire of my personal truck stop purgatory. Bone-wearying, mundane work followed by infinitely lonely nights came with drumbeat regularity, to the point that California may as well have been New Zealand. That was the sad reality to a discouraged and disillusioned young man from Denton, Texas. Big adventure it turned out to be, Thoreau found his Walden Pond, I found an Amarillo truck stop. Somehow the irony failed to escape me. Fast forward to the present (with technology moving at warp speed is that phrase already archaic?) and to the purpose of this piece. Remember when you were young and almost anything seemed possible? What was your California? Were you, like me, shipwrecked in Amarillo on your way there? At a truck stop? Hopefully you were not relegated to the truck wash shop as penance for your dreams. No, I never made it to California, at least on that attempt. Yes, I have been there many times in my adult life. Whatever your dreams were; whatever nirvana looks like to you today; whether it is to swim with the dolphins; climb Mount Everest; or run with wild horses; in the words of another dreamer across the sea; "never, never, never, never, give up!" ~ Michael Edward Clearman vp

Two Vagabond Lovers

A wayward soul weary from wandering chanced on the same road as I. With nary a word and barely a glance sat next to me with a sigh. “Where ya been and where ya from?” was the wanderer’s quiet query. “Travelin’ ‘round thru countless towns” said I so worn and weary. “What winding road or river wide has brought you here today?” “This path I’m on has been quite long, how long it’s hard to say.” Two silent sojourners sat a while waiting as day was done. Searching for some forgotten love in the fire of the setting sun. “My heart is cold but my hands are warm, shall we leave this lonely land?' Depart these dark and vagabond hearts, bound together hand in hand?” Our silence broken her eyes sought same, ‘twas the answer I hoped I’d find. “Did heaven match us or was it fate?” “Keep your hands ‘cause your heart is mine!” ~ Michael Edward Clearman

The Cancer of Racism

Social media and real-time reporting are mirrors into the soul of a sick nation. The cynical media mantra "If it bleeds it leads" has aided and abetted the very worst among us by giving these vermin their wicked 15 minutes. As a society, as a people, we are at the precipice of a point of no return. As a lifelong student of the country of my birth and its place in the world, I am convinced that we are more divided than ever. There is nothing united about the United States of America! The cancerous growth that was conceived in this nation at its inception, the enslavement of human beings, raced unfettered through its willing host until the 1860's, a Civil War tumor that threatened to consume our democracy. (democracy for most Americans anyway) Until the 1960's, the cancer masked its presence by morphing into both hidden and overt bigotry and racism, denial of voting rights, and murder by rope and the raping of an entire race's soul. Bringing us to the present. The cancer appeared to be under control, manageable, until it erupted with a murderous vengeance. It has metastasized in the soul of America and the prognosis is extremely grim. What hope of a lasting cure have we left? There is a radical new experimental treatment that could very well heal this patient. No, it is not a pipe dream or a panacea. It is a plan for healing this nation. Will you join me?

The Cancer of Racism

Social media and real-time reporting are mirrors into the soul of a sick nation. The cynical media mantra "If it bleeds it leads" has aided and abetted the very worst among us by giving these vermin their wicked 15 minutes. As a society, as a people, we are at the precipice of a point of no return. As a lifelong student of the country of my birth and its place in the world, I am convinced that we are more divided than ever. There is nothing united about the United States of America! The cancerous growth that was conceived in this nation at its inception, the enslavement of human beings, raced unfettered through its willing host until the 1860's, a Civil War tumor that threatened to consume our democracy. (democracy for most Americans anyway) Until the 1960's, the cancer masked its presence by morphing into both hidden and overt bigotry and racism, denial of voting rights, and murder by rope and the raping of an entire race's soul. Bringing us to the present. The cancer appeared to be under control, manageable, until it erupted with a murderous vengeance. It has metastasized in the soul of America and the prognosis is extremely grim. What hope of a lasting cure have we left? There is a radical new experimental treatment that could very well heal this patient. No, it is not a pipe dream or a panacea. It is a plan for healing this nation. Will you join me?

The Cancer of Racism

Social media and real-time reporting are mirrors into the soul of a sick nation. The cynical media mantra "If it bleeds it leads" has aided and abetted the very worst among us by giving these vermin their wicked 15 minutes. As a society, as a people, we are at the precipice of a point of no return. As a lifelong student of the country of my birth and its place in the world, I am convinced that we are more divided than ever. There is nothing united about the United States of America! The cancerous growth that was conceived in this nation at its inception, the enslavement of human beings, raced unfettered through its willing host until the 1860's, a Civil War tumor that threatened to consume our democracy. (democracy for most Americans anyway) Until the 1960's, the cancer masked its presence by morphing into both hidden and overt bigotry and racism, denial of voting rights, and murder by rope and the raping of an entire race's soul. Bringing us to the present. The cancer appeared to be under control, manageable, until it erupted with a murderous vengeance. It has metastasized in the soul of America and the prognosis is extremely grim. What hope of a lasting cure have we left? There is a radical new experimental treatment that could very well heal this patient. No, it is not a pipe dream or a panacea. It is a plan for healing this nation. Will you join me?

A Plan for the Future of America

Please read these words with an open heart and mind. Angry, disenfranchised, disgruntled, drug and alcohol abusing, dropout prone...even criminally-active teenagers are NOT someone else's problem. They are not the police's problem...the public school's problem...or their overwhelmed...and often absent...parent(s)' problem. It is NOT a black, brown, red, yellow, or white...or any other color of skin's problem! These children ARE our challenge...even our responsibility. There is an effective and PROVEN plan to help them. Read on to learn about the plan. Before your blood pressure blows your hairpiece to pieces...and prior to your typing finger posting an indignant reply...consider this writer's reasoning. Instead of spending billions of dollars building prisons and many more billions housing societies' malcontents and even worse people in those same prisons....I have a better and much more humane plan. Why don't we invest our billions in the lives of "at-risk" children BEFORE they tumble down the slippery slope leading to a tax-draining, lost life? No, I'm not proposing another boondoggle, intellectually bankrupt government program. Instead, I'm proposing a grand coalition of like-minded organizations, for-profit and non-profit, to attack this titanic challenge. How? By putting together this grand coalition that will efficiently and cost-effectively address every challenge facing our nation's at-risk children...from Pre-K to High School Graduation...or until they no longer require assistance outside the public school system. In other words, invest our money on the front-end of challenged children's lives instead of spending billions incarcerating a significant percentage of these same children later in their lives. The research is in and it is irrefutable. 75% of America's state prison inmates are also dropouts. Dropouts cost American taxpayers about $300,000 over their lifetime...it cost around $4,000 to provide a child a mentor/Iife-coach from Pre-K to HS Graduation. Where do you think it is wiser and more humane to invest our tax dollars? Will we save all the at-risk children that our grand coalition serves...of course not. Any more than an affluent, two parent, church attending family will guarantee that one or more of their children won't lose their way and end up in trouble. But we will help millions of children to become productive, tax paying citizens...not entitled, tax draining Americans. This is an ambitious proposition...the coalition will be a huge challenge to assemble...and an even larger challenge to fund...but it CAN and MUST be done. The resources required for this grand coalition will necessitate that ISDs, state, federal, foundation, philanthropic, and corporate funds combine to make it work. We have failed miserably attempting to fix broken adults...is it not past time to provide a pathway to a promising future for America's at-risk children? We can do it...if we find the political will and moral courage to accomplish something special for these worthy children...a fair chance at realizing the American Dream! ~ Michael Edward Clearman

Across The Universe - Craig Lyons