2013 Troubled Youth Conference Opener

Steven C. Teske was the keynote for the 2013 TYC here at Snowbird. A fair loud (seriously) man, he spoke on ideas and ideals that I have argued and practiced for years in the field of education. Rather than the 'tough guy' approach that is tried and not-so-true, he advocated for a soft-skills approach to help kids who are asking for help and intervention though inappropriate behaviors and actions stay away from hard-core offenses and focus the more tough attention on the real predators who need more time and resources when they offend or stir trouble.
Some of the ideas are a bit high-intensity for a rural setting like mine, but the numbers he cited reflect decreases in crime, recidivism, and increase of individual involvements in crime. Across the board, including within law enforcement (SRO), the use of understanding and decrease of 'bullying' and intimidation techniques with lower-intensity offenders has made a difference in their schools and communities.
A wikipedia article on Restorative Justice, germane to the man's subject.

Time Alongside

I

Deep feeling is something vertical

and each one hundred feet of atmosphere adds

to the faith that mounts

round and round and all around

(never losing track of that previous vertical)

and though arbitrary and wholly subject to a poet’s folly

passion is what we make of it

while drawing our chalk-hewn hopscotches

here, or there, or within a lover’s soul.

II

More to the point-

Fluid skies and miles-long journeys can replace courage

if only for a while,

as sleep and wakefulness are tools to be created

and shaped every day, anew

alongside the rocky seashores to which silence retreats

diurnal to each day’s conversation.

III

Time can become an ally to this timid nature,

and as the millennia pass, also the blood of renewal

is sometimes spilled, while for others, it is stilled.

Each cycle of culture will be refolded and

replaced into moth filled chests-

All so, the cavalcades of war and yawning, expanding industrial reverb

hold no candle to what can be found within each of us

and that sometimes vertical sensation…

Wintery Spring Hike in Hell Hole

Splendid hike with Hyrum today. Warm and lush, bright and full of the best of both winter and spring.

Mists and Rain

Things that change are often very beautiful. See?

Spring As a Vapor

Spring comes and goes, and as it does, it makes things very interesting to see and pace through.

Spring 2013

Things are changing toward the light. It's a very good thing to have happen right now.

Made of Voices

Through an aspect of love,

the slowly meteoric evolution of the mind

can carry some credence to the theory that we each arise from dust-

a distressing concept for the corpus ardoris humanum

is in reality a glimpse of early ontogeny for an almighty god-

A taste on the collective tongue, lolling about as a liquid licorice,

firing all the appropriate synapses and nerves,

whether we understand or not.

In reality, though,

all music is made of voices; some real and others imagined

from instrumental and percussive personalities.

Ever clear and ruminatory, 

whining betimes and always whiskered through and toothed like the wolf;

each song is a pause before charging the picket

because humming the tune as remembered

might mean survival for another day or enough time for the Worm

to start at what heart remains.

As tears melt from the window down

and onto the clear space where I see the world and road,

it’s odd how I can feel the void and blackness at the edges

just beyond the apathy, the criticism, and everyday worry.

It works like a fog,

entering the barely-open window of the Lord,

and seeping into the dusty corners of this often cold, damp room.