JPs Texas

Tall bald thin storyman laughing

His cap belonged to the drummer of Little Feat

(and that is a story in itself)-his women all praise

his usefulness(but not his cooking-he burns water

and cannot heat frozen meat out of ecoli /salmonella 

He laughs when he asks how long we have been in Austin

whether we like the "changes"-for we know his response

is-"so if you don't like heaven and high taxes-

get the hell out of Texas!"His South Austin friend paid $8000 property taxes

and was told when appealing"the GOOD news is-they only go up 

ten percent each year!"He laughs again when he shares his musical friends

who play in the CAN'T HARDLY PLAYBOYS"@that dance hall

(genuine,with a sprung wood floor-made for real Texas dancing-all ages!)

near Granger(called the COTTON CLUB DANCE HALL)

He plays fiddle-or was that guitar?-never mind-he is a jack of all trades

a genuine cowboy multitasker-his chaps and spurs on the walls of this garage

sale.Today he is clearing out a past.We embrace his laughter ,stories,good cheer,mustache.

Tomorrow all this will be gone.Tomorrow he may be forgotten..

letter to sam

you want to know why you attract aggression so

when all you want is to be at peace in your world

we did not stray far from the cave,sam....club and spear and fire mean war

drawings on the walls are of a hunt....someone dies ....ends are certain

stick figures ancient wisdom cartoon our angry times

when floating emotions seek a lightning rod to earth upon

you are it,tall sam.you attract attention.if you were hobbit small and humbled

you would be as unseen as we anonymous ones

learn from the willow-bend in the wind-

you can(with yogic flexibility)stretch and rise again

sometimes it is best not to face a bull head on

learn from the toreador and matador/to slant from horns

every rodeo clown knows best how to avoid death

and still make a damn good living..

 

THE CITY AS HISTORY

Start with a port and access to water

Build upon groups that make things for profit

Trade these with those who want to live there

Quote benign climate and easy lifestyles

Every city is Golden when it comes to promotion

Cycles and seasons see cyclic decay

Ghost towns on prairies when the train did not come through

Cabals of self -serving political crews

Climate may change to ozone alerts

Ports may clog up with regulations

There must be something more than service

economies to attract new investments

Power is coal,oil,water,sunshine

Power is control of Corporations

Power alone will not get things done

unless translated to community expectations

Here is where Rome fell,and Troy,and London

All great cities are niche marks in time

Cities survive when they serve their citizens

Assuming continuance is the only thought crime

We will always gather together in cities

as they fall,we move on to new markets more pristine.

"what is to be done?"

Riots on the streets of Tottenham and Birmingham

Shootings in Syria,demonstrations in Egypt,civil war in Libya

Chaos in Yemen,starvation in Somalia-

we see yet cannot change.Witness and participate

One world getting smaller .Old theories crack,break,destroy.

Corruption in Russia and China allows destruction of civil rights.

In England,they arrested anarchists BEFORE the last Royal Wedding started.

Wars in Iraq,Afghanistan can no longer be afforded.Yet they continue.

Core question is -what do we (in common)value?

Answers vary according to wealth ,status ,expectations-

basic food,shelter,work as our foundations.Half our world lack these.

The rest worry about protecting theirs.There is no bubble  of safety.

No gated community that can resist hacking  or data theft.

What do we have in common now that old values-banks,property,wealth-

stock markets crash overnight?.This means more than recession-

it challenges the core values of our comm/unity.If wealth creation is corrupt

with access limited to a tiny few-what will the rest do?Riot?Overthrow governments?

It does not change the unanswered question-what do we have in common?

And how will we ensure that all of us survive these changes?

PAPERLESS OFFICE? PAPERLESS VOTES!

Electoral fraud is real.  Hacking is real

Diebold has political affiliations and loyalties

Hanging chads lost President Gore

Have we forgotten Florida?

Supreme Court is convinced

no harm is done when our vote is lost

We beg to differ-paper is no guarantee

(think of all those treaties stealing Native Title)

yet in this world where data theft is evident

it would be wise to have safeguards

We treasure democracy-the right to vote ,equality

Why deny our right to choose paper ballots?

When  Government does not trust the people

it gets harder for people to place blind faith in Governments.

GREAT WAR? GREAT DEPRESSION?

First World War had to have a Second!

Outbreaks of peace and prosperity

followed by Recession then Regression

I am waiting for outbreaks of peace again!

IF YOU WILL MAKE A SPACE/WHERE WE /CAN BE/@PEACE

COUNT ME in (THAT SPACE/AGAIN.

You will not start /yr art of peace/with/out me?

O K-in this line.You are free.Release me!

Reciprocity.com-where goodwill is passed on

better than passing on goodwill!

Before us(and afterwards)-there is no choice

While we are -hear? Your voice!

Eye think/we are unique-

just like snowflakes,DNA/fingerprints...peace..

Doves are wimps.Hawks are in.

Who follows pigeons?

You say no songs on battlefields?Wrong!

Bagpipes,marching bands,funeral chants...

Arms race? Hugs and cuddles!

Where you are is liberated territory

All your pieces agree.Peace starts within.

"TWO TRACKS DIVERGED IN THE BUSH"

A two-years-old poem of Thom's that seems pertinent now - RNW.

Out of this home of art-of Boyd, Mora,Davila,Hundterwasser with only art naive to protect-into the anonymous bush a path curled right-so i walked my talk politically (no middle road presented itself like a Buddhist beggar) it led me to house construction,ugly machinery casual destruction of the visual and aural heritage i walked around the walls of modern cells and knew i was on the wrong track. You can not live in a National Park! You can live near its fierce and broken beauty so next  morn,slip i left wing -into Republicanism Indigenous Land Rights,ecological awareness slip round the bush track where only diggings of creatures defined and circled back in the cold and windy dawning What we own we kill.What we fence is dead Cages round art are death zones.Wind knows! It will blow down cyclones,uproot ancients disturb dreaming,reminding us it takes two wings to fly with One without the other is an economic crash Both hands clapping makes for Zen applause I walk the track in to the bush-out of art back in to life and all its hidden promises WHERE WILD LIFE INSISTS UPON WILDERNESS August 21, 2009

IN ANOTHER DREAM

i was in a room

you were the view

(it was the room of you-

your eyes windows

your arms my safe walls

you were my floor and foundation

you were my all.

REALITY INSURGENTS(Walden 2011

Voltaire was right(This is the best of all possible worlds")

Joseph Heller was right(Catch 22 works!)

Jaroslav Hasek was right!("Wherever people go-do the opposite)

Poets and philosophers ,thinkers and prophets,novelists and songwriters have it right

but who cares?To actualize visionary panaceas takes more than Chicken Little

Cassandra can wail,Sirens sing,Bob Dylan clones moan ad infinitum

We are living in a closed system-no longer an expanding universe

To alert WHO?is the first question,HOW?the second

and WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? the most important answer..

Politicians pretend to follow"the people's will"

yet violate their desires to gain re-election

Priests preside over poverty ridden parishes,yet do not share

Homeless everywhere-yet empty (repossessed)homes

Unemployed /job cuts-yet everyone hungry to work

Water a gift -sold via corporations(in plastic that lives forever)

We KNOW this-fracking destroys water supplies,fluoride can poison

yet we keep on as if we have no choice.The voice of reason ignored.

The perceived problem is not the real problem.What is missing

is listening.Respect.Until we see consciousness as universal

we will not hear Dr Suzuki imputing consciousness to water-

nor see a reason not to alter weather patterns artificially.

Unless and until we agree to act ,these are mere warning words-

a cautionary tale(Why We Disappeared).Others left  like the Anasazi.

We will leave radioactive ruins unless we reverse our carbon footprints

This will not happen.Ignore this poem.

Poetry, Medium and Message

i do not wear the same suit of cards

each day is jazz-sunday New Age

Saturday night a sound stage

Friday Bacchanalia-shouted screams

from a bar chord.Jaguar you drive

Minor eye am.Eye in jungle /streets.Medium

Sing sibilance .Wet lips upon a saxophone

Dry as dust prose.Dessicated Instruction Manual.Rules

Grammatical Constructivists meet Babel Engineers

Speaking Different Instruments.Open Tunings

Moon waves on a sand beach @midnight

soft pillow for hard rock nightmaring

All is Muse 2 me.4 u txt.Subpoptitles.

Submarine sandwiches.I am leaving the room

like the last breath .Empty as a beach.

DESERT DWELLERS

DESERT DWELLERS(value waters

hide their Springs ,wells,oases

so those who plunder make not poison

the love that issues from this only earth

Found via satellite,GPS-sipped and fracked

natural gas is natural death

siphon off and steal via straw dog dealings

what was once a pure and precious gift

of love liquid issuing from our only

ESCAPE PLAN

First we shall steal metal from earth

(when Gaia is not looking-we  shall use fire

and send this steel into space.Once safe

we will wrap animals,then humans

in this capsule

and see how long they last.Blast off

deeper and deeper in search of more metals to bring back-

moon rocks,meteors,asteroids-

from which we will make more probes/expose more of us to spaces between us

in hope that we can find another earth

For we have used this one as a dump

exhausting water,earth,fire,wood,metal

Even the whales resign/dolphins cry

There is no more water left to hide in...