This morning’s Star Ledger reports on New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s order to seek a new vendor to operate New Jersey’s state-administered veterans’ homes. This comes as a direct result of a statement by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that patients at Menlo Park’s Veterans Memorial Home are living in a [...]
Author: pfornale
Redeem the Day
Regret a trying day No more readily Than you would condemn A worthy person. Each day has in it Your rising and the ticking of your life. Each day has in it The piercing fanfare Of your imperfect procession. Each day has in it The game challenge Of your glorious missteps. Regret even one day, [...]
Autism and Sensitivity
Several studies pose estimates that over 90 percent of people with autism have significant difficulty with sensory processing. While most of this takes the form of extreme sensitivity to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures, some autistic people actually have atypically low responses to sensory stimuli. With this, we can see a correlation with the [...]
Spectrum
The warming rays of humankind Divert a portion of themselves That through a sacred prism pass Refracting into vibrant us. We few, we happy few, we band of others-- Whose vision brightens the obscure, Whose music fills the masses’ throats, Whose lines fill full the living page, Whose brushes paint the human soul: Let's spread [...]
Autism Explained Poorly
Could societies through the millennia have owed their survival to the insight, hope, imagination, creativity and guidance of their neurodivergent members?
Love Song to My Life
The humming remnants of our joining Linger in my ears And grow more sonorous Whenever I close my eyes. The soft force of your encircling arms Settles upon me again Each time I call it back With a mindful breath. Forgive me, I pray, My frailty–my flight from you– The odds I put between us– [...]
The Legacy of the British Monarchy
Illness kept me home from school yesterday, and I watched the BBC’s coverage of the state funeral for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. The grandeur, the pomp, the ceremony, and the tradition of it all reflected the importance of the monarchy to the people of the United Kingdom, as well as to the nations of the [...]
A Civil War, or an Uncivil Contest?
We must disagree with each other as opponents, not as enemies; we must look beyond our differences to see on all parts a genuine, if at times misguided, concern for our country and our society.
Ask Me Anything
I arrive again To visit you treasured two. You will not readily recall Precisely which face mine is Among the rushing throng Behind your uncertain eyes. You desire devoutly The prompt and willing service Your words were wont to offer To your kindly sentiments, And the smooth conveyance They might furnish To your hazy queries. [...]
Destination
The noblest heart knows not to scorn The grasping of the sad and lost Whose pleasant poisons leave them torn Between exhaust and cost. Nor would a wise and kindly eye Look ill upon the lush elect Who pile their riches to the sky And to them genuflect. The true soul walks a patient path, [...]