A missed connection
is made very sad indeed
when it’s a near miss.

I know! Right?

If we missed by a long shot, then it is like seeing a beautiful bird flying away, in the rear-view mirror. It’s over almost before it happened. “Hi”, and “goodbye” in one breath.

But when (you thought) you were almost there. When time had stood still, when a kiss floated you over the bed, it can feel like you found it. It feels really, really close.

It is not behind you looking back, it is coming at you head on, like walking into a bright and beautiful place. It’s so close, (that you can feel it) so very close to almost having it all…

And then, not.

We cannot know how sweet sweet kisses were until we have gulped down our own salty tears.
Ecstasy exists as the opposite of pain. They define each other, and draw the undulating line that divides them.

Without knowing darkness, the light has no meaning.

So? Hell yes! So stand tall, and join my hopeful legion, and remember the sweetness of true Love.

Because if you (also) have ever shared a Love that was true, and deep, and real, then you too ‘on honey-dew hath fed, and drunk the milk of Paradise.’

February is here and that means Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. If you’re happily coupled, it can be a fun, romantic holiday. But if you’re not, the artificiality of this consumer-constructed “holiday” can be a bit much. Fortunately, once the day passes, we’re at the mid-point of the month and that means only a few more weeks until spring arrives.

I might read too much
stuff about economics
to ever retire.

There is little that’s poetic about money. So let’s not get our hopes up too high.

Usually I ask the messenger to deliver this kind of news, but he called in sick.

The message is: I/you/we aren’t saving enough. If you aren’t saving, start now. If you are saving, increase the amount.

Here’s the test. Even if you work and contribute to a plan now, if you have a coffee drink prepared by a ‘barista’, more than once a week, then you are not saving enough. Increase your contribution by $25-$50 per paycheck, and lay off those sweet drinks.

For the intrepid only:

Seriously.

The (motherfathers at the) Federal Reserve say:
49% of “the respondents” to their questionnaire had not even begun to think about retirement planning. (lalalalaa can’t hear you. lalaa.)
The problem with their numbers is they get their averages by using all people, rich and poor, in one group, so it might give false confidence to modest savers who think they are above average.

Those frenemies at fool dot com address that. They say:
[if you only count people with any savings at all] the median account value for Americans aged 35 to 44 is just $42,700, while the median value for Americans aged 55 to 64 years old is $103,000.

And then they get ugly…

“‘Many experts recommend that retirees live by the “4% rule,” whereby they withdraw 4% of their savings in their first year of retirement and then adjust that percentage upward with inflation in following years. Based on that calculation, the average person retiring at age 65 with $103,000 in retirement savings would withdraw just $4,120 in their first year of retirement, or $343 per month. That’s hardly enough to live on.” No shit.

“As a result, most Americans will rely heavily on Social Security, but Social Security on its own won’t allow people to live lives of luxury. According to the Social Security Administration, the average Social Security recipient collected just $1,300 a month in 2014. Add that $1,300 in Social Security payments to the $343 in income from retirement savings, and the typical retiree is looking at a monthly income of just $1,643, or only $19,716 per year.”

all of those bad words were COMPLETELY COPIED FROM THEIR WEBSITE ;-P

I hate the fool and the Fed (sometimes).

I hope this will help. 😐

 

January is here and for many of us, it means a month of budgetary austerity. I agree, there is little that’s poetic about money. Come to think of it, this may be the first poem I’ve ever found that incorporates the Federal Reserve. 😉

Supermarket lines
are getting longer each day.
Thanksgiving shoppers.

Even though it’s still a week until the big day, people are already
filling their carts with breadcrumb stuffing and canned cranberries.

The sound of carts colliding as neighbors race to be next in line
rings in the holiday season and the traditional cycle of “me first” behavior that lasts through December.

It’s no surprise that people are even more aggressive than ever
as we watch our leaders greedily line their own pockets and sell out future generations.

Why is no one is fighting for that one lonely Tofurkey unhappily cooped up next to the Butterballs?

Hey! Are those marshmallows organic, vegan, sustainable and gluten-free?
No one wants sweet potato casserole that isn’t all that.

(I don’t want it anyhow.)

 

The Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner. How we got into the habit of making this a day dedicated to over-eating, drinking too much and getting stressed-out over preparations, travel, and guests is beyond me.  Is that what we’re thankful for? I don’t think so.

The days seem stranger
this year than during past ones.
Post election blues.

I can’t seem to shake this sense of impending doom. I keep watching the skies
as if the attack is coming. I know it won’t. It’s not the bridges they are after.

It’s the currency that is at risk, the banks, the cables, the jobs,

the system.

Let’s start a commune and grow our own foods, and organize outdoor markets
and share with each other our information and tools.

and learn to help each other instead of letting our silence make us vulnerable.

It is our pride and false beliefs that make us suffer in silence instead of facing it head-on,
as a group.

Even here, strangely, there is power in numbers, if we only count ourselves in.

Do the math.

 

This haiku for hearts was found on the Seattle Missed Connections right after the 2016 elections. As today is an election day in many parts of the country, let’s hope people are exercising their power and voting. I wonder if the results this time around will warrant the same sort of message. Hopefully not.