may we all be heard
words are bells
let them ring!


Thom World Poet Austin, Texas, USA
Global Radical networker and activist for promoting the live Creative Arts,
at every possible opportunity, especially in his home-city, Austin, Texas, USA


Saturday, September 11, 2010

OLD AUSTIN TALKED TO ME

Retired.Plumber.Musician.He
regretted what has happened to his village
He knew all the musicians(once).Played country(not western!
with children,grandchildren,great-a dynasty extending
But he has tears for Austin's loss of integrity-
nobody knows anybody.He is confused by traffic
hates hate,wishes we could all just"get along"
His song is almost finished-he wears a cap
and rides a white pickup.He knows he is a vanishing species
Of course,you may see a conservative redneck
awash with sentimental nostalgia/yet is he
reminiscent of times this city denies-the old,poor,working class
who live from hand to mouth and built these houses
roof by roof,pipe by pipe-before machines and migration patterns
changed all that.He looks back.All his past has passed-
as we will.One day we will be old-a story told
voice to ear,sotto voce,whispered like a legend
of a newer Austin,lost in time and change and traffic
Gone like memory-never to come back

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