A poem

learnEnglish

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.c ... p;friendId=68710535
) S% {* |$ S. RBall & Chain Record Store by Ellyn Maybe
Ball & Chain Record Store
' U) U3 u% `( [1 C5 y$ K
Someone came into the ball and chain
record store I work at
and said no bags
a waste of plastic
) e6 q! k5 C) K3 U) c! f! v
I said yes
You must be a granola eating, left wing,
/ H- }9 d1 P% ]; \  h5 m9 Sdig gothic, post-modernist, watch a lot
1 J$ u( Z) \" Qof Billy Jack movies, Arlo Guthrie type
* K2 r& k0 N1 r% e4 I
4 y0 q9 J7 v8 M0 f% C' [He said yes
I smiled
$ p. j6 ~# U) }- lI dream of Tom Waits fingerpainting
6 U+ S- B4 ]  {lightbulbs on my holiday wreath,
and I'm Jewish, pretty weird huh?
% l  R5 o% b' A. w/ g8 T$ fI celebrate Tiny Tim's birthday
! m" h; P8 b& o$ o% m8 W# Owith a parade of dancing deadheads
some who never sleep and some
- I6 v  G* N3 G' X+ T2 \" `who never go to the bathroom
8 o1 x6 d1 `) T* F; i
4 B7 I% n, r; s0 C+ }* ]1 HHis T-shirt said have you hugged
a rainforest today?

% _: c% G) Y% i  r3 b( UI said I love the planet
but it's unrequited love

He told me babe, you're bringing me down
( o2 g; H& c2 @7 ^' L7 p1 EWhen I was born my first word was ooomm
In kindergarten I organized the pacifists
to demand we didn't have to read
, l4 l9 ~4 d  P5 n3 k) j1 vfrom Dick, Jane and Spot books
Too generic

I demanded we get American Indians
to talk about what's real
And I gave them my nap mat
cause it's their land and
# v7 B7 A# {0 [+ `4 }4 aI gave them my peanut butter
; y6 k4 [  ?3 C5 Nand jelly sandwich cause
( ^7 S  T4 Q+ U  L& [0 ]" P  ^the buffalo have been murdered
6 T  c4 x3 C8 `* ?and they need protein
# h0 s9 k8 I/ v+ ^
He blushed with passion and said
& a8 A: c" ]7 ]6 \tell me you
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% Z  q+ ~$ ?8 qWell, the first 15 years of my life
I thought Barry Manilow was a sex symbol
6 D! g8 y# [9 tNeedless to say I got a sort of late start
6 q1 O# T: P) ~
/ {1 e2 q1 ^5 b; oat being at one with the cosmic heartbeat
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8 r7 o% Y- a  y! dHe gave me one of those looks
like I better get this girl
2 X6 @4 a' H& F2 ?1 ]* x1 P) M& csome Jack Kerouac books to read fast
before she suffers the confusion

of not knowing there's other existences
beside the banal

I put my hands on my hips and squealed
0 Y, ?! A- a0 V5 ?( f. K. pI read On The Road and the letters
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of Allen Ginsberg to Neal Cassady
. P, _* j. ^* ~4 m4 I" D2 V/ |  Uand vice versa
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He said on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
I'm a part time Marxist
He took out a beanie
. z# |% U7 q2 ]# Z/ H+ \put it on his head
' a/ l( u# ]9 D- {and began to chant

  t% e* [/ O- R- U: YThis definitely turned me on

All of a sudden he began to sing
" d; i: T* w( vthe minimum wage workers' song

the walls are full of faces
the mini-malls are full of neon
the bitter bite the hands that feed them
the food is a mixture of bone, blood
and snails
man is a cannibal
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I said wow! you are the sort of guy
who says right on and really means it
you probably only drink the milk
. G7 B7 F1 E* ^of socially conscious cows
. S- i' u; Y8 U2 D0 U9 p( Y) k3 L4 fwho voted Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young for president
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He screamed oh chick my life changed
in 1962 when I realized the Constitution
was written without women, blacks,
! k7 I' j+ b" \& Z- C3 `8 a/ k# P1 mindians, and poor white men in mind
That was not o.k.
, H7 S7 D' Y2 B" n' e; F" jI became the Jackson Pollack of feminism
I threw paint of outrage everywhere
I was a man who identified
8 g" U" ], Y& o- r( z. o2 owith Billie Holiday and Ernest Hemingway
& n/ Z% Z! f9 y; F  W! L! @" |I was a traveler
# ~' T9 R: Q0 V& G8 ^0 b% g4 x
So what brings you into this
: L1 D8 W" s* o$ QSan Fernando Valley air conditioned
, m! D; Y+ m/ R) g  @1 s" E# v9 mintellectually malnourished video store
* V$ H; v0 T+ G- h+ swith the exactlys?
# W0 y  ?% q  n# l1 T0 iWe open exactly at 10:00
Close exactly at 10:00
( B* k+ b" y+ B7 `No matter what our karma
Damn it's so crass,
0 D* k: @5 G9 c" Byou can't even rent The Last Waltz here

' n' U# {8 p$ j9 sHe said I'm in a competitive mantra makers
* ]* [5 Y. \5 r0 y% Y5 l: v) fbowling league
We have weavers, chess players
avant garde stamp collectors
and Hell's Angels
Inventors all
, K( n3 F5 h/ I+ U! R& o( S+ U% }: yWe bowl whenever the fuck
the spirit moves us
1 c. g- y, t! `. Z- W5 k5 W( HWith any luck we'll be playing the
9 y# P2 u5 f' w& D2 NNew Age/lawyers/used car salesman league
again real soon
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Hippies and New Age people are like
4 |( N* E$ I9 E" l4 o5 D5 ]1 Y* ]" tthe difference between Bob Dylan and Bob Hope
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He smiled and said do you want to bowl?
We are definitely into strikes
for the betterment of the worker
We need someone who looks
' r( n; n" ]- \# I( }) |like she could walk into the woods
and find incense without getting poison ivy
You look like Van Morrison
' P/ f. N0 S! p- ^when you pout your lips
You could be a part of the father son and
+ k1 i! y% q' o. _the holy ghost meshuganeh athletic league
Besides I love you
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I started to weep
Tears of Bas Mitzvah cake
+ C0 K3 U  J, [7 z5 `" v. g! n+ c* Uand tears of being the last kid picked
for field hockey in gym class
( W9 d: q5 Q' S5 p! ^2 \9 OAuthentic tears
Nobody ever said all that to me before
I guess I kind of do have Van Morrison's mouth
3 g0 ~2 Y( l1 T+ pWhy hadn't anybody ever noticed?
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I said I love you
But every free moment I moonlight at
Hairy Krishna Organic Coiffures
1 }" I% f) z2 p# p& Tand Tea Salon
9 X7 @" W( [3 X' U0 T7 k9 s2 OWe use
no chemicals
no dyes
) C' H' x1 L5 D! \3 eno sprays
. H" E+ {' s( l+ Cno combs
no brushes
Hell, you look pretty much the same going out
4 G# S5 t( O0 ^% X7 ?% fas going in
& G, {2 L9 ]+ i' _
& |, \: [4 |$ lHe said what's a nice girl like you doing
living in a Republican administration
+ R& x, a8 C: P+ E3 n; z8 [like this?

The manager of the record store comes over
and says
you know the movie Fahrenheit 451
4 _$ K, H; \3 |Corporate has ordered us to burn it
) {* h, v/ p' |Get to it!
" c& J* C: T* k* WDon't give me your damn whimpering
3 y6 a0 n8 |, L& S( p" l* @Joan of Arc eyes
( c8 ?. E4 _" T. Q% t; PLots of people would love to have your job
8 r% @7 d5 c  N6 S" R
. U7 S6 C* a0 {1 W* A; g6 pI screamed pig PIG
You are giving barnyard animals a bad name
Cops are Pigs!
  V5 S1 j3 k& @- e2 |+ T$ L7 dIntolerants are Pigs!
Bigots are Pigs!
. d& N) U4 y# L8 @1 R9 j' y2 ]Everybody who does it and says they're
2 s( P0 w5 }* z3 H6 S. Mjust doing their job is a Pig!
" a* F) K; }) w6 ]  PEverybody who does it to someone else
knows what they are

This is my first day at the record store
2 A4 T% L4 m! WI guess if they want to have a quiet
complacent yes sir type of employee
they ought to ask different questions
) f+ ]' Q- `( _! z  }2 p* o0 [  jon the application
+ w6 J4 _- \' _5 d
+ I& F/ S' q) y& v3 C1 ~7 Rlike do you conform?
# n+ c7 _: f, G; D2 Vlike do you care that this is stolen land?
5 V. A  ~4 O2 h9 T1 o* P$ Slike do you believe in playlists?
like do you believe in yourself?
" Q% a9 [. m. x# G4 udo you mind waking up alone
) u, v. }7 R. j/ \" Urather than being beat up with fists?
+ t1 I: x( _6 G( ?* g4 f7 kdo you see the government is beating us up
as bad as a knife in our elbows
1 p: {. N6 S/ Kas bad as a slur in our ears
/ F/ C* c) I6 [+ W0 {' C& qas bad as a rape
when we just wanted to be held
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: p4 F- U. e+ z. c% [, K7 o3 B9 eAnd all they ask is
can you work part-time?
6 A) z, p: m3 C& ^and what days can't you work?
. A  y3 C& Y8 X4 `( T" Zand they say whom do we contact
in an emergency?
I said
% d, C  C) T% Z/ b7 U  c6 F3 N0 Fcause you need to ask that
$ L4 ]% h( N% R0 O: Rconstitutes an emergency
7 ~, |$ V' x% G  AThe hippie said my name is Hell's Bell's
but you can call me hope
He said I dug you
1 T3 p# ]1 R# h! aNow I dig your whole being
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* S% d( c: t/ J) U  {It's strange
4 i5 f! s7 }  b. TNo matter how many nights I wake up unhappy
there is still a possibility of rising
4 d. X$ F1 h9 L. o& ~) Tinto a change so easily
The outlaw lives in a world
+ L" x% |- h) h. Gwhere when he sees a mirror
he sees a hero
0 S/ P* ]+ Z) v& n% l6 d4 vAnd all heroes put their bellbottoms on
one leg at a time
+ b' }, N& T$ M! }0 s" P+ Y  R
Let's face it
* z5 u  X( [6 [% W+ }: KHow can you trust money when
it's politician's faces printed on it
' W( m' G8 ?: Z( LMoney is sexist
) W; r6 x. \1 hThe only woman on so called American currency
# I" r0 {( T  c( S8 Xwhich is really Turtle Island
2 c0 i+ R+ O' [& wto the Indians is Susan B. Anthony
and they stopped making those real fast

% G( o4 T' q! U; Q3 |Is money worth killing for?
/ U  q- y& p+ H1 `6 i7 g& S+ cIs money worth dying for?
9 R* M: x3 n  N! N9 r- @" C
I ran through the store singing
about William Blake's eyebrows
3 A- k* r( Q" Vand Walt Whitman's bellybutton
saying everything is alive
6 b! a. \5 x3 z1 Z: vand everything is sort of adorable

I took paperclips and gave them
( P& M5 L  ~! ~to loving vegetarian families
who needed someone

I took the bathroom sink and gave it a hug
: c0 l! p9 d8 M7 uI freed all the rubberbands!

And I said to all the plastic bags
I will never burden you
: N1 ^0 |" D' I! y" awith films weighing you down,
- \4 W7 p9 S9 g  n( B  QPerry Como cassettes,
9 w: S. L" k- B9 d4 A. ior even a piece of Jerry Garcia's beard
! E* F+ W% B* {% I" OWell maybe
+ x, d% p/ f! g5 L
0 A+ L. J6 ?4 G$ {0 hBut I will never staple a bag
for you brought love

Most people tell me
it was all the pop tarts I ate
Some people tell me
/ `: S) l; w: L: `2 rit was because I was a liar
And I said I'm too honest
to be anybody's best friend
) Y/ S3 u8 d6 nbut at times nobody believes
! @( ]; E5 l! a3 c) k0 T5 `' jthis hippie ever even came by
$ Q0 I8 L3 d0 X: |- [- Z
7 t0 Y8 H& w4 D7 ]! R9 Dthere are
no lingering peace signs
no incense
no tea bags
% R7 S- @7 v) |" n) o) Xno fuck the fuckers pamphlets
yet I still can't even believe
Abbie Hoffman is dead
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So my strengths and pains
are in my sense of wonder
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8 J  z7 z" @7 F( L( D6 ?All I know is I don't believe in
wearing sandals and argyle socks together
And when I needed it most, hope was here
change must not be too far behind

1 s  o- ?* y3 F7 e
) _0 `# J2 B7 \- k, \0 aEllyn Maybe

程普

so long