alien

This...world was not so new

to the natives that were present here since well

before ships set sail

and the self-proclaimed alpha males began seeing

the Earth as less than flat

the map may not have had names attached

to places

but there were surely various races, or rather more simply

hues of man

inhabiting the land prior to

the arrival of the

aliens

beings from outside this space

that made claims

in the name of people and nation states

with no basis

no justification except the preoccupation

with ownership of everything within sight

and 3000 miles more than that

from shore to shore

mountaintop to cavern's floor

and 3000 miles more

in fact within 300 years or less

the natives would rest less

die young...decrease

fail to exist

and the aliens would determine

who was fit

to share this place

they know as home

once home-less

sincerity,

rarity for the citizens

erecting fences as borders

or rather borders with fences

to diminish the life chances of those

who chance life for the life

one might make in the New World

no longer-

old story still the same

unless ancestors came atop the ship...

landed on Plymouth rock or were of the same

stock whom were received at Ellis Island

beneath the gaze of Liberty

than liberty not free

fabricated to fit the interests of a chosen few

and all others foreign to the conceptualization

as if beings from outside this thought and space

aliens

copyright 2010

Back on the wagon...

Writing is an addiction. Problem for me is, I usually stop writing...take these enormous breaks for like weeks or months, and that is when I feel I have fallen off the wagon. No words for the page...creatively sober so to speak. Then, all of a sudden I will go on a binge-writing for days or even weeks on end. So with that being said, I feel I am back on the wagon. I have alot of other work I really should be, well, working on right now but free writing is more spiritual for me at the moment. Not even that I have had some deeply profound thoughts or revelations of any kind, just want to get the words that are filling up my mind out onto the page...maybe after I piece through the spillage will I find something that was worthy of the time it took to type it.

I have been listening to this Sherrod case all week, about the African American Department of Agriculture executive who in a speech she made 25 years ago referenced race-and upon the old video resurfacing-has caused an uproar around the nation. Now, I am not even going to discuss the hypocrisy of her ancient speech being put on trial by the media and the public this week, that would be too-well, predictable. What it brought to mind for me, and one of the reasons I know I need to write is the issue of thought. Thought you may ask, by this what do you mean?

To me, in this day and age it is very difficult to think anymore-most specifically aloud. Even every word I write here may one day be scrutinized to either revere me or destroy me-depending on the entry. But the fact of the matter is we will all be judged by what thoughts we have, no matter when we had them. That may not be a bad thing if all thoughts and people who had them were weighed equally...but that is not the case. Issues of race, class, gender and even sexual orientation creep into the analysis of all thoughts made-which in many cases can distort the public opinion on a particular issue or an individual with a particular thought on that issue.

In other words, what you think or anything you have ever thought is who and what you are. Not exactly true, but true enough in today's society. However, those who control the communication channels of the world also have a great influence on thought, and the perceptions thereof. For instance, I can say I love the world but most particularly I love America, here in this blog...but it could be translated that I love America more than the world-which means I love anyone who is not American less than anyone else. Now, that would be untrue-but if it is how the media interpret it, and the talk show host and the journalists then by golly it must be true. Right? Even if you read the blog and see what it actually says, I go on TV and finally explain, the damage is done. That is the Sherrod case in a nutshell, I mean soundbites without summation are not news, but sabotage.

But regardless, are you liable for every word you ever said or wrote down...even if it was in college or in a high school term paper? Are you allowed to change? The public and most critics do not believe so...if you said or wrote it, ever, you are eternally tied to that statement. Well, certain people are, not everybody. I cannot really even say what I think about the topic...I mean I mentally divulge my thoughts here and in scattered journals around my house on a regular basis-so what will those words say about me in the final analysis? I really don't know, guess it depends on who is interpreting my thoughts at the time. Still, that won't really describe me-just a moment in my mind that ended up captured-amongst the million other moments that simply passed without pen and paper, or laptop.

The definition of a man-the figurative he,

last eternally in the words

left by his person

in just a moment

a chat or casual conversation

can be drowned out by a nation's

interpretation

is it love or hatred

his sentences laced with-

confusion or agitation?

debating whether the position

he was taking when talking to

his kids was liberal or conservative

pro-choice or pro-life

the media might just assume

that his statements were purely

negative

positive his message was to

incite protest or

perhaps persuasion

of the right...or maybe that was the left

or all those left in the middle

all thoughts left to an individual's

interpretation

whether made in private

or social occasion

regardless the setting

several years back or

late last night

the analysis is unforgetting

or unforgiven...for giving his opinion

on the who, what, why, when and where

how it may all end up written

at times does not compare

to that which was initially documented

I mean, that is not how I meant it

still sentenced by his sentences

a man's thoughts...

once captured,

can become his prison

a man's words set free

the dichotomy of his

definition

The Phenomenon of Front Porches

I am from the south...I mean, honestly most folks don't associate Virginia with the south, but they just aren't real familiar with history. Richmond, the state capital of Virginia, was also the capital of the confederacy during the Civil War. When I was in school, we did not get a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday alone-no it was commonly referred to as the Lee-Jackson-King day. That is Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. Confederate heroes yes, but not exactly proponents of equal rights and freedom as was King. Ironically, Virginia was the first and for some time the only state that ever elected an African-American governor-but alas I digress. Just trying to prove that Virginia is definitely a southern state. In southern states, folks tend to sit out on the porch in the summer time.

I happen to be doing that as I write, sitting on the porch and watching the life within my neighborhood pass by. It was a pastime in my hometown, and almost like a social event all summer. My parents porch is the gathering place for the well traveled, seldom seen, good Christian, bottle toting little bit of everybody within their neighborhood. People will be driving by and stop for a minute, leaving hours later. The front porch is to community relationships what the kitchen is to the family.

I remember when I started to drive and I would go down my block back home I would just raise my hand out of the window for the enter street-as to "speak" to everyone sitting out on their porches in the summer. My grandmother said it "didn't take nothing to speak to people," so I had best not some neighbor see my folks out and say I saw your son, "but he aint speak." Not cool. So now, when I sit out I give a wave or a holler to any other neighbor doing the same and in essence that is what builds community.

I live in the city, but in a little piece of peace within all the hustle and bustle. The front porch and pretty large park beside my home were two key selling features for me. For the first few years I owned the place however, I did not spend much time on the porch...did not even do alot to the front of the house. Recently, my wife and I have made significant changes-plants, paint, shrubbery, furniture, etc. that create the subtle outdoor room feel. Extending the space, and allowing us to actually live in the city not just inside a house in the city...feel me?

A front porch also gives you a view of your neighborhood...the cars that go up and down all day, the different folks walking by...what your neighbors really look like because you can stare and just make it seem like you just chilling. It also let everyone know that you are present and accounted for, and fully invested in your block. Seeing is believing right. I just think the front porch is an essential piece of the home. I hope to always have one...

Cheesecake...

I am a dessert dude. Honestly, I feel like dessert should be served after every meal. Best cheesecake I have had in a while I must say is the caramel apple cheesecake from, where else, the Cheesecake Factory...delicious. I am not doing adds or anything but i just had it and it is, well you know, what can I say! Anyway, cheesecake is like a delicacy you cannot have very often, or the pounds keep coming. To treat yourself to a nice piece of that cake...