Common Good vs. Self-interest

I met a man promoting our area by setting up a blog linking gamers in the Mahoning Valley. He came to an open poetry reading at the Lime Tree in Warren, Ohio. It turns out he is Tracey Winbush’s cousin. The first thing he said to me was, “I am not crazy enough to be a Republican like her.” I have mentioned Tracey and her right-wing radio show many times before. She has a show called, “Afternoons with Tracey and Friends” at 600-AM WSOM. The cousin explained to me that Tracy is an opportunist and that is why she is a conservative Republican. The GOP in their attempt to appeal to African-Americans and women was very happy to latch onto Tracey. She became the area Republican Party treasurer. Then in 2013 the county Republican Party’s executive committee unanimously recommended Winbush to serve on the county’s elections board. Secretary of State Jon Husted approved and she got the job. In a quote from the Youngstown Vindicator Winbush said, “I’m so excited to serve the people in this capacity; I’ve always wanted this position. It’s important to oversee the voting process and make decisions in the best interest of voters. I don’t get excited about too much, but I’m really looking forward to this.”

If you’ve ever heard Tracey’s show you would know she gets excited over the smallest of things. She spends her radio time yelling over callers and cutting them off if they dare disagree with her. Her cousin said he has asked her to be a guest on the show and she has refused him. He wanted to have a debate and name it, “Winbush vs. Winbush.” He wanted the public to know Tracey was the only one in the family with conservative beliefs. I note that area GOP Treasurer Mark Mangie now sits at the microphone quite often with Tracey. I suspect the GOP feels they need to babysit Tracey so she doesn’t stray far from the party line. Perhaps, they still can’t believe their good luck at scoring a female African-American to believe in their “angry old white guy” agenda.

Sadly, three times the Community Bill of Rights amendment to keep Youngstown safe from fracking was defeated on the ballot. Winbush was very outspoken against it. “It is actually not telling the residents of the city of Youngstown about hydraulic fracturing. It has nothing to do with water and air purification. It has to do with an agenda,” said Winbush. “It is not worth the paper it is written on.” The one with an agenda is Tracey. I agree with her cousin that her agenda is to use and be used by the GOP to gain money and power.

I had a big chuckle at a recent commentary in the Youngstown Vindicator. It was David Skolnick’s article, “Portman – Strickland Senate race will be wild.” Skolnick said this about Strickland, “The former governor he spent the past 11 months as president of the Center American Progress Action Fund, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C. Based on some of the center’s policies, it wasn’t a smart career move for Strickland to work there.”

Here is a statement I got from the website of the Center American Progress Action Fund: “We believe that America should be a country of boundless opportunity—where all people can better themselves through education, hard work, and the freedom to pursue their dreams. We believe this will only be achieved with an open and effective government that champions the common good over narrow self-interest, harnesses the strength of our diversity, and secures the rights and safety of its people. Real progress will be achieved only through innovative solutions born of open collaboration. To realize our vision we must: Build an opportunity nation where every hard-working person, regardless of background, can realize their dreams through education, decent work and fair play. Reawaken America’s conscience, our sense of shared and personal responsibility, to build healthy, vibrant communities. Reform government so that it is of, by and for the people: open, effective, and committed to the common good. Use America’s strength to bring the world together, not pull it apart.”

Does Skolnick actually believe that working at a place that tries to accomplish these beliefs is harmful to Strickland or anyone? I especially like the part about “championing the common good over narrow self-interest.” As a union activist I went to the picket line and events supporting striking Youngstown Vindicator workers a decade ago. They went on strike for a pay raise and other issues following a four-year wage freeze. Of the 173 union members 93 were making less than $9 an hr. The Vindicator brought in scabs they paid $20 an hr. The strikers published their own paper, The Valley Voice, during this time. I purchased those editions and thought it was better than the Vindicator. It was a 261 day long and bitter strike. Skolnick worked at the Vindicator at that time. Did he support his brother and sister union members and “champion their ‘common good over the narrow self-interest” of the Vindicator?” I do believe Mr. Skolnick choose self-interest and crossed the picket line and went back to work. That makes it hard for me to believe anything Skolnick writes.

Music time:

John Mayall: “Nature’s Disappearing”

“Unanswered Questions”

“Gasoline Blues”

“After God finished the rattlesnake, the toad, the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab … When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the Devil shuts the gates of Hell to keep him out. No man has a right to scab so long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in, or a rope long enough to hang his body with.” ~ Jack London

A Shut-In Poet Responds

I’ve known a woman for a long time that many people consider a great poet. She has written a couple of thousand poems and had many published. I asked her to define her poetry style as I find it hard to read. She said, “When writing poetry I avoid pentameter, opting for trimeter, tetrameter and, less often, dimeter. The regular form I use employs the ballad stanza, a traditional form that is divided into quatrains, using tetrameter for the first and third lines and trimeter for the second and fourth, while rhyming the second and fourth lines (ABCB). I often use perfect rhymes for lines two and four. In some of my poems, I vary the meter from the traditional ballad stanza by using trimeter for lines one, two and four, while only using tetrameter for line three.” At this point I was shaking my head as I didn’t know or care what any of that meant. I really feel she needs to have some fun and lighten up.

I asked her to compare my poems to hers. She replied, “Your poems only resemble mine in the fact we both use what I’ll call unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Mine because I find it artsy, you because you’re terrible at spelling, punctuation and the English language in general. My poems sometime contain slanted rhymes, yours contain politically slanted rhymes. I write about spirituality and loneliness. Your poems are rants or ridicules of politics, social norms and trends.”

She certainly has my number. On the other hand, I told her she isn’t able to write about current things like I do. I say that because she doesn’t really get out very often. As she has gotten older she has become a bit of a shut-in. I have often wondered why she has withdrawn so much from people. She use to be fun to hang out with even if she was artsy fartsy. She decided to show me up. She decided to write a poem describing why she has become a recluse. She also took my advice to have some fun. She said she would write her poem in my straight forward silly rhyming style.

This is the poem she sent me:

Why I’m a Recluse in 2015

I sometimes walk to my livery stable,
play pool on my billiards table,
and write poems at my drafting table.
I gaze out from my Victorian gable,
but never go out in public as I’m not able.
Some gab and say I am very unstable.
That talk is all just a mere fable.
I don’t leave the house as I have cable.
I watch it while drinking lite beer.
The TV news brings me no cheer.
It only plays on my fears.
As it warns me about racketeers,
black marketers, mutineers, emirs,
financiers, political spheres, privateers
storms that are severe,
both far and near.
Every month I’m told of a spreading new epidemic to fear.
Swine flu, Ebola, SARs, the measles it’s all hype and insincere.
Meant to benefit that Big Pharma profiteer.
Sorry I won’t let you be my puppeteer.
I’m to fear terrorists from Somali buccaneers
or is it ISIS or the Taliban it’s not clear.
It all makes me off-balance affecting my inner ear
and messes with my celestial and physical sphere.
I realize I have to be a shut-in to persevere.
Politicians who are part of government
want me to fear big government.
I use my good judgment
to realize I fear government
because these clowns are part of government.
I never did anything to deserve this scum as punishment.
I want regular Joe’s to realize their own empowerment.
Staying home keeps me out of trouble day-to-day.
A message lost on our nation who gets into foray after foray.
First military attachés, communiqués, and armament caches
then boots on the ground Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan invasion day.
On to Somalia, Libya, Syria so cops of the world we can portray.
I almost ventured out sometime around Christmas Day
but there was a war on Christmas I heard Bill O’Reilly say.
Calls for war by those who never fight in them will never fade away.
Think I’ll just go to the garden and pick a big bright bouquet.
I don’t pick ones in the woods anymore.
Reality TV has shown me I’m done for
and can expect nothing but gore
if I ventured into the woods on such a chore.
There might be violent moonshiners with guns in their dirty drawers
making killer lightning shit you can’t buy in a liquor store.
I fear there also could be zombies, and vampires looking for bloody goods
or Chupacabras, Big Foot or the Jersey Devil lurking in those backwoods.
I’m into gardens and anything to do with botany
that’s why I thought I’d like that channel HGTV.
The house shows said my life was gloomy, paltry and measly
because I didn’t have granite counters which are the new swanky.
Double sinks in the bathroom is hip all the designers did agree.
Anyone know of a plumber who will put them in my outhouse privy?
My Victorian estate with so many walls is considered shabby and stodgy
as an open floor plan is considered more roomy, homey and cutesy.
What a bunch of dizzy, daffy, dopey, snooty, cheesy hooey.
They said if I don’t remodel, redecorate and upgrade
my house will decay and be worth less than I paid.
Just more crap to make me more and more afraid.
Screw them I say as I open a Mike’s Lemonade.
I haven’t traveled and I haven’t strayed
from my estate in many a decade.
I’m old enough for Medicare but poor enough for Medicaid.
I’ve never had a love and know I’m going to die an old maid.
I’ve corresponded with lots of people so it’s ironic
every one of those relationships stayed plutonic.
All these fears have made me panic
so I ended up a psychotic,
neurotic, hysteric eccentric.
My biggest fear is speaking in public.
and reading at open poetry like a beatnik.

How’s that Jim? ~ Love in spirit Emily Dickinson

Frequently asked questions about Emily Dickinson.

Quoting Napoleon: “Emily Dickinson Tribute”

Freisberg & Sokacic: “I’m Nobody Who Are You?”

“The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Picking the Bigger Battle

  I’m sure you’ve caught the latest scare in the media. Not long ago it was Ebola and now it is the measles. The debate is turning into a political football. This football is inflating not deflating. It’s people who believe in vaccinations for their children vs. those who don’t believe in them for their children. The pro-vaxxers are calling the anti-vaxxers evil monsters who hate their children. They assume anti-vaxxers are flat Earthers who hate evolution and science. The anti-vaxxers are calling the pro-vaxxers Nazis who want to imprison them for not getting their children vaccinated. I recently got a shingles shot. I did that because I’ve seen my father suffer with shingles. My children have had their vaccinations. We do not run out and get the latest flu de jour flu shots. I do understand some of the suspicions the anti-vaxxers have when they know the vaccine manufactures are on board to make $41 billion in 2015. I’m sure those manufacturers love the media scaring the crap out of the public, about the latest disease making the rounds. I am not pleased with the anger and jargon on either side of the vaccination issue. With all the outrage from both sides I don’t see a solution unless, someone comes up with a vaccine to fight panic and demagoguery I think a little more civility and education would help the situation but don’t see any on the horizon.

I’d rather talk about a different disease all together. It is the disease I’ve lost the most relatives to. It is the disease that I lost my best friend to when we were both 19. It is a disease that makes me deaf to any of the latest media scare diseases. It is the disease that needs more attention than any other. It is a mass murderer causing genocide. It is a disease that has no vaccination. It is a disease that has led me to attending two funerals in the last few weeks. I’m talking about cancer, a disease every family is familiar with. My neighbor Dante age, 52 died of cancer on New Year’s Day 2015. When I went to view him at the funeral home I noted the large number of people who came to pay their respects. The very long line of people standing outside in the cold attested to how many people’s lives and hearts he touched. Dante was the father of three girls. My daughter, Mackenzie grew up playing with his youngest daughter, Kelsey. Kelsey spent lots of time at our house and Mackenzie spent many hours at their house. During those years my wife became ill and bedridden for several months. Dante and his wife Angie found out and came to the rescue. They brought food, offered prayers and were there to help get my kids off and on the bus. I am too proud to ask for help but I didn’t need to because Dante and Angie were intuned to what community is all about. Years later I was remodeling and needed to reroute a gas pipe from my boiler. No plumber would do the job as  it involved working in a crawl space under my dinning room. Dante worked at plumbing and offered to do the job after hearing about my dilemma. He did a great job and refused to take money from me. Kelsey and Mackenzie spent lots of time playing cards with my mother-in-law, who my kids called Baba. When Baba died the December before last Kelsey came over to tell Mackenzie how sad she was to hear. Now Mackenzie has had to say the same to Kelsey about her dad. Dante fought the good fight against cancer and now our community is left with a lot less “common unity.”

Last weekend my wife and I were grocery shopping for her brother. He has been recouping after back surgery. While at the grocery store we ran into the hairdresser who cuts both of our hair. She was wearing a scarf on her head as she lost her hair because of chemo. We were glad to see she is feeling well enough to get out and about. She is soon going to the Cleveland Clinic for some stem cell treatment and is feeling very optimistic. She misses work and wants to return as soon as possible.

The very next day one of my wife’s relatives phoned us. We were told my wife’s cousin, Dave’s wife; Diane had just died of cancer at age, 60. At the funeral Dave told us he felt somewhat blessed. That is because Diane had been given 3 years to live over 7 years ago. Dave said that none the less he still has a lot of questions for God when he sees him. Both Dave’s dad, Ed and my wife’s dad, Ray died in 1973. Ed and Ray were card playing drinking brother-in-laws. Both of them suffered heart attacks dying on the spot. Dave is right it is better to have some time frame about dying. That way you can make a wise decision about what good you can do with the rest of the time you have on this planet. It really is the way we should be living everyday anyway. Diane found her purpose knowing her time was limited. She was an excellent quilter so she decided to teach other how to quilt. Her proudest achievement was working with other women to make a giant cancer quilt. The quilts had many patches each featuring the names of people who had died of cancer. In 2014 more than 559,000 people lost their lives due to the fight against cancer. A quilt that size would blanket the Earth (pun intended).

  I am reminded that Native Americans made quilts. The pride of every Dakota home is the God’s Eye- the morning star quilt. It lies folded in the home to wait as a gift. It is used to cover the bed, and it also wraps the dead. It makes everything it covers sacred. It is  sacramental. It is a visible image that holds an invisible reality. ‘It will not leave you orphans.’”

   Diane and Dante  and caring people like them do not leave us orphans. They leave us with a valuable gift. That gift is learning from them that life should not be lived complacently. Do you really want to die thinking; was just doing no harm enough of a way to live? My life has been blessed knowing so many people like Diane and Dante. I hope you have been so blessed.

Jonathan & the Modern Lovers: “Old World”

“Abu Jamal”

“Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other. It is a sign that we don’t need a lot of money to be happy–in fact, the opposite.” ~ Jean Vanier

A Rabid Dog Would Have Been Put Down by Now

1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime. Domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. More than 4 million women experience physical assault and rape by their partners. 1 in 3 female homicide victims are murdered by their current or former partner every year. Domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment. Workers at women’s shelters have often said that on Super Bowl Sunday more women seek shelter than any other day of the year. Other people have claimed that is just a myth. Recently, we’ve seen a couple of professional football players batter the women and children in their lives. There was less outrage over this than there was over an under inflated football. Most domestic violence incidents are never reported. There continues to be reported case after case of a serial batterer. It is no myth that this man is destined to kill again. He keeps walking away from his crimes with no justice for his victims. He was recently accused of battering another girlfriend. I wrote this poem as an outcry to all the battered women who are afraid to report their batterer.

A Rabid Dog Would Have Been Put Down by Now

Florida resident 17- year-old Trayvon Martin

was shot and killed by Wyatt Earp wannabee

28-year-old George Zimmerman back in 2012.

Trayvon was unarmed unless you count

a bag of Skittles and iced tea as a weapon.

He was going to mix them together

to try to get high on them.

So said drug addicts Beck and Rush

who are both in need of their next fix

so they tend to see everything as a drug.

A jury let Zimmerman walk on a murder charge

because of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law.”

The law lets you kill others

if you feel they threaten you.

Truth is being on the very same planet

with Zimmerman makes me feel threatened.

So, perhaps I should get a gun

and a plane ticket to Florida.

Before shooting Trayvon Martin

George had two run- ins with the law

with one being an assault on a cop.

His judge father got his charges dismissed.

He’s had many more run ins with the law

since he shot Trayvon in 2012.

One involved threatening his wife with a gun

and punching his father-in-law in the face.

His wife was afraid to press charges

which she said she later regretted.

Several months later he was involved in road rage

where he angrily chased down another motorist.

He told the other motorist, “Do you know

who I am, I will fucking kill you.”

The other driver was afraid

so he did not press charges.

George Zimmerman has been making money

signing autographs at gun stores and gun shows.

Now in 2015 George was arrested

for assaulting his present girlfriend

and throwing a wine bottle at her.

Sean Hanitty has called Zimmerman

the victim in the Trayvon Martin shooting.

I’m still waiting on Hannity, FOX NEWS, the Tea Party, conservatives

and the NRA to ask Zimmerman to take personal responsibility for his actions.

Zimmerman’s attorney Don West has stated,

“George is very unlucky with the ladies.”

George considers the bad luck part the fact he keeps getting caught

doing domestic violence to all of the women in his life.

Maybe the women were all wielding bags of Skittles

at George in a threatening type manner.

Why do women keep dating these “bad boy type” of raging lunatics?

Violent creeps like O.J., Phil Spector, Chris Brown and Robert Blake.

Sports figures and actors who have to beat the women off

and do so literally with their fists, knives and guns.

Meanwhile, nice guys who respect women can’t get a date.

I thought 79-year-old Charlie Manson was the craziest person on the planet.

Wrong, it’s the 25-year-old woman who wants to marry him in prison.

Even this obviously insane woman does not deserve to be abused.

No woman deserves to have her life turned into a domestic abuse nightmare.

Women should never believe they are going to be the one

that can turn around one of the abusive monsters.

The women who have had anything to do with George Zimmerman

have become involved in a nightmarish version

of the movie, “Ground Hogs Day”

where George commits the same domestic violent crimes

woman after woman that he dates or marries.

He is ending up with less and less of a sentence each time.

It’s as if he gets a bulk discount for repeated violence

or was wearing a police uniform.

I think it’s high time

George did some time.

Maybe next time, maybe next time, maybe next time.

To be continued………………………………………………….

This is the area where I feature some music that might go along with my subject. Just click your mouse on the underlined links.

“Nobody’s Better Than Me”

Crocked Monsieurs: “Home Sweet Home”

“Do not allow him—the abuser—to tell you who you are or take the blame for his actions.”~  Source Unknown

Remembering an Area Activist

I’ve attended some Occupy Youngstown and Frackfree Mahoning Valley events over the years. I’m sorry to say not as many as I’d have liked to. Some events are on Saturdays which many times is the worst day of the week for me to attend anything. Other times I’d like to attend events I am struggling with my arthritis. Fact is I’m making excuses and need to get my ass moving and try to be more of an activist. I really appreciate most activists and I’m glad they make up for my slack.

Here is part of a blog I wrote about attending an Occupy Youngstown event in 2011:

“Other folks I saw at Occupy Youngstown were people holding signs and waving to passing motorists, a woman in a wheelchair, a young mother pushing her baby in a stroller, people dropping off  fire wood and an occupier busy sweeping the area and tidying up things. I also saw and heard people I thought had a little too much B.S., ones who were a little flaky, ones who were a little too full of themselves, ones who were too bossy, a young girl trying to act older bugged me, and one woman annoyed me because she wanted people to keep chanting parts of things that were said. On the other hand, I am getting a little old and cranky. I’m going to scowl at you if you ask me to chant something, to sing along, to dance or tell me to smile. Who are all of the above people I’ve been talking about? They are our neighbors, our workmates, our relatives, acquaintances, our brothers and sister fellow Americans, they are us the 99%. Because the 99% includes so many people of various backgrounds we are going to have people we love, some we tolerate and some who the jury is still out on.  All together they are people who I am glad are committed to making this country better. These people at the Occupy movements are your representatives not those bought and paid for suits in Columbus or D.C. These people are disgruntled because they know as a nation we can do better and they’ve taken to the streets to point out we need to take care of Main Street not Wall Street.”

I believe one of those activist that day (unless my memory is shot) was Patti Gorcheff. I’m sad to say I believe she was either the bossy one or the one that had us chant. I believe it was the chanter, but I could be wrong. Patty just passed away the other day, so I’m willing to bet some people remember her as bossy and some as a cheerleader. Truth is I’m a bit shy and don’t go enough out of my way to meet people. I’d like to be more outgoing but as I age I’m turning into a rugged indoorsman. That means I didn’t get to know Patti very well. I noticed from interacting with her on social media that we shared many passions and causes. From the good things I’ve heard about her not getting to know her was my loss.

The real loss is losing young (I say young as she was a few years younger than me) activist like Patti. As I’ve gotten older I appreciate people’s bossiness and cheerleading. That is if they are doing it for a cause that will make that better world for my kids. With age, comes the need to be bossy and more of a cheerleader. That is because you have more of an urgency to see snippets of that better world you want for your children while you are still here. I’m sorry to hear of Patti’s passing as we can’t afford to lose anymore warriors. Patti was the kind of environmentalist that believed a better world was possible. The kind of world where freedom, justice and equality are just as part of nature as air, water, forest and mountains.  Blessings to activist like Patti who have bottomless pockets on their hearts. My children and I thank her for planting the seeds for that better world. Peace to you and your family Patti.

Here is a poem for Patti by my favorite poet, Peter Maurin:

“What Makes Man Human”

1. To give and not to take
   that is what makes man human.
2. To serve and not to rule
   that is what makes man human.
3. To help and not to crush
   that is what makes man human.
4. To nourish and not to devour
   that is what makes man human.
5. And if need be
   to die and not to live
   that is what makes man human.
6. Ideals and not deals
   that is what makes man human.
7. Creed and not greed
   that is what makes man human.

Mike Stout at Occupy Youngstown part 1

Occupy Youngstown: Part 2

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.”

~ Shannon L. Alder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting Some MLK in Your MLK Day

I was just watching a CSPAN show about books. The show was taped at a bookstore in 2003. It featured Martin Luther King Jrs. son, Dexter Scott King discussing his book, “Growing Up King; An Intimate Memoir.” At the question portion I was not surprised by the first question asked by a white man. He asked, “How do you feel about present day black ministers and so-called, black leaders using your father’s legacy to make money and promote themselves?” Dexter said his father’s books are available to the public so if you read them you’ll know who is promoting his father’s work. I’m sure the white man never read any book by MLK. He wasn’t there to learn anything about MLK. He was there to get a dig in about black leaders Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton. It is now 2015 and that type of white conservative man can still be heard calling talk radio and bashing Sharpton and Jackson. Let’s be honest, we know these white guys are racist because all of us white folks have a Sharpton and Jackson basher in our family.

They do that because they don’t want African-Americans to have any spokespersons. That is not entirely true. These white racist wouldn’t mind supporting the right black leader. By that I mean a conservative black leader. They’d have no problem supporting a Dr. Ben Carson, Allen West, Larry Elder, Alan Keys, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams. That is because all of them are willing to trash their own race to pick up a fat check from the white powers that be. When these black conservatives speak against their own race white conservatives are pleased as punch. Now when these white conservatives say something racist they can quote a black conservative that backs up their racist statement. All the African-Americans on this list hate President Obama. I believe that is because each one of them feels they should have been the first black president. Sadly, black conservatives stay in the GOP and don’t even question the racist comments of so many whites in their party. Before you tell me MLK was a Republican I know that. If you know your history about the Southern Strategy you know he wouldn’t be one today.

We labor activist need to remember that in 1968 Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated while supporting a strike by Memphis, Tennessee, sanitation workers. Peace activist need to remember he spoke against the Vietnam War. Whether we are black or white we all owe MLK a debt of gratitude and should respect what he stood for. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Here are 10 things you might not know about Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK forgave a woman who tried to kill him. Assassination attempt story about MLK being stabbed at a bookstore in 1958.

A Song for MLk Day: “I Have a Dream”

MLK Rap Song: “Let Freedom Ring”

“If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

God Inherits a Town

I just read an article about the mayor of a town turning over ownership of the town. He turned that ownership over to God. The town is Winfield, Alabama in Marion County. The population of the town is 4,540. I enjoyed reading some comments about turning Winfield over to God. I used those ideas, some Winfield research and my thoughts to create this poem.

Dateline Winfield, Alabama
In a secret meeting of only the city council
and mayor it was unanimously decided
to cede ownership of the town to God.
They released a statement saying,
“We acknowledge that at all times,
he is in control and no problem
will be too large or too small
for God to be able to overcome.”
My first thought was is this just more
of that stupid racist Confederate
secede from the Union bull crap?
God owns souls you crackers,
not houses, buildings and streets.
God doesn’t want your crappy town,
even if you call it Godville or Yahweh Village.
The town leaders of Winfield believe
if God owned the place it would be divine.
They’d have a cable system that didn’t suck.
They’d have no potholes and wouldn’t need bridges,
as the bodies of water in town would part
like automatic department store doors.
Winfield realtors wanted to know if God
was interested in selling any property to flip.
Big money could be made marketing it as, “God’s land.”
Area farmers were very happy knowing that God
could bring them sunshine and rain upon command.
On the downside the town religious leaders
knew they’d be unemployed with no job skills.
Hillbillies in the area married to their sisters
and ones way to friendly with their farm critters
were worried God might make the town explode
like those ancient cities Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible.
God did reply to Winfield’s town leaders saying
“I own the entire Universe and have eminent domain
of Earth so I don’t need your sad ass excuse for a town.
I created the world in 7 days
but don’t expect me to be able
to turn around Winfield in your lifetime,
because we’re talking Alabama here
If you really think your town is a shithole
did you ever think that is what
I had in mind for your town?
You know God’s will and all that.
Mr. Mayor you expect me to end homelessness.
Hell, the truth is I couldn’t find Mary a room.
I can do something about feeding the town’s poor,
if you bring me some fish, loaves of bread and wine.
Maybe I should just give Winfield back to
the Chicasaw Indians you whites stole it from.
As town owner I would ban Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Country Music,
Wall Street, door to door salesmen, call centers, the CIA, CEO’s,
the NRA, union busting, dictators, slavery, torture,
fracking, pollution, littering, pay parking lots,
left lane bandits, bullies, line jumpers, country clubs,
golf, commercials, Housewife reality TV shows,
FOX NEWS, Confederate Flags, war and racism,
as they were all invented by the Devil himself.
Truth is I already own all the towns.
You Earthlings are just a bunch of squatters.
Think about that the next time
you start bashing immigrants.
I guess me being an absentee landlord
has let a lot of bad people do terrible things
and claim they’re doing it all in my name.
I want to warn you Bible thumpers and religious fundamentalists
to quit spinning the Bible and all my other holy books
to hate and punish others.
I guess you Bible readers missed that part
about how swords should be turned into plows.
You’re suppose to be feeding the poor
and visiting prisoners not asking me to do it.
Also, what is with 2.5 million people behind bars in the USA?
Is that some weird way of lowering unemployment figures?
Enough with the wars already you’re starting to look like bullies.
You globalist, investors and free marketers
don’t worship me anyway, you worship the almighty dollar
and even had the gall to put my name on your money.
I created people and by damn I’m here to tell you
that corporations are not people and never will be.
And citizens of Winfield I ask you, who voted
for this stupid mayor and city council?
You Southern states claim to live in the Bible Belt,
yet you’ve failed to notice I’ve been punishing you
for a long time now for your racist redneck attitudes.
What you call the Bible Belt I call Tornado Alley.
Acts of God dudes, or do I need to remind you of that?
When I talked in the Bible about stoning people
I was talking about sharing some reefer.
Smoke ya some of that and maybe you Winfield town leaders
will feel your town doesn’t really have so many problems.
Bad news is I’m the same God for every religion.
Also a word to all towns to take to heart,
I hope your town does not have any restrictions
on voting or home ownership against blacks, gays or women
because I God, am a black lesbian woman.”

David Bromberg: “Main Street Moan”

“Somebody Else’s Blues”

I wish I could show you the little village where I was born. It’s so lovely there…I used to think it too small to spend a life in, but now I’m not so sure.” ~ Mary Kelly