Hallway to Nowhere

  • Stay (Poem)

    I think I’ll stay just a little bit longer.

    Life here in the mountains can still surprise me.

    A wood turner who makes steampunk lamps.

    A chef who practices traditional Chinese medicine.

    A professor who tickles trout for photos .

    A dear friend here from far away who is found to be a distant relative.

    (And that latter, I’m convinced, is some sort of Appalachian magic-

    Because in the mountains ALL folks are related!)

    And that’s just to mention people.

    If I were to start talking about these things.

    The way the sky looks when a storm is about to hit.

    The Canadian geese and the train whistle that help rhythm my day.

    The greenery of the town, and my back yard in particular.

    (Ere the six old trees that stand sentinel come down in a bad wind,

    I might not live to write again.)

    And music. Sigh.

    The music strikes a visceral cord in me.

    The same wail that I heard in the old Cajun songs runs through songs.

    So at the end of the day, I feel at home.

    One of my trees.

    And how could I leave a place that produces music like this?

  • Happy Ending (Poem)

    I write no happy ending.

    Do not ask for one.

    No-one gets out alive,

    Unhurt, or whole.

    We are maimed, wounded, bleeding out….

    The walking dead, except we refuse to stop.

    Until we are face down in the dirt.

    I want to stop.

    Now.

    Face down in the dirt…..

  • Melancholia Blend (Poem)

    I work as an alchemist

    To blend my tea.

    I start with aged shou puerh

    to remind you of the past,

    whether yours, the earth’s, or simply that of tea.

    The specifics are not my concern.

    I add toasted rice-brown and wild-

    to add contemplative notes.

    Think about what you will.

    Then some cacao nibs and bits of candied ginger

    (not too much)

    for a bit of sweetness,

    because life can be harsh.

    But this is a tea true to my life,

    so I also add at the end,

    vetiver oil and aloeswood oil and cayenne pepper flakes.

    Because dry and bitter and heat

    must also play a part in this tea song.

    Listen to Leonard Cohen when you sip it

    and perhaps read Albert Camus.

  • The Value of 15-minute Organizers

    I recently heard (second-hand) that one of my progressive organizations’ board leaders said, “I have no more time for 15-minute organizers.” By this I take to mean, they have no time for anyone who is: NEW TO THE GAME or NOT ALL IN ALL THE TIME or NOT ON BOARD WITH ALL THE ISSUES or I don’t know what else. And I think that by making this statement, they are drawing a lines that excludes basically everyone I know, excepting (perhaps) the local paid employee of that organization. It certainly puts ME out of the game, and I’ve been historically committed to the progressive fight. But more importantly, I think that it fundamentally undermines the way in which the organization ITSELF functions, in terms of how it teaches its people to reach out around issues.

    15-minute organizers might be: new; time-limited; single-issue; or operating under under other constraints. If they are NEW, then OF COURSE they should be taught. Expecting someone new to immediately be a fulltime 24/7 activist is akin to throwing someone, not into the deep end of the pool, but into the ocean out of a boat and driving away. If they are time-limited but still WANT to participate, then why not let let them? If you want an ENTIRE organization of fulltime paid employees, then better get a much better budget. And if they are issue-driven, see below:

    If ISSUES, not people, are truly what drives us, and we are supposed to be lead by those AFFECTED, then 15-minute organizers ARE VALUABLE. They are going to be issue-driven and motivated. IF they find that the work of organizing is effective and powerful, then they might transition into more long term members of the organization or move to find other progressive outlets that they can work with. IF we can get them to turn out for SOMETHING, then we have a chance to persuade them to return for other things. But even if they do not, then that thing that they DID turn out to help with still gets the benefit.

    I hope I have made my case for the value of 15-minute organizers.

  • Minneapolis Burning And The Social Contract

    The American Heritage Dictionary defines SOCIAL CONTACT:

    • n.A usually implicit agreement among the members of an organized society or between the governed and the government defining and limiting the rights and duties of each.
    • n.An implicit agreement or contract among members of a society that dictates things such as submission of individuals to rule of law and acceptable conduct.
    • n.an implicit agreement among people that results in the organization of society; individual surrenders liberty in return for protection

    I argue, along with many others, that African Americans in Minneapolis were demonstrating that for them, the social contract has frayed to breaking point. Or indeed has not even existed, since America refuses to grapple on any systemic basis with the institutional and deep-seated racism that is built into the foundation of society here. The question is not “Are the African American participants of the Minneapolis riots justified in their actions,” but rather, “When will MORE take place?”

    AND WHY SHOULDN’T THEY? If I were a person who had black or brown skin, I’d be angry (and also scared but more angry) ALL THE TIME now. In the background somewhere, at least. Maybe the reason EVERYONE in local African American communities isn’t rioting, throwing things, and burning down their local police department is just that they are one, living their lives AT THE MOMENT and two, they haven’t gotten pissed off enough yet. But we -every community EVERYWHERE-have our moment of reckoning coming. We can do better: START TRAINING OUR POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING; HIRE MORE OFFICERS OF COLOR; START COMMUNITY-WIDE PROGRAMS IN RACIAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION; ELECT MORE DIVERSE ELECTEDS ON A LOCAL LEVEL AND MOVE ON UP; TRAIN AND HIRE MORE TEACHERS OF COLOR. Just For a start. I’m no expert.

  • No Return (Poem)

    Stop talking about going back to normal.

    Things won’t be like they were.

    Get your head out of the sand

    Or wherever else you have it located.

    Grow up, for the sake of the rest of us.

    THIS is life now.

    We will have to be more careful for each other.

    Caution and distance will be built into function.

    And PPE will become fashion accessories.

    Get ahead of the curve.

    Wear your fucking mask.

    100,000 DEATHS

    As of May 28th, 2020 and counting……

  • Jump (Poem)

    I say I’m going to jump.

    What does this mean?

    Will I jump for joy?

    Highly unlikely,

    But perhaps I will.

    In a brief moment of happiness

    Probably whippet-related.

    Will I jump to a conclusion?

    I try not to do so,

    Being of a rational turn of mind,

    Or so I like to tell myself (but don’t we all?)

    Will I jump off the edge?

    Now this is more plausible,

    Given the current state of the world

    And my dystopian worldview.

    I’m jumping now.

    The buildings are tall indeed.

    JUMP

  • Cri De Coeur (Poem)

    I’m not very good at humaning right now.

    I bristle at all who dare to approach.

    I run from the light to seek out the shadows.

    I disdain the melodic in favor of drone.

    I find sustained contact to be painful.

    I feel wrong for feeling like I do.

    I feel it none the less.

  • Letter to Washington County Board Of Supervisors Regarding The Resolution To Return To Work

    Dear Sirs:

    I am writing to you concerning Resolution 2020-17, the Resolution In Support of Washington County Returning To Work, to urge you to AMEND this Resolution. In the Resolution as it now stands, there is ONLY a mention of the need to re-open businesses and other institutions and NO mention of the health constraints that should be followed, if they choose to do so. I’m sure you have all kept up with the latest recommendations from the CDC and our own State health department’s guidelines on how to SAFELY go about re-opening the town and wish to see these followed. And the thought that Abingdon and surrounding Washington County are tourist destinations with the summer approaching must factor into your calculations…and fears, if you have them. (I must say that I have some trepidations right now about visitors. Yes, a source of income. But potentially also a vector.) I am not asking you to abandon the Resolution entirely, but please revise it to urge all who re-open to do so in a responsible and medically safe manner. We need businesses, churches, and other places, yes. But unless we feel (and ARE) safe while patronizing them, then these same places will not flourish, and more importantly, we the inhabitants are at risk.

    Thank you.

    Kel BasAvraham

  • Stay Away

    I don’t want to see you. Or you. Or you. Or you.

    Not in person. Or via Zoom, Skype, Google Meet.

    I am staying away from ALL,

    Inside with suitably stygian Finnish dramas on Netflix

    Or re-reading The Plague by Camus,

    While listening to Kraftwerk drone in glorious techno.

    I might accept a phone call or answer a text,

    Depending on the time of day and my mood.

    But right now I’m in isolation mode,

    Dancing alone.

    Abingdon Abraham Lincoln Alabama alt-right Appalachia atheist autumn breathe Buddhism buddhist change Christian Christianity Civil War compassion connection death depression Donald Trump gratitude grief Hillary Clinton home illusion immigration impermanence kindness LGBTQ love meditation memories mental health mountains mourning path poem poetry pouncepunk art challenge practice suicide tea tears Texas Trump wisdom

    Abingdon Abraham Lincoln Alabama alt-right Appalachia atheist autumn breathe Buddhism buddhist change Christian Christianity Civil War compassion connection death depression Donald Trump gratitude grief Hillary Clinton home illusion immigration impermanence kindness LGBTQ love meditation memories mental health mountains mourning path poem poetry pouncepunk art challenge practice suicide tea tears Texas Trump wisdom

    Abingdon Abraham Lincoln Alabama alt-right Appalachia atheist autumn breathe Buddhism buddhist change Christian Christianity Civil War compassion connection death depression Donald Trump gratitude grief Hillary Clinton home illusion immigration impermanence kindness LGBTQ love meditation memories mental health mountains mourning path poem poetry pouncepunk art challenge practice suicide tea tears Texas Trump wisdom

    Abingdon Abraham Lincoln Alabama alt-right Appalachia atheist autumn breathe Buddhism buddhist change Christian Christianity Civil War compassion connection death depression Donald Trump gratitude grief Hillary Clinton home illusion immigration impermanence kindness LGBTQ love meditation memories mental health mountains mourning path poem poetry pouncepunk art challenge practice suicide tea tears Texas Trump wisdom