ONE DOLLAR HAIRCUT

Summer.Heat.Haircut time!Salon students offer a bargain-

ONE DAY ONLY!ONE DOLLAR HAIRCUTS!

So I join the line of opportunists who place themselves

in the hands of the scissors of hairdressing students

one of whom offers a shampoo(i have already shampooed-

she talks during the process(not to me-more to fellow workers

and drips water down my neck.I am WET!(and a cat!

I smile and remind myself-we are all students..

She escorts me to a thin blonde wearing fake black plastic glasses

(it is NERD DAY,she explains,and asks me what i want).

"Peace,good health,prosperity,happiness"i reply.

She smiles-a human being!Then i share my theory of hair-

that hairdressers are artists(sculptors really-

they can take but they cannot add on once hair is gone..

She listens,then asks which instrument i wish to proceed with

(holding shears in one hand/chainsaw in the other)

(o k i exaggerate-but the supervisor had to come and check

that i REALLY wanted drastic hair reduction.TO THE BONE!

So the buzz saw came out and hair fell down

and the floor was filled with the roots of hirsute histories

You can see the result when next we meet.Truth in poetry

Yes-sculptors are poets too-adding by reduction

a quality of concentration artistic and aesthetic stylisations..

poetry widows

those whom the Muse has kissed know this-

she sleeps with every dreamer/then moves on

she will not stay with anyone/like opium &laudanum

she is a drug from which there is no release

Harpies and Sirens may sing @parties/Muse waits

until you are dreaming/then move sin /with impossible visions

pained Paradises/hallucinations/freeform tapestries 

so what you see and hear is borrowed from Akashic Libraries

and they always want returns!Learn this o lonely ones

she or he on Vision Quests is solo singular solitary

locked in the Cave of Contemplation until the Sistine Chapel

is painted upon the ceiling of their skull

 Odysseus may have had sagas but Penelope had suitors!
Muse always seduces-ideals of Progress,Renaissance,Enlightenment-
Democracy,Free Press,Bill of Rights,Equality,Fraternity-
a shopping list of executions.Prisons bulge with dissidents.
Amnesty International is immune -and PETA
Most of us will fall under her spell-believe every Tale she will tell
Walk in demonstrations for the Right To Walk
until the talk becomes idle chatter on the Internet
And a New Muse rules our airwaves
Bye bye Lady Ga Ga,farewell Amy Winehouse
Like Edith Piaf,it is less the songs you sing
more the life you lead that makes us follow....

SOLUTIONS(HEALING FOR A HEALER

Every word is a spell-cast for energies to rise

to meet each call with a response

You have been diagnosed with VISIONS

This is a life long condition .It means

that you will be CALM and DEEP and WISE @all times

that your immune system will hear this and respond-

with joy and happiness ,contentment and tranquility

You are @all times attuned to lifelines-

air,earth,water,fire,metal and wood sustain you

Your blood,smiles,passion,energies,thoughts ,dreams

are all affirming you-as does every person who knows you

You are in the fullness of your Light

You shine and beam and share your brightness

You will live forever.Starting now

Your prognosis is looking rather good

The diagnosis is PERFECT HEALTH and HAPPINESS

Live with the knowledge that you are love.

FEATHERS & A GARDEN

Each morning walk,i collect a feather
and a stalk from a stranger's garden
They are in Beauty's Path.I gather as i move.
My garden still blooms both green and red
My feathers will one day make wings
enough to lift above myself/looking down 
upon gardens and birds gathered around watering holes
made for refreshment.Such as this one.Drink deep!
Walking Beauty is also Winged Beauty round a Garden
Those birds we hear and see are aerial surveillance
They are also looking for gardens where they might wing in
across borders and fences,walls and cameras
Birds make forests ,gardens call to birds
We are all in this one world together
Everywhere there is a garden
We grow in them.Wings fly to and through them
That is why i collect beauty-feather by feather,seed by seed
We must become the birds and gardens that we need.

man is not a god

can never be /should never try
man is only human-why?
he makes gods in his own image/then wages war upon them
they respond by desertion/leaving man alone (again)
woman is not a goddess/to place
her high upon a pedestal /makes for a Fall-
Eve,Persephone,Inanna-we need to rise above!(Myths.all!
children cannot drive a car,nor truck,nor life
they need guidance from their elders
who may not be wise but have the motor skills 
necessary for mutual survival
man is not a beast-he needs rest ,relief
to drink and feed,be sheltered from hot sun
this is also true for every one of us
our limits make us union
strength in numbers?no-more intrinsic to creation
we are only what we can do
anything less is laziness
anything more-is war

dog's life

between the bulldog of England and the pit bull America
Australia has been a little lapdog
Our best youth died as Anzacs for Churchill's follies 
Turkish machine guns wiping waves of volunteers
We died for a sick and dying British Empire Bulldog
World War 2,we volunteered again-were sent to defend British Colonies
ended up Burmese Death railroads,Changi prison camp,Singapore withdrawal
Japan had printed occupation currency/MacArthur drew the Brisbane line
Japanese bombed Darwin/Japanese mini-subs in Sydney Harbour
We barked for our troops to be returned to defend us-and were ignored 
by more British Commanders.Battle of the Coral Sea saved us.
After the Battle of Brisbane,we were America's!Off we were drafted
for Vietnam(we had no pony in that show-ALL THE WAY WITH LBJ!
That was a defeat.We withdrew.Vietnamese communities in Australia now.
Puppy bark we for independence-but we LOVE the Royal Family!
Photo opportunities of endless Royal Tours with Corgis.
LBJ played with his dogs.We were America's beagles.
US bases proliferated-"WELCOME TO NORTHWEST CAPE-
AUSTRALIA'S NUMBER ONE NUCLEAR TARGET!
Dingos seen as a pest to be controlled.("A dingo took my baby!)
Doggedly,we yelp for independence.Polyglot Surfer's Paradise-
signs in Japanese/Chinese.Old dog RSL no bark left
Forgotten as Tasmanian Devils.Every dog has his day.
Ever feel like howling?

THOM OF INDIA

One billion people-so close to China.
Culture that goes back 5000 years-border wars in Kashmir
Pakistan always a tinderbox neighbor.Her history  of colonialisation/invasions
independence/Mahatma Ghandi....Indian Grahame used to visit the Commune
bringing dahl and lentils.He had been an Indian Army tank commander 
in the India-Pakistan wars.Refugees gave him jewels to secure safe passage
When we were in Cleveland,the Indian community welcomed us to their homes
fed us(musicians/poets),supported us with sitars and tablas.Courteous and wise.
Bauls of Bengal had toured Australia,to rapturous applause.
Indian gurus too!Meher Baba popular.Da Free John.Krishnas on our streets/chanting.
In Bradford,we eat @KASHMIR-cheap hot food and mango lassi!
Bangra music.Bollywood movies.Salaam Bombay!-Indian culture
reaches out in Hindi ,English and a polyglot of offshored industries.
Meditation.Levitation.Breatharians.Calcutta.Poverty.Religion.Ganges.
Vegetarians.Chai.pukka cricket.Taj Mahal.Overwhelming -from Goa to Gods
pulsing,pulsating,pushing into birth-modern India.Peace!

WATCH YOUNG IRISH GO TO HELL!

So the US Visa Lottery was a fraud
and all the results have been deleted
and appeals have been ignored
so where are the unemployed 1 in 10 to go?
Why -to the Australian colonies-following ancestors-
Fenians,Chartists,Socialists,petty thieves
to Pilbara in Western Australia
where they can slave in the mine fields
They will pay $100,000 a year to 150,000 Irish youths
who can drive,and cook,sweep and labor
@temperatures over one hundred degrees each day
with no outside entertainment they can suffer so their work can pay
Make this recession go away!
Go to hell for a holiday!

SMELL OF SPACE

Astronauts upon return from space maintain a smell of burnt steak
permeates that vacuum we observe from an illuminated distance
SMELL-O-RAMA in movies with scratch-off cards has taunted audiences with aromas
corresponding to what is happening upon the screen
Dusty odors of tombs opened/the opening of wine bottles
long strewn upon Titanic floors or seabeds/in Greek amphorae
carry an aromatic history we need to excavate within our group memories
Perfumeries have long researched floral scents-Victorian lilac and jasmine
cast our minds back /while Dior&Chanel /as well as those named after pop stars or divas
throw us in to contemporary smellscapes..We smell fires via dust and smoke-
often it is an intuitive alarm pre-visual.Synthetic aromas preserve a history of scents.
Olefactory vocabulary may be expanded through exposure to various flowers,weeds,plants.
Ancient formulae allow re-creation of lost aromas-aromatherapy utilizes the healing power
of wintergreen,eucalyptus,pine and lemon-while the smell of lemons and fresh baked bread
has sold real estate  successfully ad infinitum.Egyptian perfumes may be resurrected-
either via formulae of composition or reconstruction of residual aromas left in vials.
Aromas are timebound-they change with fashion,religion,art,science
Containers are also art-gallon jars of OPIUM in Imelda Marcos' Palace-
funerary vials in tombs for the afterlife.We cannot go back-but we can both create and recreate
all the smells,odors and aromas that have been with us since underarms,crotchrot and decaying teeth
have necessitated colognes,antiperspirants,deodorants, powders and perfumes
There will always be  new nose sensations-even more await our re-discovery
Your nose knows history!

TWICE STRIKE LIGHTNING

Ruta Maya 19 July-just before Samuel Kardec and his jazz virtuosos feature
A buzz of Light and life smiled through the open door
bringing in fresh futures.Iphones,laptops,collaborations proved modernity-
each supported the others as collective and singularly
they raised their voices to articulate their choices-
to live in a world that is ON THE EDGE
"Can you hear what i am not saying?"
Their listening a power unto itself-
young then younger recognized their powers
claimed the mike as theirs /and rose in lines
like waves of joy affirming futures.
All digitally connected,text and texting,Tweets and emailing
reading from screens as pages turned virtually
they were actually present-the listening quotient rose
Time slowed.Ears opened.Hands clapped.Eyes watched
and every moment became a sacred text shared.
This was theirs.They will never be as young again.
Bold,bright,brilliant-they added much to Tuesday's open mike evening
Quick and sharp as twice striking-lightning-enlightening!


THE LITTLEST POETS
 
Babies of Ruta Maya-since womb they have been here
Made welcome when the young were praised
and the mike was truly open.Tonight they are writing-those tracks on the page
are marks others see as scratch tokens.Cash gold wisdom.They speak them-
"I will go to the moon-then i will fly to Jupiter"
"It is my dreams that make me happy"
Hear the active listening?That is respect-
for the spring of youth is close to creation-
writing,dreaming,performing-listening ,sharing
This is the way a new world begins-again
every time you step upon the stage-
with a new vision/another dream-
and word play!

LEVITATION

i have always wanted to fly
i look UP!at birds,planes,gliders,collect feathers
so that i may build wings of levity soft enough to defeat gravity
(No joke!-weight loss is no skeleton dance-
it is a jitterbug rain dance to attract light thoughts
so at least part of us might rise into other dimensions-
first thoughts,meditations,astral projections,ectoplasm-
arms flapping (mock-wings).Stand upon a peak or a hill
Glide into the lightened windy currents
 like those wind men in TRANSFORMERS#3
Gliding is silence and peace.Para-sailing too stringed.
I have sat in a tiny ultra light with a lawn mower engine @300 feet 
(once).I will never parachute(wrong direction-i want UP!not down down down-
and i will not jump off cliffs trusting in slight windsurfing sails to lift me 
gravity is my only weakness.I eat cakes and feel the difference.
There will always be an elemental tension between light and dark,
night and day,court and spark,weight and lift
I ride the thin line of horizons between what is and what might be
I am for levity over gravity.If i rise,watch me
If i fall,the joke is on me.Either way,levitation
seems easy...

HYPERBOLE

I live in Texas
where Tall Stories rise
like corn up to an elephant's eyes
Our rivers run
through flood and drought
Ask that Colorado
what she is on about!
Our skies are larger than any other
why they say in space
you can make just out Texas!
Our Longhorns are larger than any other
Don't ask me-
ask their mothers and fathers!
Our pride here in this fair Texas State
belongs to Native Texans-get here quick!
before it is too late!
Our Governator will soon be President-
like 2 Bushs and one LBJ
But first he must partake for a Prayer Rally
to see if God(his only boss)
will give him leave!
If any of these stories
you do not believe
And you are still in Texas-
you better leave!

BERSERKA!

Touch o the Irish-like a banshee wailing
or a She-Na-Gog uncovered in a bog
she wails the wild Irish wind
when she opens her heart mouth and sings
Thin as a reed,now an elder,she
has always shared her stories
so they might sing with her
Solitary as a colleen /wild haired and willing
now she heals in Chinese herbs,and singing
comes only when the season lifts her into the sky
and rains inspiration upon her.Tonight she hears the wind
within -she steps up -her arms an orchestra leader
and she conducts her inner storms and lightning strikes
twice-for she is absolutely rich in this -electricity
rises energetically from her raised arms as she
channels every part of her being into wisdom
shared momentarily,then slumps back in to her chair
where she resembles a smiling wise woman
until those winds return again-and you can still
hear her singing...

ASANOREXICBULIMICNEWSPAPERSMORPHINTOBLOGS&WEBSITES

we adjust.Thin LITERA.No poetry in Austin Statesman.
Our fave journalists displaced/replaced by poached New York articles 
You say that books and newspapers will go digital/glow virtual
That there is a SECOND LIFE for retired editors.I disagree
Newspapers are historically a map of community.
Technology has changed-the broadsheet format adjusts-
just as books have since Caxton/Gutenberg
They are more than art,antiques,relics of a vanished lifestyle
They are a social map-more than coffeeshop conversations
They shame Rupert Murdoch-his stocks sink
Police exposed,politicians naked-this needs more than Wikileaks
This is the moving finger pointing of every one of us
It means more than lonely cursors on personal tiny iphone screens
More than news subscriptions for Huffington headlines
Pilger ,Assange,Kelso see a human side to community displacement
They are now on a world stage-syndicated via social media
yet their roots and stock in trade is in local coverage
Media can amplify-but it also needs to examine
Newspapers(like books)allow a time measured return to response
Circulation and advertising may drop,adapt,change,morph
Papers(like currencies )may crash and burn out
NEWS OF THE WORLD was actually quite profitable
but your community was outraged by their rape of personal data
Journalists are ethical secular seekers of truth-a deeper view than commentators
THE GUARDIAN may be bankrupt but its ethics keep it alive
I will now turn from PC to read what my daily newspaper sings to me
May we all thrive!

 

TRAILER VAN ECONOMIC RECOVERY

"not speaking trailer trash-talking food vans,man!"
Cafe Mundi did it-rents rose,so they gypsied to a mobile dispenser
on wheels parked in a salutory spot-with low or no rent,and loyal loving customers
Now Austin bursts @the seams with exotic cuisine.We have chefs with hats in vans 
selling worldclass cuisine-a Great Leap Forward past the corn dogs and sugar salt carnivals of childhood.
Sophisticated?We have United Nations!World Peace?We resolve disputes between street vendors
and brick and mortar restaurants with ease-both win!The more vans appear,the greater our hunger
The width of menus beggars description-some have poets,some have musicians
SoCo like a circus carnival first Thursdays,Fridays-in fact-EVERY day 
lines form for cupcakes,cuisine a la Mediterranean or worldscene
Be a part of this New Dream!Taste test every van in Austin!
Then open your own and watch as more Californians pour in!
This is an economic recovery -small is beautiful!-and slow food is still legal!

13 ways of looking @a pomegranate

1.it was not an apple-despite Newton,Blake,Steve Jobs
2.it was not a peach-despite T S Eliot ,William Carlos Williams
3.it may have been a snake-ask Moses what happened with that staff!
4.it was skyclad-how can you clothe vegetable?and fruits?
5.it was from the Middle East-like figs,and 1001 Arabian Nights
6.it is smaller than a camel
7.it exists (like us)thanks to oasis
8.it is not digital(you can eat it)
9.when organic,and a juice,it is diluted or expensive
10.it is as yet unfamiliar to corporate advertising
11.it has exotic strangeness and allure
12.Tigres?Euphrates?Garden of Eden?(Real Estate!)
13.no pomegranate has a personal nor family name

HOW TO BE A PENGUIN

My feet are killing me!These are NOT "Happy Feet"
Do you know how many penguins are unemployed?
What with all those waddling round in fake fur suits
not even dressed like Emperors..Houston..we have a problem!
And do not even mention Mr Poppers Penguins-
they are as digital as dishwater and just as brainwashing
WE ARE NOT CUTE! I do not care how many nature documentaries
with sedative syrupy saccharine soundtracks are made for Hollywood
we exist in a cool space and our icebergs are NOT owned by Coca-Cola!
Coke bottles float by from cruise ships-but they remain (like us)trapped in Antarctic-
as ice floes crack and break off bound for new Titanics
It may be cool to be a penguin-but please think of the real ones.!
They would much prefer to live in peace-sans submarines,scientists,surveys and surveillance satellites
I guess most humans would too.How would you like to swap suits?

MURDER,MOST FOUL!

If "Language is a virus from outer space"
then metaphor is a love letter to our lost souls-seeking to retrieve affection
Politics is full of cliches posing as metaphors-posed Press Conferences,
shaking hands,smiling,kissing babies,feeding homeless @soup kitchens
These are placebo images.Same with advertising featuring"Doctors"in white coats
touting  fluoride toothpaste.Assumptions /connections with our group mind.
Our history is cliched as Zelig's "Peace in our times".Our religions devolve 
from poetry (Song of Songs)and parables to fundamentalist Bibical exegesis.
Metaphor means more than connotation-from Asberger's to autism.
We use all of our senses to interpret poetry and song lyrics.-
which at their best convey a synesthesia appealing to every part of us.
Language allows our etymology to evolve from grunts to codes-
computers use a form of metaphor..there is no"information superhighway"
nor a literal"Web",nor"pages"in "Facebook".Take away this facility
and we lose home ludens.Atomic theory poses Dancing Wu Li masters,dark matter,black holes
and materials that manifest not as matter but only occasionally as relationships
(like marriage)(without a pre-nuptial settlement)
Our minds work well with metaphor-Shakespeare and the Bible reek of other meanings
and defy standard interpretations.Lamb's"Tales from Shakespeare"stripped plots to prose
and lost the richness of multivalent meanings.Bowlder attempted the same.
In science,a Bibical strictness violates all evidence to the contrary-
and "faith-based"politics makes for more teenage pregnancies.
"Pregnant with interpretations"-from Wall Street's "dead cat bounce"
to the affect heuristic of contemporary advertising.Metaphor works!
Your job is to find out why?

RIDDLE ME THIS

why is it our fiction writers make such poor spies?
is it that their plots defy our perception of "reality"
is it that we trust them only to fabricate fictions
and become uneasy when they speak the truth?
is it that we already have a class of politicians to lie to us
and thus all fiction writers are redundant(except as speechwriters)
W Somerset Maugham's work in World War One censored via Churchill
D notices given to any publication of Defense Department information
Moles exposed via David Cornwall's John Le Carre 
imitated via real Russian spies in recent American history
And the surreal nature of spydom-immortalized via Ian Fleming'JAMES BOND franchise
and satirized via Peter Sellers Clouseau and Dr Strangelove
Even Canadian Mike Myers made millions out of turning mock Bond into comedy
So it is with our "intelligence"agencies-
fictions such as mythical"weapons of mass destruction"
and false data regarding Somalian weapons factories(aspirin factories)
makes media re-telling of our spy myth history necessary and delightful
It will always be the fodder for fine fiction-from Grahame Greene's "Our Man in Havana"
to "Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy".We will watch it.Closely.We do not know why....

NEWS OF THE WORLD

EXCEPT anything to do with bribery of police
hacking of murdered girls phones
secret surveillance of civilians
and blackmail of politicians
These issues rely upon a Wikileaks
itself a victim of insider leaking
As the Egyptian and Tunisian changes have shown-
it is not Facebook nor Youtube that bring down governments-
(Iran still jails its young,and Syria still kills them)
Social networking is at best a consolidation of suspicions 
to be confirmed by data and events,reactions and responses.
When China censors its Internet and Syria shuts it down-
it is the conversation on the streets that becomes front page blog/Twitter material
This is why it is better that all have access to webworks
and that surveillance includes all police and politicians.
Corruption is a core issue-freedom of speech and assembly
have too long been denied,diluted,censored 
and marginalized into FREE SPEECH ZONES.

 It is time to witness the NEWS OF THE WORLD (by any means necessary"
Newspapers are historic money losses-like airlines
Time to get our your camera,recorder,laptop and start broadcasting
Pirate radios and microTV broadcasters of the world-
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING!

every thing that has a name

exists(as well as much that remains name less)
Power,magick,projection of will-all clash
unless aligned with parallel or higher purposes.
Here i am garage sailing-when i see(what is THIS?
"Voodoo dolls? Are hey REAL?"
"YES!..and if you do not buy any thing"...(he holds the pin threateningly
and Zen smiles.I buy the dolls and pins-but an ethical dilemma presents-
who can i give these to who will not use them?
Power is too easily employed,belief too easily seduced
Damage too easily done to those who need a name or have none
So now i own three voodoo dolls,pins and a pin cushion
I will never use them.Most of life is ornamentation
Projection of will is a dangerous enterprise
Magic is sometimes better left alone

Entering the silence

to Fiona

before we came,it was here-
and will be long after we are gone
for a long time...only a nodding
acquaintance..like entering water..depth
comes after  trust,,first-a touch,a taste
next-commitment to process/knowing only this-
silence was here within us
and lives quite well(without us..


A response to Fiona Robyn's account of a Buddhist retreat

VOLUNTEERS

Next to what we planted -
a tiny volunteer arose
thin and needing reassurance
she soon bloomed tall and deep
She never reached the size
of the deliberate manifestations
Yet are we not sustained
by volunteerism?
All the things you do
for which you are not paid
make this world  as true
as all the work you make.
So praise to volunteers
wherever they arise!
May our world be sustained
by such a bright surprise!

Where have all the buzzards gone?

SKY BURIAL
There are still Parsis,who believe
that every element is Sacred-
air,water,earth,fire
so they bequeath their bodies to vultures
who traditionally have scavenged India
ridding road kill of tubercolosis,brucellosis and foot in mouth
From 30 million white backed vultures in 1980
there are now only eleven thousand.Once they eat
bodies that have ingested diclofenac(ibuprofen/aspirin)
they develop gout and die within weeks.
Attempts to breed vultures in captivity are slow and limited by those
who suggest instead"vulture restaurants"
where diclofenac-free meat is dumped in open fields to attract wild birds
Yet 70%of all rabies deaths occur in India-where the demise of vultures coincides
with a growth in the population of wild dogs(who also attack humans)
Hindus believe Bhaivara(a reincarnation of Shiva)manifests as a dog
just as vultures represent the Hindu god Jatayu who tried to save Sita when she was kidnapped.
Zoroastrians still use dhokmas(Towers of Silence)for sky burials-but Parsis are few(50,000 in Mumbai,100,000 world-wide)
Nasarsarlas(Parsis undertakers) must now clear half-digested bodies into ossaries
Dogs are everywhere,but vultures are gone.Something as simple as aspirin
has cleared the skies and almost ended all sky burials...

LOOK ON THE DARK SIDE

You will die.You will live in pain
Perhaps your relationships will break down.You will have bad days
The odds are stacked that sadness will strike -
usually when you least expect.You do not need to "cheer up"
Nor to "put on a happy face".Keep that skull on your desk.
You will get there yet.Those who passed knew this too
Denial of pain and death is another form of suffering(even for Buddhists!
Ask the Dalai Lama when he can return to Tibet-and who will succeed him?
My friend works dressing the dead.She is ill.Cannot afford health care.
My father worked digging graves.I was an altar boy @funerals.
My friends are growing older .Some have already left their bodies.
There is an end to every body/every thing ends.Attitude is not all.
Biology and physiology ,history and genetics have roles to play.
This is not any reason to get depressed.
Consider Leonard Cohen ,Tom Waits,blues singers
Singing your soul may not change poverty-but it lifts your mood.
And every line may not be golden-even aluminium shines
Every day has a dark night.Every body dies.
Look on the dark side.

 

CENTERING YOUR CALLS

You will receive a call.It will be offshored
It will attempt to sound like you-to offer you something you need
You may get angry,confused or interested.People's lives depend
upon your positive response.Unless and until Third World labor costs rise
such calls will come from centers where some new middle class workers are being processed.
Conundrum#1-if their work value rises,their jobs will be offshored(again
Paradox#2-they are taught to imitate perceived cultures of the respondees-
yet these recipients know nothing of the caller's true culture or identity
Tautology#3-this has been a growth industry for two decades(and still growing
Phishing expeditions rely upon simple greed(and the need for employment)
To keep their job,employees must be proficient in finding common ground
and selling -whether it be vitamins or mobile phone contracts
Young,bright,educated people seek these call center positions-
for upward mobility,middle class income levels,and personal freedom.
They may be stranded between two cultures-a stranger to both host and adopted one.
They may be multilingual and multicultural-yet have no true identity or home
After time,they may become disassociated,alienated,cynical-
much like the outcome of those receiving these calls..
Perhaps identification can then occur ,based upon truly common values...

Le Bon Temps Roule

 was a FARMVILLE addict(for a week)
i would ask for trees and friends to swap assets
No money was ever exchanged /but my farm was real
(in a SECOND LIFE sense ,like virtual sex)
It was addictive to add cows and goats and crops
to have that imaginary farmer mock experience
without worrying about dust or drought or blight.
I did not buy an UNWITHER RING
nor purchase a CHARRO GNOME
I was no whale of an investor-just along for the free ride
But it took time,and energy,and concentration
I had to decide between real friends and my virtual farm
I tried CITYVILLE-but the ethical considerations the same-
does one(with a limited life)build in this life or the next?
Every Catholic must ask this question at some time
Every saint and sinner ponder.Every blogger,website designer,poster of information
Are we to fight MAFIA WARS on our streets or in hyperspace?
I may have left the farm ,come to the city-
but you can still find me hanging around
on FACEBOOK(not yet GOOGLE+
(at least virtually...

"the child is father to the man"

Boymen -pudgy nerds with glasses/geeks with computers
obese diabetics on a sugar rush/crowd the couches of our TV nation
Magazines and porn sites keep the IQ @crotch level
objectifying sex with fake blonde bimbos a la PLAYBOY/Maxim
Fantasies extend via movies made for pre-adolescent marketing-knowing 9-14
is the demographic for moviewatchers and cartoon comix media fixations
Commentators crowd out journalists/sport voyeurism and car fixations
replace participation in active lifestyles.Freaks n geeks independent movie style.
Women are presented with huge breasts Freudian mum style
or slim hipped boygirl "pals"with plastic botox smiles
Empowered women Kali/Shakti/Madeleine Albright/Margaret Thatcher
Condeleeza Rice/Hiliary Clinton seek power like men
wear red and speak as elders would-to the children of America
Boymen in uniform in foreign countries or handling drones over distances
fight before voting/become adults by fate and default
while still sipping sodas and carving up pizzas for sugar and salt
are their chemical composition /with fat and preservatives in plastic packaging
All that is left is children breeding children.Grandmother cares for them
Grandmother wisdom becomes father to the new boymen...

TRANSFORMERS 3D launch in Moscow's Red Square

Same young girls crying for their designated Hollywood heroes
Same lights and posters and faked posed photo opportunities
Same bland blase rigged public relations interviews
We bought Russia.We became Russia.Central Control
NASA KGB NKVD CIA NSA FBI APD-alphabet tag soup
Same profiteers dispensing distractions
Same tickets sold to the very same attractions
Please leave your glasses in the box outside the cinemaplex
Everyone is recycled..
Same cameras clicking

Shorts

POKER LIFE
We are all dealt cards.Each Joker laughs-
Kings,Queens,Knaves-pawns,slaves
We hold them(temporarily).Win or lose
At least we have cards in our hands.Every body wins..DEAL!

PARKING METER MOMENTS
Only this fish.Caught.Released
Silver in a Gold Stream.Exchange
Next not better(just what we have)
Never Compare Lovers.

WE ONLY GET ONE LIFE@ A TIME
That is why i keep my verse free
and my pages loose leaf!

PLAGIARIST
Somebody says they are me.They recite poetry
I listen to them each night.Perhaps they are right!

CINEMATITIS
Eye sit in the 3D dark sipping soda
Anonymous as projectionist
It matters little/it matters less
Images are exposed.We file out.

DISTANCE REDEEMS US(intimacy confuses
As soon as skin meets skin(Forget these words!
Cards fall in a game to lose.Only distance redeems

YOU ARE YOUNG ENOUGH TO HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN (AGAIN)

and to break her heart /in returning
You are new enough /to drum in a band in Casinos interstate
for enough money to pay your bills
You are raw enough to be in a van with 4 other boymen
the smell of lost rising like the heat/wave.No romance this
Ride the waves,boy!Ride your horses down every road!
You have a tattoo for every arm.No names on them.No name son you
Desert Storms/Siroccos swirl around every female oasis
And when you break/you mend/with a dose of drugs or love or drink or new tattoo
until your skin is a map of where you have been.Soon you will have tattooed
your eyes,your ears,your skull,your feet-you know this..Where you are -is Paradise!

saw your face on FACEBOOK

did not know what to do
I know that you are dead
i miss talking with you
Same with your email
(all the names have gone-
addresses stay undisturbed)
i leave them there(undeleted)
i do not care if my messages ends up
in the virtual Dead Letter office
on the Last Page of the Internet
Same with your photographs
pre-digital or virtual
They record faces long,long,gone
I miss them,and i want them back
Same with you.You are not here.
So i must find a way to communicate
before this last line ends here..

CREATURES OF HABIT

We did not stray far from the cave
tracking footprints is now digital
We have an"app for that"
Businesses track customers' buying patterns
through continuous inventory checks
FACEBOOK's "Like"button assists friendsharing
Facial profiling allows one to be found in a flash mob
Surveillance can be remote or up close and personal
You are being recorded as you read this-
your digital eye movements replicated like M A Vs.
Profit and SECURITY incentivizse innovation in this-
we may have individual tastes
but we become a market when they concur
If you like this poem,
you may enjoy Mayakovsky ,William Blake and Charles Bukowski
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