Stereotypes

Stereotypes are confirmed easily
An obese man at the Old Country Barfett
A fart conversation at a teen boy party
A cute thin woman at the natural food store
A curmudgeon old man who is a bore.

Stereotypes broken are harder
Catholics and Lutherans agreeing on Grace
A US President with an African face
Government spending that isn’t a hand-out
CEO’s who care a crap about ___.

I like to shatter stereotypes.
I am a conservative socialist.
I play guitar with an stiff wrist.
I eat healthy but drink cheap wine.
I’m an old fart who let’s his light shine.

by Dave Schipper (c) 2009 Rose Riversongs

photo credit

So Why?

As I sit here in the middle of a fast food nation,
I can not fathom life in the middle east desert.
The sounds, the smells, the assault on the senses.
Could they fathom my life a good world apart?

I need to find words, ambition and opportunities
They cry to find peace, freedom and equality.
In the end we’re not much different you see.
But our culture has formed our assumed reality.

So I sit with a full belly and free woman around me
While they wander from one check point to another
I might be the evil person that they perceive
But equal religions, races, and sexes are the right order.

So how do I reconcile Law or Cultural Tradition
Do I find right words in the Torah, Bible or the Koran?
I suspect that these great books have the direction
Live humbly with love for others as a plan.

So why are we still fighting?

Dave Zeman © 2009 RR


Photo Credits

Not This Time

Inspired by words from Barack Obama
Prose by Dave Schipper © 2008 Rose Riversongs

Words cannot mend a broken country
Where men died for their freedom
And then looked past those in slavery.

Scars of past humiliation are real.
Wounds either overlooked or used
By both sides with too vile zeal.

Not this time, hear us cry, Not this time
Let’s silence the cynics
Be our brother’s keeper
Fix schools, homes and clinics
Hear us Cry, Not this Time, Not This Time

Promised words on a parchment
Helped focus our path to justice
But we the people are impatient.

Imperfect as we are, we are family.
Farmers, artists, statesmen, doctors
We can’t disown our community.

Yes this time, hear us cry, Yes this time
We can embrace our past
Without being a victim
And forge a peace at last
Hear us Cry, Yes this Time, Yes This Time

Hues of Freedom

Hues by Dave Schipper © 2008 Rose Riversongs


I see the rich deep hues of tonal blends.
Not just black and white, more grayscale.
I work to select words that don’t offend.
‘Cause friends like alliances are fragile.

So when I see my supporters line up
I see parasitic lawyers and agendas.
The homeless with their empty cup.
Gays, gray hairs, and young all blended.

I’m no different than others who love
I embrace my wife, my child, and my friends.
I live in the country all dream of.
So it’s hard to live and to pretend.

We need to stop pandering to ourselves.
To do the right thing, you’re unelectable.
Pick the words from the book on the shelf.
Smile, shake hands with the agreeable.

Life will go on if I’m not the victor
It has and it will; a great guarantee.
The hues of freedoms in tone richer
Because this land is made for you and me.