Liar's Cake Tastes Like Tyranny

Told in three poems...

Liar's Cake Tastes Like Tyranny

(I) True Love's Oath

how can you be certain of her

without that guarantee

             that gold

             that ring

                           encircling that finger

                           enclosing that spine

without that promise

             uttered 'fore God and Man

what certitude is there

without sworn signature

             and kith and kin

             and steely unflinching witness

surely

             no testimony of his easy script is trustworthy

no house of love

plumb and sound

steads fast without

            trading freely given

            for fine legal lines

            trading conviction of immortality

            for discretion of ringbearers

no woman without such safe nets

is tender

ever careless

the wanton man

whose ardor is excess

love is sincere

            when penned

            by meticulous wire fences

            the faster the golder the better

succumb not to temptations

            empty exercises of breathing

            no woman of free affections

            is worth heartache

or

is the oath itself

the masquerade of promise

no he of insecurity

            who woos with legality

            is worth heart ensnared

to beslave is to beholden

to befree is to betruth

for trust is faith and faith in trust

frees the gilden fettered

the new dance of rigamarole

            square stepping

            side by side

            round and round

what swear he

what swear she

that that which is unfree

            is plumb and sound

that that which is free

            is the easy script

that that which is oath

            is love ever careful

that that which is unoath

            is trustless and faithless

oh dance of prisons and pens

oh joy of lines and rings

oh bliss of testimonies and insincerities

without trust

without faith

is love ever love

(II) Even Cakes Lie

lie to me

so sweet

your sincerity

lie to me

mon chéri

what need have I
of incontrovertible
your lies are irresistable

like candy and wine
and balls of raw twine

lie to me
with promises
of ever free

lie to me
cariña mi

the truth that brays
forsaken ways
preaching sugar to clay

like ants to ripe fruit
and pirates to plump loot

lie to me
so heady
your genuity

lie to me
mio tesori

what's real is not
lessons long forgot
of virtues adrift a'rot

like money and power
and lust a'flower

lie to me
with a song
and a prayer

lie to me
layer upon layer

(III) The Tail Wags Tyranny

family by kin
family by sin
our blood runs red 'neath the skin we're in

so
why's your life of riches
more than my life of rags
when your life of riches
is built on racks of backs

look down and you'll see
the same Earth 'neath our feet
look up and descry
the same sun soaked sky

so who made you King
and Emperor and God
to take what's owed all
with nary a nod

of thanks for the hand who lifted
and appreciation for the labor that toiled
to keep up, fine, and gifted
and conspicuously unsoiled
the rich and the spoiled

what if we stood up
instead of kneeling at your feet
what if we spoke up
instead of compliciting deceit

humility and grace
but bring us so far
bravery and courage
will wage the bloodless war

who should lead all
the riches and the rags
who should free all
of the tail that wags

family by kin
family by sin
our blood runs red 'neath the skin we're in

lest you forget
what's bequeathed all of Earth
take not what's not entitled
to one of thy worth

to lead is to give
to serve to protect
lot especially all
humility and respect

then
your life of riches
and my life of rags
will no longer perpetuate
the fat reign of haves

for I'm not a not
and you're not a have

we're all kith and kin
'neath the skin we're in

Fin

More

There are so many poems... whose airing requires something of a deftness and precision that resists taming... so they perch... just beyond domestication... wild and liberal of symbol perpetuity... awaiting due time...

cum caritas - a m

The Brave New Frontier of Freedom

There was a time, long ago... or there will be a time, far in the future... or now is the time of a brave new frontier...

The Brave New Frontier of Freedom

Time is a funny thing. It has a habit of running backwards and falling forwards and circling back onto itself until time is today and yesterday and tomorrow, all at once.

Nevertheless, through it all, the truth remains the constant.

This is the true story of a brave new frontier, a land of enslaved who evolved a mind blindness, that made invisible, their mind chains. This is the true story of... freedom.

It started long ago and far in the future and now, all at once... with a man.

Don't all stories begin and end... with a man?

Of course... it also started with a woman.

Each saw lives unfold before them like origami, until the truth was a slip of colored paper, hovering between inert dormancy and creative expectancy. For the man, the truth were laws, written in steadfast minds, validated by virtuous souls, and imbued fervor by passionate hearts. For the woman, the truth were laws, written in steadfast minds, validated by virtuous souls, and imbued fervor by passionate hearts.

Both the man and the woman were young. Still forming who they'd yet become. Champions of freedom. He for equality denied by skin and nation. She for equality denied by sex and gender.

But at the time, neither knew the future already foretold and already foregone. That their sweat and tears and agonies and heartbreaks, would be for naught. For the truth of equality denied by skin and nation and the truth of equality denied by sex and gender, were not laws.

Indeed, the truth of equality denied by skin and nation and the truth of equality denied by sex and gender, is that steadfast minds, virtuous souls, and passionate hearts enslave themselves to blind righteousness and sanctify themselves with unimpeachable nobility... regardless of the truth, the constant.

For while the man and the woman saw the truth of slips of colored paper, those who tread firmly atop their footsteps after, saw only the origami. Those who lifted the man and the woman onto pedestals of idol worship, saw only the lie. That for their quests as champions of freedom, he valued skin and nation above all else and she valued sex and gender above all else.

Thereupon, hordes after, raised flags of skin and nation and flags of sex and gender, in their names. To praise. To glorify. To testify. For how better to revere their memories, their lives, their advocacies... than to honor their legacies of truth telling with tributes of flags raised to skin and nation and sex and gender?

Oh the irony.

For their truths, their constants were never skin nor nation nor sex nor gender.

Their truths were equality, whereupon equality achieved, skin and nation and sex and gender, isms one and isms all, would be rendered powerless abreast the brave new frontier they heralded as prophets and progenitors.

Yet, those who revered the legacies of the man and those who revered the legacies of the woman... also rewrote them... to tell new stories... until the new stories told new truths... that adhered to new laws, written in steadfast minds, validated by virtuous souls, and imbued fervor by passionate hearts...

Thus freedom devolved into mind blindness, that made invisible, mind chains of enslavement to skin and nation above all else and sex and gender above all else...  and this devolved into the brave new frontier of freedom...

Long ago and far in the future and now, all at once.

More

Throughout time, there have been, there will be, there are... many prophets and progenitors of brave new frontiers of freedom...

Throughout time, there have been, there will be, there are... brave new frontiers, lands of enslaved who evolve mind blindness, that make invisible, mind chains...

Though time has a habit of running backwards and falling forwards and circling back onto itself until time is today and yesterday and tomorrow, all at once...

Through it all, the truth remains the constant.

- a m

Note 

Joseph Conrad The Heart of Darkness (@ Project Gutenberg (html, no images), @ wiki)

Johnny Nash 'I Can See Clearly Now' (@ YouTube, @ wiki)

All's Fair for Ants and Butter

Cake! It's what's for Metaphor!

All's Fair for Ants and Butter

(I) The Ant March

ants on a molehill

we watch them

and wonder at the inanity of worker ants

marching

marching

endlessly marching

on a globe spinning

in a universe vaster than them

by degrees upon degrees upon unfathomable degrees

and we watch

with superior bemusement and sanctimony

as if we are better

marching

marching

endlessly marching

on a globe spinning

in a granverse vaster than us

by degrees upon degrees upon unfathomable degrees

who are we

for surely

we are ants, too

marching

marching

marching

(II) Laughter

laughter is the best medicine

for

this sickness

this ill misery

this confusion

between what matters

and what doesn't

who matters

and who doesn't

laughter is the best tonic

for

this poison

this sap zappery

this bewildering

upping of down

and downing of up

truthing of lie

and lying of truth

laughter is real in a land of make fake

laughter is light in a box of dark

laughter is joy in a field of thunder

laughter is effortless in a sea of work

(III) Poetry

poetry is breathing

because breathing is

and I am

are you breathing?

then, where, your poetry?

poetry of motion

poetry of still

poetry of song

poetry of lyric

poetry of form

poetry of function

if you are not creating poetry

are you living?

or are you dead

breathing breaths of

not breathing

living lives of

not living?

be a poet

live

(IV) Giving

for him

I scale the tallest tower

for her

I seek the rarest flower

for him

I sail the farthest shore

for her

I tend the cliffs of lore

for him

I sing the boldest refrain

for her

I dance twixt drops of rain

for him

my heart is the giving tree

for her

my soul is true and free

(V) Let's Meet in the Middle

butter side up

butter side down

neither one secures the crown

one lump out

two lumps in

neither one nails the win

for right and left

are neither best

nor north nor south

nor east nor west

the middle is

the realm of grey

therein the truth

enlightens the sway

(VI) In Doubt, In Love

daisy petals of love

     too

     new

     will he or won't he

          lie with me

dandelion tufts of ephemeral

     autumn

     brisk

     will he or won't he

          heart be'risk

holly berries of ever in breathless blankets

     of

     snow

     will he or won't he

          dream a'go

blossoms abloom on dew

     lush

     morn

     will he or won't he

          renew reborn

in doubt
     in
     love

     will he or won't he

          if

          of

Fin

Note

As with Too Turtledove, the poems above are by no means the only compositions that have traipsed across my thoughts of late...

The rest prevail unpublished here, there, and elsewhere... 

ever yours,

a m

Why Tax Havens Matter: Let's Connect the Dots

Why should we care where crats store their mattresses stuffed with cash?

In light of continued revelations from the Panama Papers...

Why Tax Havens Matter: Let's Connect the Dots

or

Making More Sense of the Panama Papers

(I)

Money in tax havens -

do not go to governments.

Money that do not go to governments -

by those who can well afford to contribute their modest and fair share -

is required by governments -

to fulfill legal responsibilities - articulated by laws (enacted by votes by politicians) - by politicians who 'the public' voted for.

When governments do not have required funds to fulfill legal responsibilities -

governments default.

When governments default -

governments and societies collapse.

(II)

Societies ground to a halt -

because governments fund -

necessary services that societies require to function.

When governments do not provide necessary services (or can not provide necessary services as governments default) -

capitalists seize control.

Capitalists - as single-minded pursuers of profits - (can, do, have, will) restrict access to all services, including necessary services -

to only those who can afford them.

Why?

Because - it's easier (and often, more profitable) to sell 1 widget for $1,000,000 each - than 1,000,000 widgets for $1 each.

(III)

So - money in tax havens matter -

because money in tax havens -

is one of many reasons why many governments, the world over -

including within the US and the EU -

cannot meet financial obligations to citizens to fund necessary services.

So - in order to not default - these governments -

must balance budgets -

some how - some way.

The most common how and the most common way -

is to reduce budgets for so-called nonessential services.

This results in -

reduced services -

reduced oversight -

reduced spending -

for that which benefit nots.

(III)

So-called nonessential services -

are services that politicians agree to reduce budgets for -

not necessarily what citizens agree are nonessential.

Moreover - budgets that are reduced - are rarely accompanied by laws that reduce legal responsibilities of service providers, including Agencies.

So - service providers, including Agencies - are legally required to fulfill legal responsibilities, as articulated and conscribed by politicians who 'the public' voted for -

with budgets that are inadequate to fulfill responsibilities to citizens.

Because -

crats who choose not to contribute their modest and fair share of wealth to governments -

burden governments and citizens -

by not contributing that which citizens who do not put their money in tax havens -

do -

via taxes -

which crats avoid, shirk, dodge -

via tax havens (among other strategies).

(IV)

Nots who protest the burdensomeness of taxes for crats -

see only their own disgruntlement towards paying taxes, themselves.

Nots who protest the burdensomeness of taxes for crats -

are nots who would use tax havens, themselves, if they possessed the resources to do so -

in order to pay no taxes.

Nots who protest the burdensomeness of taxes for crats -

fail to recognize how the rampant abuse of corporate welfare by crats -

as well as the profligate use of tax havens by crats -

defunds necessary services that societies require to function.

Nots who protest the burdensomeness of taxes for crats - also -

fail to fathom that societies of every individual for every individual's self -

result in intolerable conditions -

for nots.

Because societies of every individual for every individual's self -

benefit crats who can afford tolerable conditions -

while nots who cannot afford tolerable conditions -

inevitably suffer intolerable conditions.

(V)

That is.

Until.

The masses of nots overtake the paucity of crats.

Then.

The cycle that cycles - renews.

(NB)

Obviously this is an oversimplification of how the dots are connected with regards to why tax havens matter. But even so, as oversimplified as these dots seem, these dots are connected, the world over; one need only see how, now, today.

Addendum

What is a tax haven?

A tax haven or a tax shelter is a vehicle - by which crats (whose wealth is acquired legally and/or illegally, morally and/or immorally, virtuously and/or corruptly, etc.) - hide and/or launder - money.

(Tax havens and tax shelters are often 'shell companies'. On paper, a 'shell company' is a company. In reality, a 'shell company' is a mattress stuffed with cash.)

When money is hidden - crats are at liberty to lie about it.

When crats lie about how much money they have and where it comes from and where it is -

they avoid, shirk, dodge paying taxes to every institution, agency, locality, country, etc. that legally assesses taxes for citizens.

Moreover -

When money is laundered - crats are at liberty to convert illegitimate money into legitimate money.

When crats convert the legitimacy of money -

legal money can be used for legal and illegal purposes - and - illegal money can be used for illegal and legal purposes.

(Hidden money (i.e. money in tax havens and tax shelters) - funds and is funded by - trafficking in arms, drugs, slavery, and exploitation. How is beyond the scope of this post.)

The purpose of transparency - with regards to how much money who has and where it comes from and where it is -

is as much to do with tax evasion -

as to making it as difficult as possible for money - 

hidden by crats - 

to be used to traffick in arms, drugs, slavery, and exploitation.

That -

is why tax havens -

matter.

Note

The Panama Papers intersects across so many topics, that it is impossible to address all of them, much less address all of them, in exhaustive thorough entirety, in one post -

without losing clarity.

I hope -

that what is sacrificed for clarity in this post -

as well as Legal, Illegal, Crime, Corruption: Let's Connect the Dots or Making Sense of the Panama Papers (4/5/16) -

is redeemed by what is gained.

- a m

Further Reading

more on corporate welfare from The New York Times, The Real Welfare Cheats (4/14/16)

more on tax havens in America from The Economist, The biggest loophole of all (2/20/16)

more on tax avoidance via offshore banking, including examples from the Panama Papers, from Vox (via YouTube), The Panama Papers, explained with piggy banks (4/5/16)

more on why the Panama Papers matter, including America's disconsonant stance on transparency with regards to offshore banking and shell corporations, from Democracy Now! (via YouTube), Panama Papers' Reporters Explain... (4/5/16)

more on the complexity of offshore banking and invisible financial beneficiaries of shell corporations, from PBS NewsHour (via YouTube), Massive trove of Panama Papers... (4/4/16)

etc.