Ode to the Masters

Nature has its own religion, gospel from the land

[But these,]
Write their own perdition, scriptures in the hand

"They taught me I was right from my birth

Fingers crossed, faith was my gift to Earth.

Light and fierce, the price of dirt is dear
So I give all I have, 'til dusk comes clear"

Crossing stars through crescent moons, longing for a hopeless truce

[But again]
Wooden nights and hearts of steel, locking down the shameless truths.

"The Kingdom lies within,

But this you can't know 'til you win.

And it's sad to still believe that a higher hope will soon shine,

Thanks to those tears and cries that tonight you made mine."

Masters, under our one and only sky,

You built the walls of shame as we ran and cried.

You lulled us to sleep and laid our heads to the choir,

Like an opening band for hell, one brother for another.

Some pacts, once betrayed, can't be bought back,

even when there's nothing left to substract.

"Don't you think it's time to stop? STOP!!!

[Hmmm]

Don't get us started.... STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Will we forgive our hometowns in our insignificance,

And alongside shattered lives, bow at last to innocence?

Slowly, the search for freedom takes its final stand...

For now,

As the war for power, masterfully, makes its final stand,

For now...

And the answer, once and for all, is ONE.

For now Brother, for now...

HHHHH

Originally started on: 7/22/06; ever to be concluded?

Montagnes de la Lune

Ne serait-ce que pour l'enchantement qu'elle m'apporte

Ou l'emerveillement que dans mes yeux elle deverse,

Une exclusive pensee sans cesse me transporte...

Kampala entre temps m'extirper n'a de cesse.

Down Memory Lane

I couldn't hear anything then.

Still she said:

Broadway and 110th Street
Casbah Rouge
“ma table”
Mistaken identity in a text message (trop drôle!)
5h du mat, toujours à Casbah (“Ca prend du temps de compter toute c’te thune.…”)
Nunca te acostarás sin aprender cosa nueva….
Les Deschiens et Les Deux (ou Trois?) Frères
45 minutes entre boulots
Khaled
Aïsha (enregistrée “live” au concert)
Le bus qui traverse Central Park
L’atelier avec Bear and The Puffball
Quietly taking your shoes out of the sink and wearing them to take the pups outside
La chaleur et l’humidité, surtout en attendant le métro
“Blue Steel” from Zoolander
Walking with Bear (or getting him to pull you on a skateboard)
Wachovia (c’est pas évident….)
Vitamin Shoppe (spelled the old-fashioned way)
2 heures entre boulots (génial!)
Pearl Jam initiation (“especially Black”) chez Cody
Tribunal-Prosperidad
Je dis n’importe quoi… pour rire!
The Coffee Shop at Union Square (une petite sieste pour toi)
Organizing your sac noir
Carrying your “maison” partout
Nos petites manies (tu ne peux rien jeter et moi je ne peux pas jeter mes jolis sacs en plastic, tes gants et ma lampe torche…)
“Je suis amazé! C’est vraiment amazant!”
The Metronome at Union Square South
Washington Square Park
Chez MacDo twice(and a squished chicken sandwich)
Harry Potter à minuit (“Ces gens sont fous! C’est la folie!”)
Où c’est que t’étais???
“Dinner” on the steps of my old brownstone on West 10th St. (also known as Sesame Street)
The quest for coffee and the conversation with the pizza shop guy on Bleecker St.
“The Lodge” at 83rd and Amsterdam
2h du mat: Bear at the bar (the reluctant celebrity)
Il faut pas trasher l’appartment….
L’atelier à pied
“Bubby”, “Kushi”, “Zubby-dubby” (oops!)
Achtung! Don’t schlam ze door!!!
Le dentifrice qui est vraiment un jouet
L’écran qui voulait pas s’éteindre
Goodnight, Moon. (not moon cookies)
Yellow blanquette
Le calme
La joie
La paix
Marrante, contente, mais pas chiante (merci)
16 juillet, 9h du mat: L’appart du “Parisien du nord” (mais tu aimes bien bouger, n’est-ce pas?)

The waves come crushing onto my knees... Merci Laird.