Kalemonster here, making my debut on this interwebular documentation of our dear Loki's journey into the great infinite void. Currently that void has manifested in the form of a wimbly armpit a.k.a. New Jersey. After various attempts to get the hell out of the Northeast, we have been rubber-banded back to where we started. Physically, that is. Yet, there has been some intangible change in the metaphysical landscape - a shift in consciousness. Someone described the sensation as akin to a dream in which you find yourself in a familiar location but your perception of your environment is completely different from what it resembles in waking life. We may still be "here" but our minds have shifted into a transient reality. One in which each moment becomes the totality of our experience. The future morphs into a mere concept that holds little bearing over present action. We do not "plan" because an excess of premeditated actions prevents us from dedicating our consciousness to fully present action. And plans are wont to be altered, thwarted, or all together thrown in the proverbial rubbish heap. Not to mention plans lead to expectations that left unfulfilled, beget disappointment. So basically we are living moment to moment here, utilizing this stationary period to learn how to better live with each other, to surrender to the flow, and to recognize that reality is what you make it. Our bus is our home, whether we are in New Jersey or New Mexico.
In other news, I wrote a poem about our first attempt to hit the road. Hilariously enough we ended up spending the night in a musty warehouse. I call this one "Warehouse Bedroom."
Warehouse bedroom
pallid paradise
we took off riding
tricycles through
the industrial decay
"I say man, it's a goddamn circus!"
hoops-a-twirlin'
flags-a-flappin'
A modestly bearded minstrel
plucking salvation
in six strings.
We opened up the innards
of this barren place
prodded and pulled
out the dormant vitals
let the stale wind blow through
emancipated tendrils
as I cruise by
on an antique ten-speed
silver blue metallic
rubber caressing concrete
as the dream begins to stir...
"To hell with it!
We'll have a parade!"
an unlikely procession
the machinery shrinking
shocked yet intrigued
"Keep banging that drum, boy,
let them hear it on Olympus!"
We will not be silenced
our joy not smothered
though our throats are
filling up with toxins
with each stifled breath.
We just dive deeper
into the belly of the beast
to find the oasis of creation
a magic box buried
amongst the rubble
Tread lightly now
for this is hallowed ground
and I pay homage to
the winged horse shoe crab
who finally got free.
The band shows up
and oh are we in the pudding now
"Hike up your britches and
hold on....."
The electric guitar humming and buzzing and cooing
like a colony of bees
like a gospel choir
like vibratory marmalade
Now the trumpet
slithering out of the raucous mire
silver brass sex appeal
and we're all set a-tingling
The drums
rolling down the mountain
picking up speed until...
"Snap your suspenders,
we're going polka dancing!"
and we laugh and laugh
til our cheeks crumble
from the weight of bliss.
Into the void
where the acoustics are best
the horn sounding omnipresent
as the guitar lulls on
like a weary Siren
my lips part an I sing
soul-stricken and full
raw and unabashed
a mantra of redemption.
Kale - you rocked that poem! Put me right in the must and dust with you guys. Hope the ribbon of road is under your big wheels soon. All the best to all of youse. J.
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