Should we be surprised at what we woke up to this morning?

Should we be surprised we stayed up to watch?

Should we question the process, or the polls?

Shouldn’t we have expected this?

Shouldn’t we have known the defiance that has marked Donald Trump’s presidency would continue? Didn’t he tell us?

Shouldn’t we have listened?

Shouldn’t we have known? Or should we remain uncertain?

I voted on Monday.
It was only a by-election, still I voted.
It does not matter whether the election is federal, provincial, or municipal,
I vote any way.
It does not matter whom I vote for.
What matters is that I voted.
I does not matter that I do not subscribe to any certain party’s beliefs,
I vote.
I believe in democracy, not politics.
I voted for the candidate I believed most closely represented my values.
I voted for the candidate I believed would best represent the community.
I always vote.
The politician I vote for is my choice.
It matters that I have that choice.
It matters that I have a voice.
On Monday, it mattered that I voted.
I does not matter that the candidate I selected was not successful.
What matters is that I voted.
I will vote whether the election is federal, provincial, or local.
It matters.
It matters even more that I can vote.
There is nothing to stop me from voting.
In this country we practice democracy.
In this country we have that freedom.
I live in Canada.
So I vote.
I will vote, even if there is no candidate who represents me.
Whether I am voting nationally, provincially or locally,
I will show up.
It doesn’t matter if I mark my ballot, or whether I spoil my ballot.
It matters that a ballot is available to me.
It matters that I have the right to vote.
It matters that I have that freedom.
So I vote.
Even if the vote does not go the way I anticipate, or expect,
the vote will go my way.
It is my right to vote.
I respect the process.
I don’t always respect the politician, but that too is my right,
because I voted.
You should always vote.
Voting gives you a choice.
Voting gives you a voice.

@ 2020 j.g. lewis

It simply cannot be an acceptable answer,
not now and not ever. Barely a response,
‘maybe’ is so noncommittal, and far
too common in this age of ambiguity.
All too often we settle for a maybe
instead of waiting for what we want,
even if we are uncertain.
Can you get any less certain than maybe?
Maybe lacks affirmation, even more
than ‘I don’t know’ but, really, it is
much the same as saying so.
How can you know where you will go,
if you don’t make a decision, or even
an attempt to decide a definite position
or destination? Be definite in your role,
your place, and in your desires.
Don’t be so lackadaisical in your intent
that you allow outside measures to
influence a promise, plan, or proposition.
Perhaps you have grown tired of all those
things you have to do, the responsibilities,
duties, and outright obligations expected
of you. It seems like so much, it always
does, but you try to comply, but you don’t
ask the how; or where. Nor even the why.
You can easily be hijacked by a maybe;
it is frequently unknown but at the time
may seem like it has true potential.
Undeniably so, but you never can tell
what a maybe will mean. Even if
you are not certain of your goals, you
should be committed to your direction.

I hear you, more than I listen to myself.
Messages of caution or concern,
statements of grace, sentiment
not fallen on inattentive ears.

The words we can,
the words we must,
the words we say.
The words we trust

And this. And we, are we
even comfortable with our vocabulary?
Do we know or can we tell,
right words from the wrong?

Conversation or confrontation, depending
on your situation, those same words mean
something else to someone else.
It’s becomes even more difficult to tell.

The words we say.
The words we hear,
spell out misunderstanding.
Injustice. Pain or fear

Shared experience, descriptions,
details, doubt and deception at times
difficult to put into words.
Our emotions demand that they must.

Honesty is what it is, as it has
always been, but spoken less and less
more and more. It matters not how you
express yourself, only that you do.

© 2020 j.g. lewis

I can’t remember if it was just before or just after its second album, but I saw Van Halen in concert at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.
It was early in the band’s career, and the show was as loud as you would have expected, and Eddie Van Halen was better than you could have imagined.
How could you not have known, at the time, that this man was taking this band places.
Albums, then, came out annually after Van Halen’s astonishing self-titled debut disc took the world by surprise, or by storm. I believe Rolling Stone magazine described the debut as near perfect. That was when Rolling Stone was still the bible on music; at a time when I read the magazine religiously.
That was more than 40 years ago, in my teenage years.
I wasn’t a huge Van Halen fan — late ‘70s music was about change, and I went another direction — though I appreciated the power and precision behind the music.
With older brother Alex Van Halen on drums, propelling the music forward with bassist Michael Anthony, the four-piece band covered a lot of ground, climbing the charts and making a name for itself with two (actually, three) singers over time.
There were varied eras of the Van Halen — defined by original lead singer David Lee Roth and then veteran rocker Sammy Hagar — still, it was Eddie’s guitar that made it happen.
A lot of great guitarists do, and will, come and go.
Eddie was a keeper, acknowledged by many as one of the greatest. He played like nobody, or nothing, had.
He was impressive. He was memorable.
He died yesterday from throat cancer at age 65.
Too young.
Too sad.
Long live rock and roll.

R.I.P. Edward Van Halen