A few ideas...

...as incomplete and incoherent as they are...



River to Maine
(July 2005)

Wearily, she and I stole glances towards one another
As we rode our mules into town
Corn fields followed us the whole darn way
Rarely offering a decent view of this beautiful setting

The town crept up on us slowly
Our mules were dehydrated; our psyche’s bent but not broken
We were making our getaway
Finally breaking free of the city

She said to me, “I want to open a little shop…”
Living the simple life was our goal
“…sell locally grown produce to locally grown folks”
“As long as we can manage”, I nodded in agreement

But could we manage, was all I thought
For now, we were strangers, foreigners, city slickers from the South and the West
Out to find a “better life”, a life these folks treasured too dearly
To let dissolve at the aspirations of a jet set class of losers

But here we were, deportees as it seemed
Ready to set stride and live life as it were meant
Honestly, genuinely, free of restriction
That outside world won’t bother us here
Under the shade of a fruit shop awning









Support the Blackspot
(July 2005)

Get out there
Get at it
Do something different
Don’t play along
Break some rules
Break free of the leader
And make following uncool

Make corporate agendas obsolete
Buy free trade coffee
And listen to what the radio won’t play
Create your own “clear channel” of thought
Stick your neck into where they say it doesn’t belong
And breathe the cleanest air possible while it’s not long gone

Mismatch your colors in the morning
And forget to wear your make-up every day
Support multicultural, multilingual, multiracial dinner dates
And combat the local political machine with subversive warfare on an intellectual level
Don’t let them win

Brand your own style
Weather it takes hold or not
And don’t care whom it offends
And who jumps aboard

Offer your hand in assistance
Work for free
Barter for what you want and need
Clean the street as you walk along them
And teach those who don’t know the real difference between the haves and have-nots

Support the grass roots campaigns of small town leaders
Buy records from the local Ma and Pop store
Plant a tree to save CO2
And take used grease off fast food’s hands
To use as the fuel for diesel powered car in your driveway

Save electricity, burn the picket fence and heat your home for days
Call up the president
And request more attention here at home
Teach your kinds that pop stars aren’t always good role models
No matter how slick they seem

Get after polluters; make them clean up no matter the cost
Grow a garden, and share the “fruit” with your neighbors
Pet the dog, and clean up when it wanders afar
Don’t get caught following the Jones’
Oil the relations of your family, with love, care, and genuine goodness

Cheer for the underdog
Don’t buy just because it’s “on sale”
Love a stranger, weather dark or pale
Stick out your hand and follow the yellow brick road
Never the green paper trail from corporation to corporation