Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Remembrance of Rain by Barbara Billey


remembrance of rain

rain gives permission to listen
as wetness blankets mother earth
drowns out rushing street noise

even birds fall silent.

lightening zigs zags across the sky
reminds me to hide inside
like i did when Dad's thunder
erupted as anger.

i like to walk outside in my red overcoat
get my salty winter shoes washed when
i cross the glistening pavement.

soft Spring rain removes dust from 
my cluttered, painful memories
reminds me why I love my life.

when a rainbow arrives
i remember Dad's smile
the varied colours of his moods 
vanishing into a giggle.

i remember riding my blue bicycle
through the thick puddles against
the curb of my childhood home

my legs tucked up from the whoosh
of water free to be me.

Barbara Billey 31 Mar 26


Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Rusty Hinge by Barbara Billey


 Rusty Hinge Barbara Billey, Photographer

Rusty Hinge

dew   illusive this Spring morning

even as first buds arrive on the magnolia
a hint of lime green sprouting in the garden

shy from the shiver of steel sky cold.

i go outside anyway ----- escape the cloister

in a midnight blue parka
my head encased in a neon green toque
hands wrapped in hot pink mittens.

I can walk and breathe //// feel brisk 
slap my cheeks

movement from the rusty hinge 
of my aging body praying

mantis on the horizon of warmth to come.

Barbara Billey 25 Mar 26






The Garden by Arthur Onion


 The Onion of Heaven and Earth
Arthur Onion, Artist


t     h    e        g     a     r     d     e     n

we live in a thin slice near the outer skin of the onion

our universe is this bubble zone

we could explore it for a very  very
very long time
before getting to know the onion itself

let alone

the  s o i u l 
it
 grows in.





by:  Arthur Onion

Monday, March 23, 2026

Morning Prayer by Barbara Billey


 Earth Mama Patricia St. Louis, csj, Artist


Morning Prayer

When light drops into a woman's body
she knows this familiar grace.

When every hard edge
of life digs in like

the top of tight socks into flesh she
remembers light will return

as softness caressing one breast close 
to where the heart lives 

as warmth, wet rising low beneath her navel

as a kiss eager, unrelenting
drawing her into lightness beyond

 the long, lost night. 

Barbara Billey (23 Mar 26)

Saturday, March 21, 2026

A New Plan for the U.S.A. by Arthur Onion

 

Inaugural Address
                        A New Plan for the United States of America
                                                              by                                                               President Grace Brown
                                    Swearing in Ceremony                                                                         Jan 20, 2029                     
                                 
The grievous lessons learned through generations of war have inspired the citizens of these United States of America to express their will and their desire for a new way forward.

The results of the recent election have given this Government and this President a clear mandate and the responsibility to bring forth a new plan, one that honors the needs of our people and of our global community. A plan rooted in mutual trust and respect, one that mitigates the tragedy of rampant division and hatred.

This plan is called M. U. S. T.  Make U.S. Trustworthy.

As your President, I announce the dissolution of all branches of the military, the cancellation of the military budget and all military contracts. 

The belief that larger, stronger and more expensive military in our country or any country leads to peace has reached an inevitable conclusion. It has been a complete failure.

The military budget in the United States for 2026 was 900 billion dollars. Worldwide spending on military is in excess of 2 trillion, 600 billion dollars. This expense has been explained as necessary for “defense.” Defense against what? Fear. There are better ways!

All that is required to end this continual spiral of fear, distrust and waste of valuable resources is for one country to “stand down.”  We are that country!

This Government’s position is that the full amount of our country’s military spending be re-directed for the needs of our citizens, as well as for those in other countries who may require assistance.

To this end, I order 2/3 of our military budget, that is, 600 billion dollars annually be redirected to areas of education, infrastructure, ecological protection, health care and human services, scientific research and the arts.

A new Federal Government department is being created to determine the priorities of the people of our nation for the purpose of directing funds in the most effective manner. We will utilize Artificial Intelligence programs to assist in the swift and efficient implementation of this plan.

The Department of Defense currently owns 50,000 square miles of land within the United States. This Government will return approximately 50% of this land to Indigenous Americans with the remainder being repurposed for nature preserves and parks, agriculture, as well as providing for emergency needs of immigrant populations.

Active service men and women of all U.S. military branches may apply, at no cost, for re-training in the fields of their interest and expertise. They will be tasked with helping implement this plan both locally and abroad. Initially, we will place special emphasis on the safe dismantling and recycling of our vast inventory of weaponry, helping with veteran programs and rebuilding in areas decimated by the effects of years of war.

Internationally our new plan will be presented as H. E. L. P.  Help Every Land Prosper.

Beginning immediately, 1/3 of the military budget, that is, 300 billion dollars annually will be available for our international neighbors who are willing to follow our lead by cancelling and redirecting their military budgets. Our funds will be available as interest free loans to be used for programs they deem most beneficial for their citizens. Countries need only repay their loans to ensure access to further assistance.

I will close with the words of President Dwight Eisenhower in his Farewell Address to the Nation in 1961, 65 years ago:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Thank You. 
President Grace Brown


Written by Arthur Onion (March 15, 2026)
Email:  arthuronion11@gmail.com



Action as an Antidote to Doomscrolling Anxiety





Church of My Youth by Barbara Billey

 

Cartoon by Ezzenntahh

Church of My Youth

I giggled in every Mass.
Fr. Joe with his hippie hair 
cobalt blue sweatpants peeking out 
from the bottom of his white alb
his announcement of the bishop's 
latest edict or appeal for money to get 
the guys through seminary
spoken with a hint of sarcasm.
(He cared about poor people in the West end, not that.)

I was into the music
the choir in the sanctuary strumming
on their guitars, our bodies swaying
singing my heart out, Dad's sweet tenor voice.

The massive wooden cross high
on the wall behind the altar scared me.
Jesus with thorns piercing his scalp, his blood seeping 
from a gash in his side, nails in his hands and feet
His serious business of dying for my sins. 
What had I done wrong that he had to suffer?
Jesus was my friend who reminded me, "You're okay, kid."

When I heard the story about Jesus turning water 
into wine at the wedding feast at Cana 
I imagined I was there. It was so cool!
Everyone vivacious - a little drunk
filled with the spirit of a resurrection giggle. 

Barbara Billey (07 Mar 26)

Friday, March 20, 2026

Litany of Wild Women by Barbara Billey



Litany of Wild Women

Great-Great Grandmothers Rose, Emilie, Mary Ann
Great Grandmothers Filiane, Ethel, Annie
Grandmothers Cecile, Alice
Mother JoAnn 
God Mother Geraldine. 

You
with generous bodies and crazy hats
coupled to silent men who kept secret
their hearts in favour of agility
in their trials of oppressions.

You
with passions and purposes
dropping seeds of wisdom like polyphonic sound
into the Earth of my body
cheering me on through stumbles into fluid grace –
remarkable imperfections.

You
are in Flow now, flying on Hawk’s wings
hanging out in one bursting nest
over drinks with Shekinah and Sheila Na Gig
under the bright ball of the Super Moon. 

lay prostrate before you my beloveds
with gratitude for blessing me with 
your fortitude and serious fun.
Pray with us, all you Wild Women.

Barbara Billey, 07 Feb 2021 (Revised 22 May 2024)

Hawk Sounds


You Got to Run (Spirit of the Wind)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5zb0WTSLsY

You Got To Run (Spirit of the Wind)

Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run
Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run
Trying against the odds you're in a trance
Say who did you think you are to have a chance?
You're a no one from a place
Where everyone knows your face
The come and go way they know the sun
So you better hang on and hey you better run
'Cause here's your chance and your race has begun
Down in a hole
You feel like two different people in your soul
Feel like a loser until you see that as you bend
You learn to be your own best friend
And you learn how and you learn when
To take a chance on the spirit of the wind
Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you think you can
You got to run
You got to run
Babe ain't we been down
We've been so broke and been so low that I kissed the ground
But you can see yourself a winner
Beyond the money and the greed
Beyond the pride is a pure untested need
And to be a champion is more than luck and speed
It's power and freedom in the spirit of the wind
Whether you're woman or whether you're man
Sometimes you got to take a stand
Just because you know you can
You got to run
You got to run
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Buffy Sainte-Marie / Ian Fern Campeau / Thomas Ehren / Timothy Hill Craig
You Got To Run (Spirit of the Wind) lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
 





Birdwoman by Michele Birch-Conery

Penelope
Judy Chappus, artist
 

Birdwoman

1.
I hear you everywhere, diva
of the long note held
into improvisation. Virtuoso

of contained response,
self-possession, of the lyric
of wise action, your recitative

moves me deeper than memory.
In my silence, thin as the cuticle 
of the waxing moon, Firebird, 

you raise me, again and again, from the ashes 
my spent lives. Your patience 
is beyond reach, Pheonix, 
heart of my being. 

2. 
You are Hawk, Eagle, Raven. 
Where spruce thins to tundra 
you are Arctic Tern. 

Cormorant, Shearwater, Great 
Blue, your shadow seeks 
my shadow, your spirit 
mine. Feather 
on the breath of God 
you are Hildegard, 

Mechtilde, Catherine. 
Brigit of the sacred waters, 
Triple Goddess, I come

from your well restored.

by Michele Birch-Conery



Michele Show by the Exhibitionist at Art Windsor Essex, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Michele front left of Michele Odalisque by Judy Chappus, Artist   Michele Show by the Exhibitionist at Art Windsor Essex (AWE) Windsor, Onta...