Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865)

There was an old insect.
I think it was a Flea.
He had escaped from the Circus
and he needed to flee.
He will find a way, to leave town,
perhaps on the underbelly
of a small dogs, fluffy down.
He hoped it would be a good ride
and that his new residence,
did not to scratch an itch.
I hate to be struck by a paw,
scratching for me
even if I am just a Flea.

Out in the field,
I can only grow rocks.
A worthless crop,
but it's what I have
and all I can raise.
A child of the depression,
who will never be brave.
No longer the pillar,
no longer to crave.
No longer the person,
who's Soul you can save.

These words are written, with love too.
Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to you.
I miss my Mother in many ways,
recalling all of those happy days.
Of time spent in raising me,
into this World; Land of the Free.
Happiest Mother's Day, my wish to you.

 Those of us who are truly lucky have more than one mother. They are the cool aunts, the elderly ladies, the family friends, even the mentors who whip us into shape. By my count, I’ve had at least eight mothers. One of the most important was Sally Adams Bascom Augenstern.....Click to read this beautiful story by Heather Cox Richardson

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In this evocative night scene a dusty central Milky Way rises over the ancient Andean archaeological site of Yacoraite in northwestern Argentina. The denizens of planet Earth reaching skyward are the large Argentine saguaro cactus currently native to the arid region. The unusual yellow-hued reflection nebula above is created by dust scattering starlight around red giant star Antares. Alpha star of the constellation Scorpius, Antares is over 500 light-years distant. Next to it bright blue Rho Ophiuchi is embedded in more typical dusty bluish reflection nebulae though. The deep night skyscape was created from a series of background exposures of the rising stars made while tracking the sky, and a foreground exposure of the landscape made with the camera and lens fixed on the tripod. In combination they produce the single stunning image and reveal a range of brightness and color that your eye can't quite perceive on its own.

Photo by Franco Meconi

It was a long trail, as I recall.
Well used by deer and man alike.
A slight incline, along the hillside,
only grass and shale with Sagebrush, a few.
Climbing higher, one encounters some trees.
There were many Pine trees and Fir.
Looking down the trail you climbed,
the view was grand; seeing the valley floor,
with majestic snow capped peaks on the horizon.
A scenic, Panoramas, words can't describe.
How small we are in this World sublime,
yet there I was on my first hill climb.

Tell me now.
Tell me true.
What am I
supposed to do,
when she says,
"I don't know you."

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Sixty years ago, near the dawn of the space age, NASA controllers "lit the candle" and sent Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard arcing into space atop a Redstone rocket. His cramped space capsule was dubbed Freedom 7. Broadcast live to a global television audience, the historic Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Florida at 9:34 a.m. Eastern Time on May 5, 1961. The flight of Freedom 7, the first space flight by an American, followed less than a month after the first human venture into space by Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The 15 minute sub-orbital flight achieved an altitude of 116 miles and a maximum speed of 5,134 miles per hour. As Shepard looked back near the peak of Freedom 7's trajectory, he could see the outlines of the west coast of Florida, Lake Okeechobe in central Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahamas. Shepard would later view planet Earth from a more distant perspective and walk on the Moon as commander of the Apollo 14 mission.

You said "I love you."
Is this another lie?
For when you left,
there was no goodbye.

I am a rabbit.
I'm not a hare.
You may see me
over here or there.
I'll eat your Tulips,
Daffodils aren't my fare.
I travel your yard
and do it with flair.
I visit your neighbors;
I am everywhere.

The sound of the morning,
I hear in my ear,
for a Rooster is crowing
and the noise is quite near.
This place is the Islands
where I hear this sound
of crowing and crowing,
near Old Kealoha Town.

The words smacked
of the Devil
planting the seed
of all the debauchery
accompanied by greed.
Throw out the evil
seed within you,
for there is little time
on this Earth

Think of the words.
The words I wrote.
They came from memory
not an election or vote,
for the words written
came when I learned by Rote.

> The Lithium Gold Rush: Inside the Race to Power Electric Vehicles || by Gabriella Angotti-Jones : The New York Times

> Trump Spawned a New Group of Mega-Donors Who Now Hold Sway Over the GOP’s Future || by Isaac Arnsdorf : ProPublica

> How College Became a Ruthless Competition Divorced From Learning || Daniel Markovits : The Atlantic

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

NGC 3199 lies about 12,000 light-years away, a glowing cosmic cloud in the nautical southern constellation of Carina. The nebula is about 75 light-years across in this narrowband, false-color view. Though the deep image reveals a more or less complete bubble shape, it does look very lopsided with a much brighter edge along the top. Near the center is a Wolf-Rayet star, a massive, hot, short-lived star that generates an intense stellar wind. In fact, Wolf-Rayet stars are known to create nebulae with interesting shapes as their powerful winds sweep up surrounding interstellar material. In this case, the bright edge was thought to indicate a bow shock produced as the star plowed through a uniform medium, like a boat through water. But measurements have shown the star is not really moving directly toward the bright edge. So a more likely explanation is that the material surrounding the star is not uniform, but clumped and denser near the bright edge of windblown NGC 3199.

Photo by Mike Selby

Walk the path
after tomorrow is gone.
Speak not a word,
sing not a song.
Music will settle
the beast within,
unless, of course
it is not
a Mortal Sin.
Exhale it now.
Rid your lungs
of the musty air;
the ancient dust.

Throw back your head,
Eyes to the sky.
Let out a howl
To quiet your nerve.
Do you feel better
Or do you feel worse?
The words now written
are found in this verse.