A Living Nightmare

The right has lost their collective and individual minds. I believe in calling a spade a spade—and the primary reason conservatives are so upset, throwing bricks through congressmen’s doors, spitting on senators, shouting epitaphs is simply because a black man is president. And, now he’s cemented himself in history as being the 1st American President, of any hue, to pass health care legislation. For conservatives it’s a living nightmare. How could this have ever happened? How could they have allowed a black man to become president? Well one reason was that we had 8 years of a blithering idiot who thought Africa was a country. According to polls, one of the main reasons Bush got elected was because the public thought he was someone you’d like to have a beer with. A beer with? Is that how conservatives want to elect the leader of the free world, whether he’s the type you’d want to get drunk with or not? Okay, considering Palin and Joe-the-plumber I guess so. But, wouldn’t it make more sense to want the president to be someone you’d have a single malt scotch with? I was for Hillary myself. Not necessarily popular with my brothers and sisters but home-Sally knew her shit. She didn’t need cue cards or a Sharpie stained palm to give a speech. And, Hillary was very specific—while Obama is often (then and now) only generally specific. Also, I felt Obama hadn’t been around long enough. He hadn’t accumulated enough favors. What back door deals could he finesse? But Hillary fucked up, hired the same PR firm that managed Union Carbide’s environmental disaster in India, and then she got ugly. I shook my head when Obama won the Democratic nomination. I thought, you have perhaps the worst President in history leaving office and you put up a black man? Okay that’s one thing—but his name is Hussein Obama—can’t the democrats do anything right? The presidency is being handed to them and they nominate a Black man with a Muslim name—the very name of the supposed master mind of 911. They just wanted to lose. Then, the republicans select Sarah I-don’t-know-what-journals-I-read Palin and their nightmare is alive all over again. A Black man becomes President. Then one of the 1st things the Obama’s do (aside from bail out the banks and work on health care) is start a victory garden at the Whitehouse—God forbid please don’t harvest watermelons this summer.

Death and Dark Roots Video

This is the video David and I shot in my attic with the pocket camera he swiped from his 11 year old daughter. We loved the fact that New Jersey appeared at the bottom of the frame. The book that the camera is sitting on is part of our tripod mechanism. The image is rather dark. We shot one that looks better but this one had such a cooler feel to it. I recently met this woman, Sylvia, whose a photographer. I'm gonna try to get her to shoot the next video because at least she'd have a better understanding of light. She says that she knows nothing about video but then I found out that she's a photography major in school so that's not gonna fly.




Death and Dark Roots

Looking out the window
wanting to see a peaceful setting
the moon rising above a patch of still grass
air breathing through the trees
branches brushing against each other
like office paper jogged carefully.

The moon isn’t necessary on 6th
at 1400 block
all the street lights are out
except one weak flickering
and one across the street at a Hayward hotel
lighting up the sidewalk where no roots grow
but those that fight up through a neglected crack
and black gum spots
that have lost their bright colors
pretend to take root
because they’ve been there so long
none of these move freely
or softly with the wind
the wind
like other things in life
gets trapped
whips around tall buildings,
I see the results
trash
blowing violently out of crowded sewers
and wire meshed garbage cans
some of it blows wildly lost
some moves with a natural rhythm
but most stays close by
lost
a mass without roots.
I dump the dottle from my pipe
it reminds me of my friend
growing up there
crowded
without roots
blowing wildly lost
taking on color,
the hair-like growths
that supply food
the bring water
have no soil to cling to for support
what is expected happens
he is again crowded
planted in a wooden box
among dark roots,
plots spaced apart like soldiers
while someone offers usless words of comfort.