perpetual jam!!!!!!!!!

[saw]

nothing is real
most of the images we can't help but see
one way or another
are specifically tailored for the masses
so they will absorb a particular message
that will not make you any healthier....
everything our eyes run into by chance
unintentionally, are streamlined to sell you something
merchandise, new belief- systems
and frankly are lies, disinformation,
hi-tech brainwashing to indoctrinate
the news is no longer even slightly objective
what CEO's do not want you to hear will never be heard
artificial intelligence is a tool we cannot buy at Home Depot
it belongs to the autocrats that have a playbook
to take away everything good in your life
soulless narcissistic bigots with many ways to make one conform
the more you can avoid screen images of any type
the more able you will be to remain yourself
so read an old book, take a walk in the woods,
daydream intensely, help a friend, tell someone,
many ones...that you love them. listen to music
like never before, immerse yourself in compositions
engage strangers, strike up a conversation, learn to appreciate
our differences, as long as that does not include hatefulness
make art, out of nothing, out of everything
take photographs, resist alteration by evil outsiders
we know evil, so that shouldn't be too hard
maintain your soul, protect your truth, hold on to your heart
tightly, it belongs to you alone, it's not for sale, or remodeling

[winddance]

right on
our only strength
is in our humanity
hold it close
hold your loved ones
smile at strangers
howl at the moon
don't let the music die

[sasha]

fads come, fads go -
cold war fervor. leather jackets, rock & roll...
vietnam, bell bottoms, protest songs...
cocaine, leisure suits, disco...
I've long since lost track
and interest
in whatever's current now
seems to be
neofascism, designer brands, overproduced pop...
I'm cool with
do unto others
an old pair of jeans
a little jazz, a little classical,
and the wind singing through the trees

[saw]

the most heinous
were pardoned
criminally immoral
whackos
conspiracy theorists
the dregs of society
the bottom feeders
with a plan for 2025
the rule of law
hangs by a thread
as does democracy
have you heard the latest
a quote from the right side
"suicidal empathy"
it's another way of saying
kindness is a weakness

and so here we are
in Dystopia
trying to distract ourselves
it will take all that we have learned
along the way to this place
immersion in music and art
poetry, and dancing naked on the full moon
in your backyard
if your well enough join the throngs
of resistors....

[winddance]

may 3rd
naked gardening day
get out your hoe
and sunscreen
or
your binoculars

[sasha]

and if you show up around here
in nothin' but sunscreen
you'd better also splash on some deet
'cause the ticks & black flies
are carrying knives & forks

[saw]

visiting a navy buddy
in Winona Minnesota 1978
camping along the Mississipi
when it was over I was a wounded mess
I saw combat that night
deer flies as big as bumblebees
when they take a bite
they leave a hole in your body
it was like a horror movie
looking at your bloody girlfriend
and the look on her face as she
looked at you
I still have a grudge with that shipmate
he could have warned me !

[sasha]

'bout that same time
maybe '79 or '80
mrs & I bought a washer & dryer
from someone we knew -
and her brother (my BIL)
helped us move them.
I warned him that mosquito season
was upon us -
but the hilltop skeeters he knew
aren't the assholes that our swamp skeeters are -
so he said no problem
as we wrestled the washer off his truck.
well, watching us lug it over to the cellar hatchway
the skeeters must've known our hands were tied
'cause they didn't bother swarming -
they landed
en masse -
not even halfway to the house
we were covered in 'em
and got bit pretty good -
best of all
we got to do it all over again
with the dryer

[winddance]

after a week in the high country
we were all a mess of bites
my daughter the bug magnet
worst of all
we stopped at the sol duc hot springs
pool and resort
they wouldn't let her swim
thought she was contagious.

[saw]

it's true
I've had secret loves
for many moons
that I never have talked about
first let me mention that there were three
two from the year 1966 and one from 1967
they were my Dodge Darts, I had a baby blue '66
and later a dirty white '66, and a dirtier white '67
but they are shared one endearing component
The Slant-Six Engine
a beautifully simple and enduring work of art
They always started despite the weather and they hummed
sweet lullabies are they cruised down the highways
Immortal beyond the imagination
they were my babies....the bodies would rust
but the slant six ignored that detail
until the very end
I have many photographs
here is me on the Skyline Drive in Virginia
with my Dart....here is me in the Pocono Mountains
with my Dart....here is me at Assateague Island
with my Dart
oh yes, great loves never forgotten

[sasha]

I'd tell ya 'bout my first
but I use her year/make/model
as a password -
so I'll just say that old gal
took me places no car should
and if she hadn't come out
second-best
in a run-in with a Pontiac
she might be sitting outside
right now
on a pedestal...
but my first NEW car -
a blue 1975 Datsun 710 -
identical to one owned by
that chubby blonde in IT
what caught my eye
(and, they tell me, I hers) -
twin cars side by side
in the parking lot
twin souls side by side
in bed...
neither lasted
nothing does
'cept maybe entropy itself
that's just how it is...
so I drink my tea
while it's still hot

[saw]

I had to learn the hard way
I was showing off for my girlfriend Sharon
so I punched the accelerator
the 1960 Biscayne reared up
like a willing instrument of real steel
remember back when the bumpers were chrome
yeah, back then
and Sharon gave me a sweet smile
as the flashing blue lights hit my eyes
in the rear view mirror
and I eased that 2 door tank over to the curb
and rolled down my window
to speak to one of Baltimore's finest
Son, I'm gonna have to give you a speeding ticket
I was 16 and cocky, especially with a girl present
to witness my chagrin, and so I snapped the ticket
from the officers hand, and he went back to his car,
when I pulled out influenced by the disruption and
full of teenage machismso I hit the gas pedal
a little too hard, and to my surprise burned rubber, and
well you know the rest of the story.....i got a second ticket
within seconds of the first one

[winddance]

great ticket story. oh man were we dumb at that age.
once I was driving and listening to beethovens 9th. going faster and faster with the music. blue lights behind, 20 mph over the limit. I tried to use the old beethoven excuse to get off. he wrote me the ticket and said "next time try water music"

[sasha]

Sounds like he had a Handel on the situation....

The musical selection I have to be careful of behind the wheel is "Shifing Gears", from Lalo Schifrin's score for the movie "Bullitt - specifically the prelude to the car chase. Do not listen to that while driving a lonely highway at night, lest the road turn out to be not as lonely as you'd like.

[saw]

1966
me and the Biscayne
went to Orchard Inn Swim Club
lots of whacky teens
hanging around a pool of water
fridays were loud music and girls
A good place to show Connie and Paula
that I smoked cigarettes. well
at least tonight....I would raise my coolness factor
a pack, believe it ot not, showed up
in our Mailbox.....Newports were offering
free samples, and I was the first one to go check the mail
it felt like I was fated this Friday
to look hip and try not to cough in a girl's face
of course we had a tailgate party
nearby in the woods after Orchard's closed
I won't lie, there was alcohol involved
there were nine of us, and we found out
I was the only one with a vehicle....so in our
youthful madness, we decided if the girls sat on a few laps
this wouldn't be a problem....the music in the car
was cranked up to eleven. and we were singing our hearts out
when THE MAN put his flashing lights and siren on
needless to say no one could hear a siren nor see flashing lights
so they had to call for back up
we were all arrested for drinking under age
and now I had eight friends where I learned
all of their middle names....it was great
without his little illegal jaunt, I could have
lived my whole life without treasuring these never used
middle names, and I would have been deprived of the hilarity