A poem

learnEnglish

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.c ... p;friendId=68710535
Ball & Chain Record Store by Ellyn Maybe
Ball & Chain Record Store
# V. H' S& Q! R) W# z# ^
* o# q, J9 |9 d/ ^8 J, \Someone came into the ball and chain
record store I work at
. A0 u# s6 A5 I  h9 i, ?and said no bags
a waste of plastic

2 s: j) ^& x9 y5 f5 RI said yes
" N! L9 Y0 s& pYou must be a granola eating, left wing,
dig gothic, post-modernist, watch a lot
of Billy Jack movies, Arlo Guthrie type
! P, p# |. n( I% @3 B8 ?- A& W. H
He said yes
/ V6 k9 @9 u/ u" }$ v; {- D3 ^I smiled
I dream of Tom Waits fingerpainting
$ a+ T( {  D0 r  P/ S$ @6 a5 o& Klightbulbs on my holiday wreath,
- l: E$ ?$ ?/ }' land I'm Jewish, pretty weird huh?
I celebrate Tiny Tim's birthday
. l8 ^* E2 h. C  ~8 Fwith a parade of dancing deadheads
9 A: C) P* |9 K0 D, Qsome who never sleep and some
who never go to the bathroom
) ?$ K4 n% J2 ~
His T-shirt said have you hugged
a rainforest today?

  O& s! I! q, SI said I love the planet
. W' ~5 h/ N" c; L  A# lbut it's unrequited love

' t9 L) L! @- i, E. c; oHe told me babe, you're bringing me down
When I was born my first word was ooomm
In kindergarten I organized the pacifists
to demand we didn't have to read
1 b; y* l" W  ^) yfrom Dick, Jane and Spot books
Too generic

I demanded we get American Indians
to talk about what's real
! ^/ ^  n, q  a* L. ~And I gave them my nap mat
cause it's their land and
I gave them my peanut butter
and jelly sandwich cause
$ S" I/ J7 ~# ~the buffalo have been murdered
and they need protein
; W2 {: j( F0 ]8 [; g! s/ [
$ A- P& }) ]  P: W6 S/ P' mHe blushed with passion and said
0 q) ]  G  j) qtell me you
& O/ P8 V6 Y. B
3 T; ?# d6 p# @1 |/ TWell, the first 15 years of my life
7 k1 n, }8 m6 c2 r! I) yI thought Barry Manilow was a sex symbol
Needless to say I got a sort of late start

7 G1 z; ^  {6 K: tat being at one with the cosmic heartbeat
9 d, J7 g( {8 F' N. E% v
He gave me one of those looks
like I better get this girl
some Jack Kerouac books to read fast
before she suffers the confusion

of not knowing there's other existences
beside the banal

& Y% B/ ^8 I; c8 TI put my hands on my hips and squealed
I read On The Road and the letters
- \' y3 ]! w  g6 T* C) g9 K2 `( ~
of Allen Ginsberg to Neal Cassady
' F9 J( [# A+ x4 c" V# ~2 x) q  r5 uand vice versa

He said on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
4 Y! X; S/ Y5 h) }I'm a part time Marxist
  K8 B4 W7 r9 j3 v. R9 Q) cHe took out a beanie
put it on his head
% o0 Q' q8 \5 N! q! I3 y+ iand began to chant

' o* {' v. L3 P+ O6 |+ hThis definitely turned me on

: K4 T4 B  ~) a& r( SAll of a sudden he began to sing
0 U- F$ {6 v  J# ~the minimum wage workers' song
3 H: z+ H3 ?; b1 G- @7 f
& q1 O8 g$ Z- O) _- U- Q6 bthe 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
+ v* Q) O- g- n2 Y+ {+ {and snails
5 Z9 B5 n: e8 V; \man is a cannibal
/ c) z" j1 m, V
I said wow! you are the sort of guy
who says right on and really means it
5 X! U4 R: E3 y2 s, c5 [9 lyou probably only drink the milk
# N8 {2 L5 X3 T4 r' ^of socially conscious cows
9 V& C/ t) `/ w4 R- B/ Jwho voted Crosby, Stills, Nash
. R6 s/ f( J6 P2 Fand Young for president
4 }) |6 H  e2 P7 `: h1 U, h
: g, a5 i7 B! G  Z3 o* l5 ~, J4 aHe screamed oh chick my life changed
in 1962 when I realized the Constitution
2 O$ X( A6 D5 ^# rwas written without women, blacks,
indians, and poor white men in mind
. W+ _: O& @5 g' F2 H5 I0 nThat was not o.k.
I became the Jackson Pollack of feminism
I threw paint of outrage everywhere
I was a man who identified
6 C* R0 b3 y, |" X3 i4 _with Billie Holiday and Ernest Hemingway
3 n1 }7 k  ~- X6 EI was a traveler
& ~) ]' M. i! I1 c
. Y) ]8 J# r1 `/ W3 fSo what brings you into this
4 E! C, G5 H: H+ r: Y' D8 eSan Fernando Valley air conditioned
intellectually malnourished video store
with the exactlys?
We open exactly at 10:00
( D9 g- x6 G# {$ [3 RClose exactly at 10:00
2 j; w0 @! G0 ZNo matter what our karma
Damn it's so crass,
% N! L- S( {6 C9 E9 W) Qyou can't even rent The Last Waltz here
) _4 Y- P: L8 }9 Y
He said I'm in a competitive mantra makers
bowling league
5 U" ~) m+ i- J" k9 O6 dWe have weavers, chess players
avant garde stamp collectors
and Hell's Angels
Inventors all
We bowl whenever the fuck
. F+ ]/ \8 [! h. e: q! u( P7 j& pthe spirit moves us
# x7 Q; _7 q$ W" Y7 FWith any luck we'll be playing the
, A0 y8 O  t+ i$ ?$ f6 S  WNew Age/lawyers/used car salesman league
* y% A; `+ C2 k$ a( oagain real soon
/ d; C7 \% [; F* I/ k# y
Hippies and New Age people are like
the difference between Bob Dylan and Bob Hope
/ @2 d: Q: U+ z  U
He smiled and said do you want to bowl?
& M. ^$ I# I1 R+ ZWe are definitely into strikes
$ ~" N. ^5 a8 n- ]for the betterment of the worker
We need someone who looks
0 L6 v0 N( C: p) q- vlike she could walk into the woods
and find incense without getting poison ivy
You look like Van Morrison
when you pout your lips
You could be a part of the father son and
the holy ghost meshuganeh athletic league
Besides I love you
3 ]1 l* B, N2 n
I started to weep
/ e8 R& R" U( I$ PTears of Bas Mitzvah cake
and tears of being the last kid picked
; l8 O2 `0 q( R2 `  W) |7 q2 yfor field hockey in gym class
" r; {, d) j5 z4 QAuthentic tears
' ]: O- T8 e1 o4 h' l* v5 ?1 wNobody ever said all that to me before
I guess I kind of do have Van Morrison's mouth
: }: h5 c# T' M1 S3 FWhy hadn't anybody ever noticed?
% K. Z3 V+ O2 ], A, q1 \' S$ C
% {8 Z! W0 s* c; p& G' [) L3 OI said I love you
But every free moment I moonlight at
3 |* _% k) d0 ~" o% |Hairy Krishna Organic Coiffures
and Tea Salon
) D3 Y6 g, V- u) \3 e0 O0 X& IWe use
* g) R% T" W" ^1 f) Rno chemicals
; U2 L+ c' O6 q9 v6 \no dyes
no sprays
no combs
: R- V% c+ D  Jno brushes
Hell, you look pretty much the same going out
. w" X# H' N6 ~4 H, ~as going in
$ J9 L! |* b, {7 B( e' c1 Z3 F
  A! P8 U1 c9 t9 E" M3 K* u! GHe said what's a nice girl like you doing
living in a Republican administration
/ C* Q% {3 T6 J; g# o7 T% G0 Qlike this?
8 b3 j/ n9 w7 O" a6 C8 z" S
The manager of the record store comes over
# {9 h  c. L1 P; |: m% @' S: H8 Sand says
you know the movie Fahrenheit 451
Corporate has ordered us to burn it
Get to it!
5 B9 t+ p1 A1 o. c. jDon't give me your damn whimpering
6 W6 L1 z) _2 O4 `" a# XJoan of Arc eyes
Lots of people would love to have your job
; S9 p( R2 I6 d% `( i
# s$ q  h! c8 l5 N! m# JI screamed pig PIG
4 r7 \) K! ~" l$ sYou are giving barnyard animals a bad name
Cops are Pigs!
Intolerants are Pigs!
Bigots are Pigs!
Everybody who does it and says they're
3 o1 B% N; `9 X( h# @0 Z, Ojust doing their job is a Pig!
  P5 u/ J/ V  o! u" v6 g# pEverybody who does it to someone else
8 I& N% |9 I" @5 d" V( A; B' Rknows what they are

' x; ]7 t  {9 p) l# JThis is my first day at the record store
I guess if they want to have a quiet
% i) O& Q5 S  ^3 R$ b, z4 bcomplacent yes sir type of employee
they ought to ask different questions
on the application

6 [- o& z# i( N& }% Clike do you conform?
. G* d5 }0 o& J2 u8 D* e& W" Vlike do you care that this is stolen land?
! c$ D$ \/ l% J# C# [4 {like do you believe in playlists?
: G% d6 |+ g: slike do you believe in yourself?
2 L& L7 `' z% H! D$ Fdo you mind waking up alone
rather than being beat up with fists?
do you see the government is beating us up
+ \3 i8 u( P+ e) Mas bad as a knife in our elbows
as bad as a slur in our ears
as bad as a rape
: U& K* U  X8 U/ R. T! c4 }when we just wanted to be held

# N5 A. H6 x( c, x* z, E, W& u) FAnd all they ask is
can you work part-time?
; E. X2 S* F5 J0 k! J6 F/ @and what days can't you work?
and they say whom do we contact
' a1 a9 \$ W5 g6 g) U4 pin an emergency?
I said
cause you need to ask that
constitutes an emergency
The hippie said my name is Hell's Bell's
% R! I' Q3 ~2 vbut you can call me hope
He said I dug you
Now I dig your whole being
! N. K3 |$ i& H4 M
. A" ~! I- |4 u  d$ Q( N1 H% T& MIt's strange
No matter how many nights I wake up unhappy
8 y! \7 M7 \# f' jthere is still a possibility of rising
) X/ p) u) a' q; c5 _8 tinto a change so easily
The outlaw lives in a world
5 ~5 w' G' A3 Y+ `5 q6 owhere when he sees a mirror
3 N- K* m7 b% X/ _0 }) ^he sees a hero
And all heroes put their bellbottoms on
one leg at a time

Let's face it
0 o; g  ?' {% t7 b6 wHow can you trust money when
it's politician's faces printed on it
$ I, }) t8 x; ]3 mMoney is sexist
9 f  ~3 Y* K1 U; _' g# \$ _The only woman on so called American currency
which is really Turtle Island
to the Indians is Susan B. Anthony
# e* b6 D2 ]' E+ Mand they stopped making those real fast

Is money worth killing for?
Is money worth dying for?

' y* t* v+ q+ c& M7 R, u% K7 HI ran through the store singing
about William Blake's eyebrows
and Walt Whitman's bellybutton
saying everything is alive
and everything is sort of adorable
* e, G) |! ?3 o/ W/ w) O' A5 u
! \* W" u2 I8 q* `I took paperclips and gave them
to loving vegetarian families
who needed someone
$ |% a* Z9 @0 V6 q/ x9 d3 G% {
I took the bathroom sink and gave it a hug
  E- o! X+ k" [) f- X+ N, Z8 NI freed all the rubberbands!

' V3 C* b7 b  P- }. QAnd I said to all the plastic bags
I will never burden you
with films weighing you down,
Perry Como cassettes,
or even a piece of Jerry Garcia's beard
! G3 P7 \( B2 eWell maybe

, q) ^6 V# R" WBut I will never staple a bag
- s' L  m9 V# ufor you brought love
$ y! _/ D' H; C
$ {/ a/ Z# D; G( c1 h- n1 K- xMost people tell me
7 b- w# @* u; ~% l4 b; C8 jit was all the pop tarts I ate
Some people tell me
4 k: C  B: b* W& \it was because I was a liar
And I said I'm too honest
to be anybody's best friend
2 }4 g; p& _; q: k' G  I- D( h( {but at times nobody believes
this hippie ever even came by

there are
no lingering peace signs
no incense
no tea bags
no fuck the fuckers pamphlets
yet I still can't even believe
& P6 v" e" ^: A2 h# F; B4 SAbbie Hoffman is dead

So my strengths and pains
; l9 E/ @7 g7 ]" ]are in my sense of wonder
+ l: t/ T! j5 K: }6 ?
& n+ S, m8 ^/ N" Y) mAll I know is I don't believe in
% F5 e$ l# ]5 z( R) N) f2 gwearing sandals and argyle socks together
And when I needed it most, hope was here
change must not be too far behind


Ellyn Maybe

程普

so long