Images of the children
Yearning for Zion
But the children are not seen
only the white buses
proudly stenciled and labeled
as First Baptist buses.
White buses:
White for purity,
White for sanctity,
White for godliness,
White for holier-than-thou.
White for the truth.
We hold these truths to be self-evident
But what truths are self-evident?
All men are not created equal.
Those who set down the truths
did not consider women equal
nor men who differed from themselves.
Self-evident truth:
Murder is wrong.
Except government-sanctioned murder
Where the people who are killed
Are different from us
And of a different religion.
Self-evident truth:
Stealing is wrong.
Except government-sanctioned stealing
Where the children who are stolen
Are different from us
And of a different religion.
The children are held for ransom
Ransom for the beliefs of the mothers
And for their way of life.
Give up your ways
And believe as we do
And your children shall be returned.
The founding fathers who wrote the truths
Were many fathers for one country.
The stolen children were
Many children for each father.
Many mothers for each father,
Many mothers for each child.
It has been said
“It takes a village”
But not this village, no.
It should be the proper village
So that the children are not indoctrinated
But educated in only the proper truths.
Send to me your village of children
And I will educate them
With my own self-evident truths.
That men are not created equally,
That men are not equal,
That men are not created.
It has been said
“Judge not lest you be judged”
You condemn the parents
Yearning for Zion
For teaching the wrong truths
To their many children.
Children having children:
Texans look to yourselves.
Your own state publishes truths
Publishes them on the internet
And if we read it on the internet
It must be true.
In Texas it is written that
1 of every 16 seventeen-year-olds gets pregnant
1 of every 27 sixteen-year-olds gets pregnant
1 of every 58 fifteen-year-olds gets pregnant
1 of every 967 thirteen-year-olds gets pregnant
1 of every 5280 twelve-year-olds or younger gets pregnant.
Self-evident truth:
Teen pregnancy is wrong
Teen marriage is wrong
But my own grandmother was wed
To her Texan at 16
And gave birth while still a teen.
Self-evident truth:
Polygamy is wrong.
But as I age
And the many tasks grow harder
I can see the advantages
In taking a sister-wife.
Copyright © 2008 by Carolyn Cannon
Desert vista looking north from the parking area.
Looking south along the face of the cliff.
The petroglyphs are of different ages and condition. Some of them look rather modern. I'm including those which appear to be at least a hundred years old.
I enjoy trying to figure out what the pictures indicate. Many mountains and the sun and a flock of the snow geese, perhaps.
Big mountains with snow on them and lots of teepees at the base?
One of my favorites: this one really looks like it includes tents in an army encampment.
"Then we camped by the river and ate doughnuts . . ."
I didn't include all of the photos. Other spots have many hash marks that look like counting days or perhaps "counting coup".
Your intrepid desert explorers: me with Alice and Molly.
The American Avocet are found in the area for a only a brief period each year.
The Black-Necked Stilt is usually found in conjunction with the Avocet.
An adult male canvasback.
A male northern pintail. Click on the image to see the length of his tail.
Correctly identified as a Great Egret. And more ducks.
White-fronted geese.
Tundra swan.
Geese head back to the water after grazing.
American White Pelican comes in for a landing.
Though perhaps that is changing, after the last few years.
On a bird-watching platform. Molly isn't so good about being tied up yet. But isn't she turning out to be a pretty girl?
Snow geese startle and take off en masse. I wish that I could have caught the sound as well. They are talking to each other constantly and then the thousands of wings made a cacophony
.
Look there, dad.
Snow geese in flight reflected on the lake.
Black-necked stilt.
American Avocet.
Two Canadian geese in flight.
A pair of Northern Shovelers.
and in flight.
While most others are found in pairs or flocks, the cranes seem to be solitary birds.
A group of American white pelicans.
Back to the lake with a parting shot of the snow geese.