Kick-ass art concept. I think I may try to do something like that.

We all know the impression of a very heavy flash of lightning in the night. Within a second's time we see a broad landscape, not only in its general outlines but with every detail. Although we could never describe each single component of the picture, we feel that not even the smallest leaf of grass escapes our attention. We experience a view, immensely comprehensive and at the same time immensely detailed, that we never could under normal daylight conditions, and perhaps not during the night either, if our senses and nerves were not strained by the extraordinary suddenness of the event.

I was talking to a moth late one evening, and he was trying to break into an electric light bulb and fry himself on the wires.

"Why do you fellows pull this stunt?" I asked him. "Because it is the conventional thing for moths or why if that had been an uncovered candle instead of an electric bulb, you would now be a small, unsightly cinder. Have you no sense?"

"Plenty of it," he answered. "But at times, we get tired of using it. We get bored with the routine and crave beauty and excitement. Fire is beautiful and we know that if we get too close, it will kill us. But what does that matter? It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with the beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while. So we wad all our life up into one little roll and then we shoot the roll. That is what life is for. It is better to be part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty. Our attitude toward life is 'come easy, go easy.' We are like human beings used to be, before they became to civilized to enjoy themselves."

And before I could argue him out of his philosophy, he went and immolated himself on a patent cigar lighter. I do not agree with him myself. I would rather have half the happiness and twice the longevity. But at the same time, I wish there was something I wanted as badly as he wanted to fry himself.

Energy Bills Are Down to the Wire
There's a More Secure, Cheaper, Environmentally Sensitive Way

While working alongside Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, MoveOn, Working Assets, and others, TrueMajority members have succeeded in preventing passage of the Bush Administration's energy bill. Rather than see sky-high gas prices and yet another American war in the Middle East as the perfect occasion to enact sustainable energy policies, those who support the oil and coal industries in the White House and in Congress are using current events to launch another push for the same old stuff: relax environmental laws, drill the wilderness, and burn more fuel.

Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our country currently lags behind the rest of the world in energy conservation and renewable supplies; just look at the effects on America's health, the environment, and national security.

There are three things TrueMajority members can do:

1) Tell Congress to reject any new energy legislation that doesn't get serious about renewable supplies and energy conservation. (They'll try to sneak these bills through over the coming months, so now is a good time to send a clear message.)

2) Write a letter to the editor to educate your neighbors and to further pressure your members of Congress.

3) Help our friends at the Apollo Alliance promote their detailed plan for sustainable and secure energy, and to run the TV ad that lays bare the Bush energy policies.

TELL CONGRESS. Tell your senators and representatives to vote against any bill that does more to help keep us hooked on fossil fuels than it does to help us break the habit. Just click this link!

Then please forward this message to anyone else you know who believes our future should include renewable energy.

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Letters to the editor are another powerful way to influence your Congress members. This feature uses state-of-the-art technology to make it really easy for you to submit a letter to the editor. Click here to give it a try!

PROMOTE THE APOLLO ALLIANCE. Check out the folks who are working for a positive alternative, and if you like what you read, kick in a few bucks to help them or their latest "Out of Gas" ad campaign. Remember, the power of the online community is that ten dollars from 10,000 people adds up to a good-sized budget to confront the special interests.

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So here and now, in our rotting nation
The blood, it pours, it’s all on our hands now
We live, in fear, of our own potential
To win, to lose, it’s all on our hands now

The idea that both Light and Darkness are mutually exclusive and total in themselves is the root of this notion that Light and Darkness are rivals.

Therefore, according to this supposed truism, it is possible for Light to penetrate Darkness, and for Darkness to wholly consume the Light.

We gravitate toward such statements because they provide convenient metaphors to illustrate an "ultimate good" or a "pure evil". After all, nothing supports a moral point like a potent metaphor.

By my reckoning, however, Light and Darkness exist as degrees of themselves. No light is ultimately bright, nor is any shadow without some character of lightness.

As I look around, I see Light and Darkness swirling together. Like partners, they dance, dipping and swooping in an intimate embrace.

Perhaps this is merely my own perception of things... but to a poet, what else is there?