On... Dreading the changes happening in the San Joaquin Valley of California
Grandpa Hawk perched in a tree
looked down at me on a stump
gazing at fields being primed
for the advancement of the times
and asked unassumingly:
What is in your heart?
And so I began to speak;
I dread this alien ratrace
mirrored in congested big city phlegm
manifest-destiny all over again
mixing into this country world
like oil with water
strangers with shark-like expressions
convoluting the landscape
in Hummers Volvos SUVs
along with their collective wannabes
I dread this transformation
of new homes and buildings
expanding like popcorn
no locals can afford
I dread this attack of the new-age Borg;
Resistance Is Futile-You Must Assimilate
I dread these pimps of poorly planned progress
for pathetic self-profit
I dread taking scenic drives in the country
thundering with traffic thick as bees on honey
being forced to find places away from
familiar places where technology
yet has targeted its thoughtless tentacles
and capitalist clowns have yet proclaimed
their arrogant game of eminent domain
places where open spaces still be free of idiot boxes
blasting gangster obscenities
where no yuppies have fenced off areas once always open and free
of eyes of steel and robotic gates and fortresses of concrete
high as prison walls
and grandpa Hawk looked at me
with eyes of wisdom and said;
listen,
listen to us
winged ones
four leggeds
insects
trees
rivers
as we sing our death
songs,
then grandpa Hawk flew
off into the blue,
and I rose from the stump
for a bulldozer was coming
and I could no longer stay.
I lived in my present home, surrounded by 13 acres of trees, and no other home in view, when I first started talking to Manny and reading his words... It has been my privilege to learn more about him each time we connect, mostly on Facebook... Now, as I reread this poem which speaks of change in the area where he lives, I cannot but help to wish that Manny could live in my area of the world, where deer roam into my yard, 'possum and 'coon come to eat along with my cats... and in the distance, sounds of farm animals are heard from the home place of a new, nearby neighbor who I have not even met... Still, we know we are nearby, and that we live in a country where quiet is supreme most of the time, until the winds come, the rain beats on our roofs... Nature surrounds each of the homes in the area--and we enjoy our beloved land.
Manny, I know, has settled in a lone place, where nobody surrounds him as well... Two loners, perhaps, that still enjoy touching base from time to time over a computer that brings us closer than we could ever have been in life...
Manny, it is good to have you share your words, once again, here at Book Readers Heaven! But, I had to laugh as I discovered still another reason we are connected. My brother, you, too, have met the Borg... and decided, we were not to be assimilated! LOL We are as free as we can be here in America! May we continue living in this democracy, free to be all that we can be... Let us Pray to God that we can see a far future of that freedom which is now threatened by those who want power over others... And allow it to continue until we meet our grandfathers/mothers...
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