going carrie nation

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

some days i want to be
so sure of rightness, carried strong
by riptide conscience & not drowning

hatchet swinging must be freeing:
a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus

turning tables at the temple
calling wrong things wrong

my activism is bloodless
& alliterative, delicate;
suggested rather than lifted
to break glass & wood

some days
i think i need to find an axe
& start chopping

***italicized from McQueen, Keven (2001). “Carrie Nation: Militant Prohibitionist”. Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics. Ill. by Kyle McQueen. Kuttawa, Kentucky: McClanahan Publishing House. ISBN 0-913383-80-5.

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About Susan L Daniels

I am a firm believer that politics are personal, that faith is expressed through action, and that life is something that must be loved and lived authentically--or why bother with any of it?
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15 Responses to going carrie nation

  1. ruleofstupid's avatar ruleofstupid says:
    October 5, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    Better a soft breath of sense
    Than a howling gale of harm
    🙂 ROS

  2. Gaelic Dreams's avatar George Ellington says:
    October 6, 2012 at 12:09 am

    Tempting though the alternative may be at times, I still prefer the bloodless variety. And the very clear message it conveys to those with minds open enough to receive and comprehend it that violence cannot be so easily justified. Particularly not by a conviction that I am right and you are wrong. Very nicely done, Susan.

    • Susan L Daniels's avatar Susan L Daniels says:
      October 6, 2012 at 12:15 am

      Thanks, George! i have to say I like my bloodless activism. I really don’t know where this came from, other than for a brief moment this morning I was thinking about how blissfully simple my life would be if I saw things so clearly as “right” and “wrong” a la Carrie nation and her ilk. Really grateful that I do not.

  3. Green Speck's avatar Green Speck says:
    October 6, 2012 at 6:23 am

    Some days are just like that 🙂

  4. nelle's avatar nelle says:
    October 6, 2012 at 11:14 am

    Where mood and relative level of injustice collide. Wisdom comes with knowing how to assemble which, where, and when.

  5. Pingback: GOING CARRIE NATION | edge of frog

  6. 17rick47's avatar 17rick47 says:
    October 20, 2012 at 7:45 am

    A link to this poem can now be found at ‘edge of frog’
    http://edgeoffrog.wordpress.com/

  7. readinpleasure's avatar readinpleasure says:
    November 2, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    I do feel the same way at times, Susan and yet I am so powerless to do anything. Thank God for voices like yours. 🙂

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