@NathanMars ... Swing Junk Like A Star

“An army of sheep led by a lion,
is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.”

Alexander The Great

First Sword

For what do Men fight when called to unite,
When trumpet it sounds it the Call,
When made by appeal to draw it their steel,
Take place, to Man them the walls?

Where flag does it fly as uttered war-cry,
Is sword, the tip of the spear,
Found in the front to take it the brunt,
… Or does it but fly in the rear?

It’s steel not gold, that all do behold,
It’s steel that earns them, salutes,
For Men are inspired by that which admired,
And buy, cannot you repute.

Those who’d lead Men learn time and again,
Fortune’s not found in the stars,
Who first pays the price and makes sacrifice,
First sword … on the Field of Mars.

For those unaware, I have been a frequent critic of Whales and Witnesses, asserting that many are pursuing self-interests at the expense of the needs of the blockchain. In short, that they are not leading. As an ex-soldier who has internalized the Military Code of Honor, I take abuses of leadership as a personal affront.

That said, I have also been a strong supporter of those few who do step forward in an effort to use their power to further the collective interest of the community. This is an excerpt from a reply I recently left on a comment made by my good friend @dandays:

STEEM/Steemit has managed to get itself into a quagmire and extricating itself won't be easy. That said, there are many people engaged in the effort. And, the numbers are growing.

And, this includes some Whales and Witnesses. The Whales and Witnesses ARE NOT a homogeneous group. Indeed, some of them hate each others guts. But here's a reality: The Good Whales have to tread gently lest they set off endless stupid Whale Wars, none of which have ever accomplished anything beneficial.

One Last Note: No one has been more critical of self-serving (and blockchain destroying) Whale/Witness behavior than I. That said, we must be careful to distinguish the Good from the Bad. And, we must be willing to support those who dare to stray from the pack, making themselves targets in the process.

To be fair, one's pen must be as ready to write in tribute, as it is to write of tribulation. And, from what I've seen over the past few months, @theycallmedan, @nathanmars and @maruisfebruary are deserving of the former, not the latter.

Quill

In the recent @theycallmedan Delegation Contest, I wrote a poem/article to this effect:

 

They Call Him Dan

They call him Dan, who was the Man, 
The Man who said, “Enough,” 
I’ll not sit by and watch it die, 
I’ll call, the Gods, their bluff.   

I’ll use my Might to flames ignite, 
Own profits, sacrifice, 
I’ll Delegate to Elevate, 
Those Men who’ll pay a price.”   

And so they did as he had bid, 
Some Men, they drew their swords, 
For courage is contagious, 
As Fate all march towards.  

All shared a dream, of it a theme, 
All dreamt of what could be,  
To judge a Man by Merit, 
Not wealth nor pedigree.  

So wrote they did like Shakespeare,
And painted like Van Gogh,
And play they did like Mozart,
The high-born and the low.

They used their minds, to Voices find,
Their creations, innovative,
And all did laud, as all were awed,
By power house creatives.

And those with gold watched all unfold,
As hearts were bent to Will,
For there’s victory in volonté,
And the fire of a quill.

And those with gold, became they bold,
Now leaders of their clan,
Words were spoken, “Go fix what’s broken,”
… As once was done by Dan.

Dan was a good sport and graciously recited the poem.

But Dan was not alone in his efforts to better the blockchain. Other Whales have been actively engaged as well. @nathanmars force-multiplied Dan's Contest by simultaneously juicing activity on Twitter. And, he has been running an ongoing Steemit promotional campaign called #Seven77, an initiative that seeks to raise the blockchain's profile on other social media platforms, especially Twitter.

Of course, Whales are human beings like everyone else and even amongst this avant-garde group there are tensions and disagreements. Following Dan's aforementioned recital (lightly edited and paraphrased for clarity):

@nathanmars (70)

Well ... that sucked. Don't get me wrong, Dan's a nice guy, but White Guys can't rap. They've got no rhythm. You want to know why?

@quillfire (59)

Shoot.

@nathanmars (70)

White Guys have small dicks. Us Black Guys are hung like horses. And our ample appendages, swinging back and forth, act like metronomes. It helps us keep time. It's called "Junk Funk."

Junk Funk

Well, I thought that was interesting, and I thought it might be equally interesting to see some Junk Funk in action. And hence, this post's poem written in tribute to @nathanmars. Paraphrasing what I wrote previously respecting Dan's recitation:

Now, it may be that Nathan is reluctant to steal the spotlight from the Contest Participants upon whom he has sought to shine it. And so ... I think we should insist. Commencing now, I would request that at the end of all posts, comments and replies, everyone start adding the following:

"@nathanmars ... Swing Junk Like A Star."

Personal Note 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nathan's parents for naming him ... "Nathan." Here are a list of the words in the English language that rhyme with such august personal appellation:

As a poet, this embarrassment of riches made my job much easier. Having never used either "laythan" or "mathan" in a sentence, I was immediately excited by the artistic possibilities. 

Quill

You guys know the QuillDrill. Be verbose ... but articulate.

And remember ...

Go Love a Starving Poet

For God's sake ... they're starving!