Ranting: Second Draft Thursday June 17, 2010, ko shin, Bob Hanson Tuesday, June 15, 2010 10:22 AM Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter Have you seen the water marks in houses in New Orleans The birds covered with Oil The foundations of a house near the Gulf, nothing left but memento's lined on the foundation, a football Helmet, some jewelry, a doll or two, ruined by the water and wind. Little sisters dress is just hanging on a hanger in one of the few barren trees left. People at the convention center, hungry, thirsty for water and attention, compassion, dying while the feds sit on their hands, and do nothing... No compassion, no love, just power is all that speaks to our leaders, even our new liberating ones these days… Remembering one mild January night, later, coming out of the subway near the place where the towers once stood, turned left and was stopped by wire fences holding back tons of cement, and remains, we will never know. It was foggy like, even under the streets, a haze of remains, and dust and left over's from the horrific fall, I walked right up to the pit that late evening, no tourist barriers yet thank God. I heard the bell and silence as another piece of human flesh was found, or maybe more, then covered with an American flag and carried away. The large trucks and their loads of steel, and who knows maybe more remains, we will never know… Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter Picture this scene, a father placing his small son on the makeshift bed in the one room that is left of their home, covering him with a thin, torn blanket. "Daddy, why are there holes everywhere on the wall, why is there no ceiling in our toilet? What does one say? His wife could not get through the check points and lost her last baby, what do you say? His oldest son bring home an empty rocket shell, it has made in the USA, not China. Why not throw stones? Where is the hope? Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter The USA is still studying the killing of Buddhist Monks in Burma, by a Nazi like government, still supported in some ways by the USA & corporations here, the freedom loving USA, the nine martyrs of the freedom boat killed in international waters, we must study the facts. Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter I am tired of ranting, first CORE in the 60's, Housing Marches in Milwaukee, Birmingham, Dr King, Bob and John, Che by the ICA, the three students working for voting right of Blacks, on and on, I understand the language of Malcolm, Amiri Baraka, Mandela. I enjoy the rough language of some of the poets here, but where does ranting for the sake of being cool and angry take us? More of the same. I have heard the rants of the 60's I gave some good ones, profanity is wonderful, but where does this ranting take us? The bullet holes in the walls, the rocket made in the USA, the murder of freedom fighters in the name of my or your way of thinking… Another empty farm house, once alive with family, kids, pets, now the buildings stand empty, the corporations move in, destroy the family, the spirit of rural communities and steal from the earth for their pockets of gold…it seems to never end. Is there another rant? One that points to healing, justice, and peace for all creatures…maybe in seventy years I have found it is easier to rant than to build, a momentary climax to destroy rather than give life. Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter

Ranting: Second Draft Thursday June 17, 2010, ko shin, Bob Hanson
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
10:22 AM

Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter

Have you seen the water marks in houses in New Orleans

The birds covered with Oil

The foundations of a house near the Gulf, nothing left but memento's lined on the foundation, a football Helmet, some jewelry, a doll or two, ruined by the water and wind.

Little sisters dress is just hanging on a hanger in one of the few barren trees left.

People at the convention center, hungry, thirsty for water and attention, compassion, dying while the feds sit on their hands, and do nothing...

No compassion, no love, just power is all that speaks to our leaders, even our new liberating ones these days…

Remembering one mild January night, later, coming out of the subway near the place where the towers once stood, turned left and was stopped by wire fences holding back tons of cement, and remains, we will never know.

It was foggy like, even under the streets, a haze of remains, and dust and left over's from the horrific fall,

I walked right up to the pit that late evening, no tourist barriers yet thank God. I heard the bell and silence as another piece of human flesh was found, or maybe more, then covered with an American flag and carried away. The large trucks and their loads of steel, and who knows maybe more remains, we will never know…

Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter

Picture this scene, a father placing his small son on the makeshift bed in the one room that is left of their home, covering him with a thin, torn blanket. "Daddy, why are there holes everywhere on the wall, why is there no ceiling in our toilet?

What does one say? His wife could not get through the check points and lost her last baby, what do you say?

His oldest son bring home an empty rocket shell, it has made in the USA, not China. Why not throw stones? Where is the hope?

Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter

The USA is still studying the killing of Buddhist Monks in Burma, by a Nazi like government, still supported in some ways by the USA & corporations here, the freedom loving USA, the nine martyrs of the freedom boat killed in international waters, we must study the facts.

Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter

I am tired of ranting, first CORE in the 60's, Housing Marches in Milwaukee, Birmingham, Dr King, Bob and John, Che by the ICA, the three students working for voting right of Blacks, on and on, I understand the language of Malcolm, Amiri Baraka, Mandela.

I enjoy the rough language of some of the poets here, but where does ranting for the sake of being cool and angry take us? More of the same. I have heard the rants of the 60's I gave some good ones, profanity is wonderful, but where does this ranting take us?

The bullet holes in the walls, the rocket made in the USA, the murder of freedom fighters in the name of my or your way of thinking…

Another empty farm house, once alive with family, kids, pets, now the buildings stand empty, the corporations move in, destroy the family, the spirit of rural communities and steal from the earth for their pockets of gold…it seems to never end.

Is there another rant? One that points to healing, justice, and peace for all creatures…maybe in seventy years I have found it is easier to rant than to build, a momentary climax to destroy rather than give life.

Ranting, hell, why should I, or you for that matter


Many more drafts will be necessary, the workshop group wrote some very helpful comments I will work on later...