tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post2817115507129126405..comments2024-03-24T11:17:10.498-07:00Comments on Unemployed Imagination.: 2 minutes. Go!JD Maderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-9181107664278784722015-08-08T11:46:10.003-07:002015-08-08T11:46:10.003-07:00Thanks, fellas. Leland, I only just discovered ger...Thanks, fellas. Leland, I only just discovered gerontic, and it's an awesome word.<br /><br />Oh, and Dan, notice I managed to slide an R&B in there, like a boss! ;)David Antrobushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08486219404600185419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-37845923220221248082015-08-08T11:44:01.184-07:002015-08-08T11:44:01.184-07:00Commenting here to say I literally don't have ...Commenting here to say I literally don't have the time to comment on every piece this week, but I've read every one and as usual have enjoyed them all.David Antrobushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08486219404600185419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-22163739336299046942015-08-08T08:18:33.163-07:002015-08-08T08:18:33.163-07:00I'm never gonna run short of stories and theme...I'm never gonna run short of stories and themes to write and develop upon, am I? *smiles*Mark A Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00855198804375011390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-27683910501687745102015-08-07T23:36:09.449-07:002015-08-07T23:36:09.449-07:00Powerful and intoxicating was her voice as I liste...Powerful and intoxicating was her voice as I listened to her sing on stage. The way her sound carried throughout the room made me quiver with excitement. <br /><br />This was my life right here. Every night I got to watch her sing on stage for the entire bar. Most nights I would be drunk off my arse but nevertheless, her voice still got through to me and made me shake in my boots. <br /><br />During the day out on the ranch, all I could think about was her. Her voice. The sounds she made while she sang. The noises she would make every night behind closed doors as we made love to each other. But most of all, the way she felt in my rough, coarse hands as I would caress her soft, lightskinned body each night.<br /><br />That's what I loved about workin' on the ranch and being able to see my beloved every night after the work was done.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10533144751698507995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-9533157714048719162015-08-07T19:07:48.081-07:002015-08-07T19:07:48.081-07:00I like this even more after the second and third r...I like this even more after the second and third reading.... sometimes I have to wait for evening to fully appreciate poetry, and I like this...thank you.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-68213032893825886372015-08-07T19:04:17.167-07:002015-08-07T19:04:17.167-07:00Wow. This is powerful, and all too true for too ma...Wow. This is powerful, and all too true for too many.... well written and well described. Thank you.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-6667562675966171082015-08-07T17:50:38.031-07:002015-08-07T17:50:38.031-07:00It's still true, even out of the younger, dark...It's still true, even out of the younger, darker time of life. Swallow fast or you will find out how true.<br />Ann Catheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15368130403339572810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-52698717005772873602015-08-07T17:44:24.094-07:002015-08-07T17:44:24.094-07:00Fear. The crushing weight of an avalanche on your ...Fear. The crushing weight of an avalanche on your chest, shortness of breath, heart hammering into your ribs, blood pounding in your temples. All because of a few little words. <br /><br />"No longer under physician care."<br /><br />I felt it slide over me like a velvet glove. The glove just keeps getting tighter. My ears are ringing, my head spinning, just like a lack of oxygen from being under all those rocks.<br /><br />No more help with the blood pressure, the diabetes, the various other things they say are wrong with me, that they say I need constant care for, that I need to be aware of and take care of.<br /><br />I make myself fill my lungs to capacity in an old exercise. Things spin worse, the weight on my chest continues to build.<br /><br />Is this what it really means to be an American?Ann Catheyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15368130403339572810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-80092175747143590862015-08-07T17:39:01.267-07:002015-08-07T17:39:01.267-07:00ahhh... this is another look at the story you post...ahhh... this is another look at the story you posted last week, I think, but without a gun... and I really really like the cornbread vs. implied blood image... good stuff.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-82982921974748138782015-08-07T17:37:03.840-07:002015-08-07T17:37:03.840-07:00it is,indeed, a beautiful prayer... incarnational ...it is,indeed, a beautiful prayer... incarnational and incantational... thanks for sharing.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-64505850853124566652015-08-07T17:35:37.896-07:002015-08-07T17:35:37.896-07:00and such visuals... the spring and load and coil a...and such visuals... the spring and load and coil and all of it, could apply to a lock or a gun or a clock... and it's good!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-92108576166159865372015-08-07T16:57:59.004-07:002015-08-07T16:57:59.004-07:00I want more, too! and I want to know who *I* is! a...I want more, too! and I want to know who *I* is! and why s/he has the dog!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-29665291760584089202015-08-07T16:28:52.722-07:002015-08-07T16:28:52.722-07:00It's fun, and it's true, and I will never ...It's fun, and it's true, and I will never again see your posts on facebook without thinking "Chicken Plucker"... well done!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-28099871320932161962015-08-07T16:27:18.203-07:002015-08-07T16:27:18.203-07:00Thank you!Thank you!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-21159959677392887502015-08-07T16:26:33.085-07:002015-08-07T16:26:33.085-07:00amen to that... they don't have to wear capes!...amen to that... they don't have to wear capes!Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-90771251442776619542015-08-07T16:25:15.625-07:002015-08-07T16:25:15.625-07:00Only a brilliant writer would dare to pair "v...Only a brilliant writer would dare to pair "vampiric immortal" and bluebirds in the same work, and have it do the right thing... this is awesome, and sad, and dark, and rich, and beautifully haunting. Thank you for sharing it. PS: Gerontic is one of my favorite adjectives.Leland Dirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00813252580295128296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-21841879431448928922015-08-07T16:19:02.342-07:002015-08-07T16:19:02.342-07:00N: “I take it that’s a reflection of your organiza...N: “I take it that’s a reflection of your organization’s policy of racial unity?”<br />L: “Absolutely. We don’t tolerate white folks who think they automatically get to call the shots, but we also don’t tolerate people of color who aren’t willing to cooperate with whites. It’s like these divisive-ass Louis Farrakhan types never heard of the Southern Strategy. The powers that be, the politicians and corporate executives who hold the real power, they LOVE racial strife. They love it when they can play us against each other. That’s why, as an activist, I place a huge emphasis on reaching out to working-class white people and trying to educate them, get them to understand that, superficial cultural differences aside, they have more social, political, and economic interests in common with people of color than the rich cracker assholes they’ve been electing since forever.”<br />N: “[chuckles] Sorry, I am just greatly amused by your word choices. Aren’t you worried about losing potential converts by being so, er, colorful?”<br />L: “Naw, fuck ‘em. For one thing, this isn’t a fuckin’ religion, I ain’t tryina convert anybody. And for another, fuck respectability. That’s just a code word for conforming to the way our oppressors think we oughta be. Do I look like Auntie Jemima up in this piece? The fuck outta here with that. I may cuss a lot, but I’m an autodidact who gives lessons to muthafuckas with master’s degrees.”Danimalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15226216295217819865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-28025879612464196812015-08-07T16:18:33.747-07:002015-08-07T16:18:33.747-07:00Luanne was a bit surprised to find that she liked ...Luanne was a bit surprised to find that she liked media attention. The movement she helped found was starting to make waves, and she found herself in the position of a de facto spokeswoman. She was even on the cover of Time magazine: her kinky hair buzzed short again, unsmiling, with the tagline “Ratchet Revolution”. The interview, conducted by journalist Nick Caruso, went something like this:<br /><br />Nick: “Ms. Rodgers, thank you for taking the time to speak with me.”<br /><br />Luanne: “Naw, thank you. Ain’t no such thing as bad publicity, baby, so you can call me by my name.”<br /><br />N: “Well, alright, Luanne. Aren’t you worried about bad press turning public opinion against you?”<br /><br />L: “Folks will believe what they want. No matter how you wanna spin it, some folks won’t be down. They’ll see my lesbian-lookin’ black ass mean mugging on the cover, read what I got to say, and be like ‘fuck that bitch’. But some will get it, that’s what makes it worthwhile to me, the opportunity to reach out to this huge mainstream audience and explain to them what’s going on.”<br /><br />N: “Certainly. So, how did you first get involved with this, er, organization?”<br /><br />L: “Just tryina survive, man. My pops was a junkie, died when I was about ten with a needle in his arm. He was a veteran, came home with some deep scars, couldn’t maintain. My moms dropped a couple years later, stroke, worked herself to death. Me and [my younger brother] Ray lived with grandma for a while, until [my older brother] Jacob could come back from Chicago, then we squatted in West Oakland. He tried to get a real job, but nobody wanted to hire a 21 year old black dude who went to high school in Hunters Point and dropped out of Northwestern. So at first we was just doing petty crimes, so we could eat, but over the years we realized that we don’t have to knuckle under, and maybe risking becoming yet another police homicide statistic was worth escaping our shitty situation. We got to hangin’ with other kids who’d been fucked by the system, and were sick of living in fear. We got more ambitious than just tryina live through the week, started fuckin’ up the program in a serious way.”<br /><br />N: “And, just to be clear, what do you mean by ‘the program’?”<br /><br />L: “The status quo. I’m sorry if I come off snappy, here. But for those of y’all who’ve been living under a rock, or have just been cishet [cisgendered and heterosexual], white, affluent, and self-involved, the United States is a deeply inequitable society. As a culture, we pay all this bullshit lip service to equality and freedom and so on, but we’ve made a billion dollar industry out of locking people up. If you want the American Dream of socioeconomic mobility, you better be white, and preferably a man, or the cards are stacked against you. “<br /><br />N: “Absolutely. What exactly is the end goal, the ‘mission accomplished’ of your organization?”<br /><br />L: “Dramatic reform, if not replacement, of the US government, by whatever means necessary. This country is, in practice, run by, and for the benefit of, rich white men, and that isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Areas of reform we particularly emphasize include campaign finance, criminal justice, and social welfare. Nobody needs a billion goddamned dollars when kids like me gotta steal and sell they asses to eat.”<br /><br />N: “I see. Speaking of, did you happen to see Mustapha ben Sharif’s open letter to you?”<br /><br />L: “(laughs) Hahah, yeah. I wish a muthafucka would pop that shit to my face, or my man’s. He don’t give a fuck, he’d sodomize Mustapha with an Uzi for disrespecting me. He wanna talk about my personal life because he’s mad that sisters like me don’t wanna fuck with his punk ass. Ol’ ashy-dick Hotep nigga really should read some Wikipedia articles about intersectionality and black feminism before he tries to step to me. I usually don’t use the dreaded ‘n’ word, just because I think it’s uncouth, but really, he can eat a dick. I’ll fuck with a down-ass white boy way before I’ll fuck with a black dude who throws my ass under the bus ‘cuz he thinks it’s all about him and his beef with whitey.”Danimalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15226216295217819865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-42973556909504398292015-08-07T16:17:08.476-07:002015-08-07T16:17:08.476-07:00Thank you! One about endings and one about beginni...Thank you! One about endings and one about beginnings :) vickiejohnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15947507866512596346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-7682786201126966222015-08-07T16:16:43.595-07:002015-08-07T16:16:43.595-07:00Thank you! I'm not feeling greatly inspired, s...Thank you! I'm not feeling greatly inspired, so thanks for the good words :) vickiejohnstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15947507866512596346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-68708624889609581292015-08-07T16:04:14.535-07:002015-08-07T16:04:14.535-07:00Ah, this is beautiful, Sal. You make an agnostic w...Ah, this is beautiful, Sal. You make an agnostic want to go to pray. Just lovely.JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-62010587215411839842015-08-07T16:02:27.139-07:002015-08-07T16:02:27.139-07:00You stick the landing every time. I love "in ...You stick the landing every time. I love "in lines in twists" - really grabbed me. Another awesome piece, Vickie. JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-35831930115888310602015-08-07T16:00:22.739-07:002015-08-07T16:00:22.739-07:00*a**a*JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-8996019053965256392015-08-07T16:00:10.048-07:002015-08-07T16:00:10.048-07:00Deadly. The cadence is so good. Beautiful language...Deadly. The cadence is so good. Beautiful language and an bang of an ending.JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1128469884487763839.post-54331186872485202072015-08-07T15:59:05.439-07:002015-08-07T15:59:05.439-07:00Oh, I like this one. Really cool way to keep us gu...Oh, I like this one. Really cool way to keep us guessing. I feel like I say this about every piece you write, but I want more. :)JD Maderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13058074115809620653noreply@blogger.com