A poem

learnEnglish

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0 z# S$ ^& x: {$ v, ~% g6 XBall & Chain Record Store by Ellyn Maybe
* N" J0 I6 Y2 K4 \+ ]3 ]0 nBall & Chain Record Store
3 s; d4 D( ^, }7 K
/ x+ V# l/ I0 o! b- o: ^: @Someone came into the ball and chain
! M  b7 h8 g* e* w$ A) ~record store I work at
and said no bags
a waste of plastic
0 e3 ?. K$ B+ _; b/ v; w, m
. S/ X: Z/ \4 X1 z' oI said yes
0 V& s/ \& F8 J1 ^You must be a granola eating, left wing,
. u. i* Q6 e4 v" W# M# a3 zdig gothic, post-modernist, watch a lot
9 [' ]7 P8 V% s% W8 b8 f$ V  Dof Billy Jack movies, Arlo Guthrie type

5 j& h; {4 L2 c1 a5 L) e; }' ?& T: DHe said yes
I smiled
: _, ]" D. c! O5 DI dream of Tom Waits fingerpainting
lightbulbs on my holiday wreath,
and I'm Jewish, pretty weird huh?
I celebrate Tiny Tim's birthday
with a parade of dancing deadheads
some who never sleep and some
who never go to the bathroom

His T-shirt said have you hugged
a rainforest today?
# V; O* k% ?9 Z
I said I love the planet
! e0 d( C$ C. T, B4 H8 S2 e  v/ wbut it's unrequited love

He told me babe, you're bringing me down
When I was born my first word was ooomm
' \, u1 S  E4 h0 b+ U% tIn kindergarten I organized the pacifists
to demand we didn't have to read
  U1 g0 q* w% [6 }- }: tfrom Dick, Jane and Spot books
( Q+ C' s- T" F$ n. n( OToo generic

I demanded we get American Indians
" u  F3 Z+ ]6 f3 d% l. vto talk about what's real
; F6 l/ v( u$ j7 O+ H% UAnd I gave them my nap mat
cause it's their land and
I gave them my peanut butter
; x0 V/ B8 V# N* Z3 k+ v- Oand jelly sandwich cause
6 p8 ^( X5 c, U) h' t- T, m+ m+ ythe buffalo have been murdered
and they need protein
. D+ p4 r: @, K+ s# I- M
He blushed with passion and said
tell me you

% R3 Y  F; B8 l) R" EWell, the first 15 years of my life
9 _2 f& u7 J" T7 i. lI thought Barry Manilow was a sex symbol
1 g2 a# p1 c* tNeedless to say I got a sort of late start

at being at one with the cosmic heartbeat

) n) S0 ?$ [) e0 C' U* iHe gave me one of those looks
like I better get this girl
8 e5 G  P3 n7 d( u, o3 C+ Csome Jack Kerouac books to read fast
before she suffers the confusion
; x& v6 s9 q% {5 O
of not knowing there's other existences
2 H  y! @; c3 h* M3 N1 `beside the banal
% ]+ D7 a8 A- E7 V0 n; C3 I' H; L& o& M
4 C3 x/ C$ _5 O0 \; UI put my hands on my hips and squealed
I read On The Road and the letters

. l4 W; t+ e& b6 z7 v- O3 Sof Allen Ginsberg to Neal Cassady
and vice versa

& X) _; F% z, S$ }9 v# X2 A! WHe said on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
( o% W3 h& z, A$ {5 M# LI'm a part time Marxist
He took out a beanie
2 v5 ^" W# \7 kput it on his head
and began to chant
4 |6 a# F+ Y% Y
' O' r" ]: i; o8 b+ ]2 uThis definitely turned me on
+ ?* G5 v4 C# n4 x* U- ]+ V
" Z& \9 \% k3 R! d: h. I7 M0 SAll of a sudden he began to sing
the minimum wage workers' song
/ a$ x  t3 K% `
+ T0 d# ^, I: M6 I. j8 V- Ethe walls are full of faces
the mini-malls are full of neon
. D& A2 y4 A# j5 y( fthe bitter bite the hands that feed them
2 D5 g5 d% |2 I1 f9 U9 O7 |& e) O' s; ^the food is a mixture of bone, blood
and snails
man is a cannibal
% F2 v, U- v, K
3 m3 b  [1 Z1 V( {  e# Z  GI said wow! you are the sort of guy
1 M0 G/ l# l6 `& v$ Z1 I# Uwho says right on and really means it
. T5 L& E. o8 O  Jyou probably only drink the milk
of socially conscious cows
who voted Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young for president
% |* x' y5 `  F# q
1 m6 E, l7 H: l1 n7 aHe screamed oh chick my life changed
6 p3 w& o7 G6 L# t8 f7 Gin 1962 when I realized the Constitution
was written without women, blacks,
7 E- m' b. U7 a1 uindians, and poor white men in mind
That was not o.k.
I became the Jackson Pollack of feminism
8 H% |: S* V5 |: p' wI threw paint of outrage everywhere
/ }, B. i) S& R+ s1 X# qI was a man who identified
( h- P. ^" @% T1 P. nwith Billie Holiday and Ernest Hemingway
I was a traveler

So what brings you into this
San Fernando Valley air conditioned
; M" y; O9 u& Y/ v8 `; o+ g: G; r! ~intellectually malnourished video store
with the exactlys?
We open exactly at 10:00
Close exactly at 10:00
: m" O/ X3 a9 j2 Z& W( E0 ^No matter what our karma
1 H2 L$ {( q* v! s) zDamn it's so crass,
you can't even rent The Last Waltz here

He said I'm in a competitive mantra makers
" N& `# B- e7 u0 y3 Ubowling league
( W! p2 ~  P8 P' nWe have weavers, chess players
8 c6 h3 T5 e! p" k% S( ~+ c4 o6 _# v+ Havant garde stamp collectors
" _& m# p6 I4 x# M! Vand Hell's Angels
+ {1 ~/ f9 S) Q+ F$ L% HInventors all
) T9 d* U6 T7 _& EWe bowl whenever the fuck
: g9 w! J: g0 x% P7 e( F. bthe spirit moves us
+ l1 u6 _* S0 B) K5 f) ]4 L7 kWith any luck we'll be playing the
New Age/lawyers/used car salesman league
' C. ~) M) |4 ^9 e" uagain real soon

Hippies and New Age people are like
$ M) D" `8 E5 Cthe difference between Bob Dylan and Bob Hope
. {( e, L# `, `) s# W9 N* |$ Q
He smiled and said do you want to bowl?
0 w' m  f& ^# H0 wWe are definitely into strikes
for the betterment of the worker
& k3 J/ O! F) a) R+ MWe need someone who looks
like she could walk into the woods
and find incense without getting poison ivy
You look like Van Morrison
) v9 y+ e3 B! Awhen you pout your lips
You could be a part of the father son and
the holy ghost meshuganeh athletic league
Besides I love you

I started to weep
Tears of Bas Mitzvah cake
and tears of being the last kid picked
: Z. w1 {+ e$ r- Cfor field hockey in gym class
* D4 Z$ r- ]/ P& @: |" eAuthentic tears
5 B8 c3 Z! h* K+ _Nobody ever said all that to me before
) s5 T' r# b, p/ a  yI guess I kind of do have Van Morrison's mouth
' J; _4 H0 F2 s5 \0 [8 _Why hadn't anybody ever noticed?

I said I love you
But every free moment I moonlight at
Hairy Krishna Organic Coiffures
" i' m! g2 x& q+ W! [and Tea Salon
1 m  `5 e; f- f0 S9 k5 K' bWe use
no chemicals
3 T( w7 V& c# o+ k# G/ e4 W* |no dyes
$ n; a" v6 Z5 Jno sprays
: s5 W9 l- x, H2 k- G' y$ Lno combs
1 s( A! i- ^; ?2 E7 mno brushes
Hell, you look pretty much the same going out
as going in
6 _! M9 v1 X' C4 G1 ]8 h/ o
& G+ A. q# T9 T8 u5 B! x0 n" WHe said what's a nice girl like you doing
/ E; X/ v$ P5 w+ K3 mliving in a Republican administration
like this?
7 L7 P3 \  i2 l+ C/ C6 U: i
8 [( z, L  H' ^5 N" d9 P! W, sThe manager of the record store comes over
8 `( f, ?* Z, uand says
you know the movie Fahrenheit 451
Corporate has ordered us to burn it
Get to it!
Don't give me your damn whimpering
: M$ g* W6 a! v1 }- WJoan of Arc eyes
Lots of people would love to have your job

I screamed pig PIG
You are giving barnyard animals a bad name
Cops are Pigs!
Intolerants are Pigs!
; ~$ S% o8 T# n* T0 R- IBigots are Pigs!
( L) n2 k# U" e- pEverybody who does it and says they're
just doing their job is a Pig!
Everybody who does it to someone else
knows what they are

This is my first day at the record store
I guess if they want to have a quiet
# N0 \" O* q; h! \# K' [complacent yes sir type of employee
they ought to ask different questions
on the application
4 \8 k4 q0 Y* r( r0 M
like do you conform?
like do you care that this is stolen land?
7 ~& v5 Q8 ~8 }& klike do you believe in playlists?
" \4 X/ n0 g5 Rlike do you believe in yourself?
9 Y5 W* q5 B2 Rdo you mind waking up alone
rather than being beat up with fists?
do you see the government is beating us up
as bad as a knife in our elbows
+ p( d, H4 I! P/ aas bad as a slur in our ears
as bad as a rape
5 ]+ C: n& d9 Iwhen we just wanted to be held

And all they ask is
4 [  X0 `) f: ~, B; Z; b. Ican you work part-time?
and what days can't you work?
; q: Q  d1 n7 p% N" y7 m, ^and they say whom do we contact
in an emergency?
I said
cause you need to ask that
7 c, Z8 K: m) W1 }constitutes an emergency
The hippie said my name is Hell's Bell's
4 i- x- U' \( W: T# Xbut you can call me hope
, w: r% }$ ]% x6 p+ @# ?% Y; @; ZHe said I dug you
Now I dig your whole being
( J$ R) m! C  w. U" M( H' h
It's strange
- Q8 ^! M. j& Y* d! a% e0 e; SNo matter how many nights I wake up unhappy
there is still a possibility of rising
9 \4 k" ^) M* q8 n, F3 J4 `, Ninto a change so easily
The outlaw lives in a world
where when he sees a mirror
he sees a hero
# M! q9 S5 {9 n3 {) cAnd all heroes put their bellbottoms on
& B3 y9 e: q) S8 \- uone leg at a time

Let's face it
- W1 a3 H2 z8 y6 P! ~# ?4 iHow can you trust money when
it's politician's faces printed on it
* G8 O- t# Q. `: nMoney is sexist
! y/ Z  P/ f' F' Y6 s) p4 gThe only woman on so called American currency
which is really Turtle Island
to the Indians is Susan B. Anthony
and they stopped making those real fast

Is money worth killing for?
Is money worth dying for?
& A: p! \5 q, w5 J: }
I ran through the store singing
about William Blake's eyebrows
  H, ]5 q! q1 Cand Walt Whitman's bellybutton
, q2 E9 p8 c! Z8 h0 Usaying everything is alive
and everything is sort of adorable

: g) a7 _2 J1 X0 x* d0 ~  q' w% D; YI took paperclips and gave them
$ ?7 j2 `# n# H  r2 H$ \' nto loving vegetarian families
who needed someone
$ L  r  {) U. O* T# _' s8 W0 r
I took the bathroom sink and gave it a hug
$ q; k9 d; S4 x; t2 V" E6 kI freed all the rubberbands!

% h  D. @* D$ L1 D, J/ x, C, X( u- TAnd I said to all the plastic bags
$ j& T: e& v: Q2 R- }5 J0 J4 YI will never burden you
' z  Z4 U8 J+ W$ {8 D& h. t$ vwith films weighing you down,
1 `) V9 E5 P% |  GPerry Como cassettes,
8 s' K1 ]+ a1 sor even a piece of Jerry Garcia's beard
* I5 G: q' `6 wWell maybe

8 R7 A6 ?7 N8 O& O' gBut I will never staple a bag
for you brought love
; X! A  w  Z6 m" N5 k2 l- Q
Most people tell me
6 [% @5 R" M$ \2 ]) dit was all the pop tarts I ate
Some people tell me
( S1 c+ S  H. g$ ?" {/ Tit was because I was a liar
And I said I'm too honest
: d+ _% ?/ o; O8 G" j, q% ?to be anybody's best friend
# X* w1 _, K5 rbut at times nobody believes
this hippie ever even came by
: R  x1 H- ]4 y, x) E
- J# l. h/ V* nthere are
no lingering peace signs
, v: |  z' h2 Z- d; B2 `. E! \$ _7 Sno incense
" U5 ]+ }& p' U. s+ ~no tea bags
no fuck the fuckers pamphlets
7 m* K( i2 V4 W0 {6 M/ _8 hyet I still can't even believe
Abbie Hoffman is dead
0 S% f  n. P9 d% t' {0 u1 N
So my strengths and pains
are in my sense of wonder

* I! M. s& s( z" m, b7 g( FAll I know is I don't believe in
) i/ r6 d- \( \wearing sandals and argyle socks together
And when I needed it most, hope was here
change must not be too far behind
7 l9 ]9 j& v% M( `& N4 W

$ \" t. ~* G* U3 n: x; ?Ellyn Maybe

程普

so long