Overread at Table 1: Being in Love is Easy

Being in Love is Easy

Being in love is easy.
The holding of the hands, the picnics in the fields,
the endless laughter at every joke, the hanging on to every
word as though each breath of your lover was another drop of honey.
Dancing through the rain on cobblestone streets in foreign cities
That you explore together, the carefree days
And long languid nights, bodies shared and hair tussled
And clothes wrinkled and who gives a damn if the dishes stay
Dirty in the sink? We’re in love!

But try being in love when you’re bored,
When you have to tell your wife that the credit cards are maxed out
And you just can’t jump on a plane to go to Florida to hang out
On the beach and drink margaritas and watch the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico.
Try being in love with the transmission goes out on the car and
You’ve got no way to get to work.  Try being in love when you
Want to kick your twenty-year-old daughter out of the house for being drunk all the time,
Smokes pot in her room and won’t get a job.
“You don’t understand,” your wife says, “She’s depressed! She’s thinking about
 Slitting her wrists!  I’m trying to save her LIFE!  Don’t you even GIVE A SHIT?!”

Try being in love when your other talks about her nieces whose husbands
Have jobs in engineering firms, oil and gas firms, who, being 15 years younger,
Already make twice as much, have houses twice as big, take vacations twice as long, and
Drive cars twice as expensive.

Try being in love when your lover tells you that all you ever do is binge watch Netflix
Together, and how she can’t be the one whose spending all the money
But she needs new shoes and she never has anything nice for herself and the
Neighbors across the street just bought their middle daughter a BMW as a high school graduation gift
and “I’m so tired of cooking dinner all the time no one appreciates everything I do around here
and I don’t know why we never have any money are you spending it all what are you doing
with the checking account anyway?”

Try being in love when the supple bodies of younger days have turned to stretch marks and crows’ feet
And the slack muscles underneath the skin have lost all their elasticity,
When the glowing eyes of your lover, that once sparkled like diamonds reflected in her glass of wine,
Now are dulled with the strangled frustration of miasmic days.

Check the balance of the checking account.
Look at the bills that will come out automatically toward the end of the month.
See if you’ve got a hundred bucks to take her to her favorite steak house.

Make the call.

Being in love is easy.


MR
2017-0420

Overread at Table 5: A Few Notes on Segregations

a poem in six fragments:

A few notes on segregations


1.
Lines.
We are separated by lines.
Color lines
Welfare lines
Lines are the burkas we wear
to hide all but our haunted eyes
from ourselves.

2.
Why do we find such false security
in our segregation?

3.
Segregation – whether
imposed by ourselves
or by others – strangles
cultural growth.

4.
Only by embracing all of
our history can we move
forward as a nation.

5.
One nation of
many nations –
E pluribus unum

6.
I speak of
Unity through
Celebration of
Diversity.


MR
2017-0402

Overheard at Booth 3: Our Poetry is Too Full of Nazis

Our poetry is too full of Nazis

Our poetry is too full of Nazis
And the Holocaust
And tales of heroism from a tiny family in
Lithuania or
Latvia
Or Estonia.

Our poetry is too full of their
Slavic names,
And descriptions of how
They were hid behind cupboards,
Or under floorboards, or
In barrels behind barn doors,

And the blackbooted Gestapo
Who finally found them, and
Lines about how the last
Breath of their lungs
Were filled with cyanide gas,

But with a handful, the wide
Eyed innocent child or occasional
Woman, given
False papers
To be secreted away
To a new life
In America,

To spend a life of nightmares
And finally die
Bravely
At the age of 90
Or 100, in Yonkers NY
Or Albuquerque NM

And the poetry is filled with these
Ghosts, these haunted eyed spirits
Of the Holocaust.

But world is filled with other Holocausts,
Other haunted eyes, eyes that never fill our
Poetry.

Cambodian eyes,
Salvadoran eyes,
Gypsy eyes,
Kenyan eyes,
Eyes of the South Sudanese,
Eyes of the Congalese,
Georgian eyes,
Kurdish eyes,
Eyes of the Druze,
Eyes of the Wiger,
Honduran eyes,
Ojos de los pipiles,
Irish eyes (always smiling),

Eyes of every Holocaust that does
Not fill our poetry,
Voices that never sing through our verses,
Breaths never expressed through our rhyme.

The true Holocaust, is the
Voices that die without ever
Having this opportunity,

Because we are too busy
Struggling with the Nazis
That inhabit our own soul.


MR
2017-0402

Overread at Booth 2: Poem of the Day: Onyx Fingertips

                Fingertips, you touch

                my skin, and thus, you

                assign my identity.

                I am merely the

                race you require of

                me, according

                to the situation.

                At a restaurant, I             

                am white, at our

                family fiestas,

                soy puro Latino,              

                and for this

                war,

                I am black

                and hard

                as onyx.

MR
2017-0719

Overheard at Booth 3: Discussing Putin and Navalny

I swear, this month in Russia is like some scene out of Kafka:




Navalny:  I want to run for President.

Putin: You cannot run for President.

Navalny: Why can not I run for President?

Putin: You have criminal charges against you.

Navalny:  For what crime am I being charged?

Putin:  The crime of wanting to run for President.

Overread at Table 4: Tuesday Morning POD

A seventh month old baby,
on Sunday morning:
head shattered like a pimple
by a bullet,


and we blather on Twitter
about rights of guns.






MR
2017-1107

Overread at the Counter: American Fascist Chronicle - Day 277

Undercover of the Night: The Senate votes to dismiss a CFPB order which denied issuers of Credit Cards from forcing holders to go through arbitration instead of using the court system, a practice which has been proven to be unfair to cardholders, because the arbitrator is usually  in the employ of the card issuer.  Mike Pence, VP, cast the tie-breaking vote.

 

The VP only works under the direct order of the President.

 

Trump currently holds that office.

 

Trump campaigned on being tough on Wall Street.

 

This is a gift to Wall Street.

 

Will there be outrage from Trump supporters, who realize that their President has sold them out?

 

No.

 

Why not?

 

Because they have been blinded by his constant lies.  Their senses are dulled and they believe in this image of Trump that is an infantile fantasy.

And this fantasy will kill them.

As it will all of us.

The same night: The Yankees beat the Astros 3-1 in Game One of the World Series.

Both were 100+ game winners.   Only seven times have 100 game winners met in the World Series.

GO 'STROS!

Poem of the Day: The Subtlety of You

The subtlety of you.
The you that is so quiet.
The you of the sleepy head against the pillow,
in the ambient hush of just before dawn,
and your cheek, soft and pliable against my lips
that kiss you just before I leave the room,
softly closing the door behind me
so as not to wake you,
so as not to lose
the subtlety of you.
















MR
2017-1013

Overheard at Booth 5: Coming Out

Fernando: I don't know, man.




Billy: Look, you're gonna have to tell your parents about us at some point.




Fernando: I was gonna wait until my birthday.




Billy: That's in January!  I was hoping we could spend Christmas together.




Fernando: I'll be 18 then and they wouldn't be able to say anything.




Billy: Well they're gonna say something no matter what age you are, especially considering I'm 40.




Fernando: [silent]




Billy: That's what's bugging you, isn't it?   It's OK. You can tell me.  I get it.  The age difference.




Fernando: Billy, they don't even know I'm GAY.  Then, to also tell them I'm in love with someone almost my dad's age.




Billy: I think your dad'll understand.   I mean, he and I have got a lot in common.  We both voted for
Obama ... TWICE!!

Overheard at Table 2: Bump Stock Review by the NRA

Heard on NPR this morning as I was moving cars at 5:15am, pundits discussing possible gun reviews in government.  They were saying that NRA was on board with a review of the bump stock.  The pundits were blithely saying that congress was trying to decide if the review would be sufficient for the NRA, as was the White House.

 

I wanted to scream at these pundits that the NRA shouldn’t get to choose.   They shouldn’t even have a say.

 

Here’s the deal: a government, when working properly, exists to protect the citizens.

The NRA does not exist to protect the citizens.  The NRA exists to protect guns.  Period.

When it comes to protecting the citizens and guns, if those two come into conflict, then government is required to side with the citizens and the NRA can side with guns.   Government, being the stronger entity (again: when working properly), should have the final say and determine the best path forward to protect the citizens.

 

Since the government cannot make a coherent, rational decision, without sticking out its tongue and wagging like a dog begging at the master’s table, it is time to remove government and install one that will protect the citizens.   We will do this by making our voices heard and by voting wisely.

 

To accomplish this: We must call each of our federal representatives, daily.

Second: we must educate ourselves on candidates, every one.  We must vote in every election.  We must encourage others to vote in every election, at every level, and for others to be educated on every candidate, every topic.

 

Yes this may sound inconvenient, but remember, the next concert you go to, or that your children go to, it could be your brain that’s blown out by a madman’s bullet.  Or your teenage daughter’s.   Her skull could be smashed to pieces so badly that you would only be able to identify her by the shape of her jaw or the birthmark on her shoulder.   And, knowing that you could have spoken up, knowing that you could have said something, done something, but didn’t, then, at that time, you can accept some measure of culpability.

Poem: Mandalay

Mandalay

Even as I lie with you

side by side,
here, in this bed,
there are shots being fired,
thousands of rounds of ammunition,
from a 32^nd story window in Las Vegas,
into a crowd of tourists attending
a country music festival,
but we do not hear the rounds,
we do not hear the cries,
we do not hear the sirens.

We are asleep.

But we will awake to the news
in the light of day,
and then we will have a choice to make.








MR
2017-1002

Overheard at Table 3: Tales of Harvey: Song of Roland

Mack: People should sing songs about you, dude!

Roland: I wouldn't go THAT far.

Mack: Seriously, you got out in your boat and you were rescuing people.

Roland: So was everyone who had a boat.

Mack: Kris and I are really proud of you.  You are a hero.  A true hero.

Roland: Everyone was out there.  It's just a good thing so many people around here have boats.

Overread at Table 2: from "Leaves of Autumn"

Leaves of Autumn

These were the days after the hurricane.

Summer left, limping, with a broken wing.

We swept what was left of the water from the concrete porch

into the grass, to wend its way through the smooth stones

into the French drain,

                and disappear eventually, to the front of the house.

Every night, around dusk,

                we walk together, barefoot, toward the mailbox

                halfway down the block.

Hand in hand (most days), we

walk in silence,

                breathing in the late afternoon;

it is as if, those days, we measure the movement of the

summer heat.  Our lungs are the daily barometer, the heaviness of

                the humid Houston air.

With the advent of September, and the eventual creeping earlier

                of dusk, the sun leaves us a few seconds, earlier each day,

                we pull the mail from the box:  

                People en Español, Cinco Hill Review, the assorted

                varieties of medical bills,

we are what was left when August no longer was.

MR

2017-0906

Overheard at Table One: Tales of Harvey

The pastor tells the story of the man he met at the Cinco Hill High School, a 60-plus year old man, who had just had open heart surgery five weeks before.  House flooded.  Now he's on a cot in the high school auditorium, along with other people, and other families.

The Pastor:  "I asked him if he wanted us to arrange a host family for him, and he said that the school had already said that they had a lead on something, and anyway, he was all right where he was.  I went back the next day, and saw him still there.  He smiled super-wide and said 'I got adopted!'

"Just then I saw this little Latino walk in, with a son about 7 or 8 years old.   They brought her over.  She was the host family.  During the conversation, she said, 'He doesn't have any grandparents here.'

"Even in the middle of this tragedy, there ARE beautiful things that come out of the storm.   Families and friendships being formed that would never have been formed before.  And THAT is the working of God for good in the world."

Overheard at Table 3: Netflix Binging

Lori: I haven't seen that one.


Kristen: Oh my god it's brilliant.  I started watching it Season one and I'm halfway through season two and they just started four but everyone tells me I have to watch three before four.


Lori: I love just crashing through whole seasons.  Like, takes my whole weekend.  I did that Homeland.


Kristen: I watched all seven seasons of Dexter.  Again!  Love that show.


Lori: I did that with House of Cards, first two seasons.  Watched them over and over again.


Kristen: I know.  There's always stuff you forget.  So much stuff you forget.  Each time is like watching it for the first time.


Lori: I'm the same way.  Why is that?   I was plowing through Shameless last week and my kids said, "Mom you've already seen that why are you watching it again" and I said, "I haven't seen this and then - bam! - right there in episode seven there's this scene and I'm like "I remember that!" I wonder why we never remember our shows.


Kristen [looking down at her phone while she reads and sends a text]: I dunno.  Same thing happens to me all the time.

Overheard at Booth 5: We All Gone Crazy

So we gots doctors in big apple walkin in and killin other doctors and we got ups guys walkin into ups shops killin other ups drivers and we got all these guys walkin into their works killin their coworkers it's just nuts its just crazy

sounds like we don't got NO self control any more.

Verble Leans on the Counter and says...

There are several reasons for having children born on US soil to have automatic citizenship.

 

First: Economic.

From the time they are born, we have begun to invest in them.  Our society in one way or another pays for their birth, their care, and their welfare.  As they grow, they take part in our public school system, and as such, I pay to educate them.  It only stands to reason that I should have a return on my investment, by having them become a functioning member of society: a productive worker/a defender in the armed forces, etc.

 

Second: Humanitarian/Cultural

Most children who are born here are raised here, as their undocumented parents have little economic ability nor the mobility to go back and forth (contrary to popular opinion, most undocumented have been living here for over a decade, having overstayed their visas).   Therefore, these children are culturally American, just like you or me.  Having mentored many children of the undocumented, I will attest that they have few, if any, cultural ties to their parents’ birth countries.  For example, I myself was born on the Isle of Man to an English mother and Greek father, and brought here as a toddler.  I speak no Manx, and very little Greek.  I am an American, and this is my country, and this is the place to which I owe my allegiance and my fealty.  The majority of children born here to undocumented parents feel the same way.  To send them back would not only be cruel, but it would also be sending away people who believe in America and want to do all they can for America.  Why should we cast away those who only want to contribute to this country, especially when this is the only home they have ever known?

 

Third: Historical

I believe in the “melting pot” history of America, and the idea that successive waves of immigration both add to the cultural diversity of the country, and is part of the strength of this social experiment.  By bringing other countries’ ideas and genetic material into America, we strengthen our enterprise by a continued influx of “new blood.”  The history of America is the story of the world coming to these shores and weaving their strands into the fabric of our culture, our economy, and our society.   In a sense, we inhale the breath of other countries, and exhale freedom and unity through diversity.   And yes, I understand that this is a romanticized view of history.  But I’m an old romantic, so …

Fourth: Legal Precedent

Since this has been the “norm” for over a century, the norm should continue.  Additionally, we should be able to point to a number of citizens born to immigrant parents (both documented and undocumented) who have contributed positively to our society.   This last statement also encompasses points 1 through 3.

 

These are my reasons for continuing automatic citizenship for those born on US soil.   I understand that they may be open for debate; however, these have been developed over decades, so I must advise a contrarian to expect much “movement” from me.  Again, I’m old and crotchety and even though I believe in American citizenship for all, I will still tell you to GET OFF MY LAWN!   ( in English AND in Spanish!)

Overheard at Table 1: Trump, smart or .... nahhh

Man: He’s got his hotel…

Woman: Oh yeah, he was smart to do that then.

He was smart then I don’t know about now. Ever since he won the election, he’s just, well…

It’s the most interesting Presidency I can tell you that.

It’s always something happening.

...

                                                                                                                                                                       

Woman: I’m gonna fly first class one day.  It’s on my bucket list.

 

Man: I went to Vietnam in 65, they put me in Pan Am first class.

These days it’s just a Chinese tincan.

 

Woman: You watch the news they draggin people off the airplane and fights in the lobbies oh Lord!

 

...

Woman: If he makes it four years I’ll be surprised.

 

Man: Well the Middle East was messed up since WW1 when they divided it up.  Cut across trahbal lahns.

 

Woman: I can’t even wake up watching the news, he’s just tripping all over himself.

Overheard at Booth 3: The Father of Saudis

Saw on Twitter this weekend a discussion about a picture of the Saudi King, who had some guy changing his slippers to shoes right before Donald Trump came in.   Really interesting, how one person tweeted that the old guy should be able to change his own shoes, and then there was this long string of replies about how Saudi culture respects the elderly, how the king is considered Father of the Saudis, how it is an honour to serve the king, how you have to understand Saudi culture to understand the depth of their gratitude and their love.


Man, I wanted to jump in but I just couldn't.   There was a cultural divide that I couldn't bridge.  I wanted to say that the difference is that here in America we do not bow to a King, we only bow to the the One True God.


But then, I realized that's just a fantasy that I believed when I was growing up.  A fairy story that they taught us to keep us in line and to get us all choked up on the Fourth of July.   Now, we just worship money and power.


Sort of like the Saudis.  But at least they still have the comfort of their fantasy.  And that must be nice, on some level.

Overheard at Table 3: M and E Discuss Mutant Jeans

M: It's Friday why don't you wear jeans?


E: I don't have any jeans.


M: Yes you do.  Everybody has jeans.


E: I got a little too fat, so I outgrew all my jeans/


M: You know they make jeans in all body types.  Plus you DO have genes, in every cell of your body.


E: I want mutant genes.


M: Like Jean Grey.


E: She had very nice mutant genes.  But you know, I never thought they casted her right in any of the movies.


M: I thought Famke Jannsen was a good cast.


E: But Logan, wow, that was good casting.


M: Yeah, he was made for that role, but man after playing Wolverine for 20 years don't you think he got tired?


E: I think he made his last.


M: I couldn't stand how all the movies start to run together.  One is called "Wolverine" and another is called "THE Wolverine," after awhile you can't tell them apart.


E: I was telling my son, when I was his age and reading the comics I never thought they could come to the big screen, but I guess technology finally caught up to the fantasy.


M: Yeah, and now we can't tell which is which!