Floppy Shoes

him who brought levity and grace.
who told you about the mistakes.
lighting the path all the way through.

aware of each specific experience.
aware of the thoughts of others even.
but uncaring and resolved to fate.

blend in with the marching band.
waive flags and throw flaming batons.
wind blown tangles and floppy shoes.

all the days are owed your attention.
attend to the particulars of your culture.
make your written words count.  

Creekbed Day

she really works for her supper.
all day long worry about the little ones.

waking her deep sleeps.
every day is its own.

a sunrise and a sunset.
dusk and dawn.

the day makes sense.
seasons too.

changes are evident and recurring.
a week and a month are man made.

all the days already named.
named before they arrived.

it is a tradgedy.
i want to name my days.

yesterday was creekbed day.
the previous, follow the sun.
today, maybe earning applause.

but she does awake.
and works.

works to keep that spark.
breathing in heavy.

his enthusiatic row.
sleep is easy now.

her work is complete.
hopefully he's been tamed.

Texico (draft): Holy Water

    
     To some, water is the most essential element.  Not only does it ensure sanitary living, but the soul needs the cleansing prior to the arrival of the Holy Spirit.  If you were to invite God over for dinner, would you not give your house a good cleaning?  Wash that infant soul.  Because of its obvious importance and tremendous abundance, many steps were taken in the early days of Texico to develop the water purification industry. The process was very simple and required only steam emissions.  The abundant ocean waters could be consumed.  Privately funded infrastructure was improved and, relatively quickly, the deserts and dust of western Texico became an oasis.

     The Pacific Ocean water proved more tasty and fresh.  Baja was known as the Pias de Agua--Land of Water.  The Gulf water better for irrigation and swimming pools.  Gulf mud baths were a luxury for vacationing tourists and locals alike.  The Caribbean waters were left alone mostly, but a few private companies had created huge fresh water lakes using the sacred clear water and seafood fed the masses.  Along with beef, tomatoes, almonds, cheese, spices and herbs and peppers of a thousand varieties.  Texico was a culture focused on its culture.  Music was everywhere.  The beats were reggae, cajun, honkeytonk, blues. All jazzed up and plugged in.  Every night was an event.  No better way to end the day.  Also, days of the week were abandoned in Texico.  Dates were fine, the brilliance of the Mayans, but the Monday - Sunday weekly marker disappeared in Texico.  Generally, private employers gave a number of days per year off. The average Texican works about half the days of a year.  The rest are sick days, vacation days, birthdays, holidays, sabbath days, family days, and health days.  The schools in Texico work in much the same fashion. Education is customized, individualized, and specialized.  Technology is used creatively and effectively to provide very low cost education.  After only ten years as a nation, the Texican children were the smartest in the world and contributed to innovation of thoughts, ideas, and methods at very early ages. America had its Ivy League; Texico had its Cyber League.  Texicans didn't go away to big buildings to get educated, week after week after week.  Like voting, school was largely done through the internet.  Cheaper, better, customized.  The industries of the modern world required a new model from the three R- reading/rightin/rithmatic educations of the poor American children.

     Texican water and purification systems would also have major impact abroad as well.  By 2050, the Sahara Desert had completely disappeared.  Changed, like western Texico, into a lush green bed.  The Australian Outback as well.  Ice cultivation and earth heating technology, invented by Dr. Dale DeVille, transformed Greenland into a vast prairie region.  Innovation was what Texico was known for most and it's relationships with almost all the countries of the world were strong.  Relations with America were always tinged with a bit of frost, although mutual interests and business realities kept the peace assured.  A war between the nations never occurred.

     Once the succession was ratified by America during the Second Louisiana Purchase Agreement in 2020, blood shedding was never considered a prudent action.  Although the nations never declared war on each other, border skirmishes were common in the early days of Texico with the Battle of Lake Texoma and the San Diego Incident being the most notorious.  The Okies desire for acceptance into Texico was normal, but never had a group of people banned together in tribal unity and violence demanding to become part of nation. This level of intensity was usually reserved for factions of people breaking away from a country. Perhaps that’s what was happening.  The Okies, desperate to leave America like the Texans, directed the anger at Texico.  Because the Okies had no real guns, the fighting was done through bows and arrows, and knifes.  When 2,000 Okies stormed over the Denison dam and marched into downtown Denison announcing their arrival, 20,000 Texico citizens showed up a day later and sent them running back in a haze of shotgun fire.  Texicans didn't like their style and saw no future for the Okies in Texico.  In San Diego, tunnels were dug to funnel people into Texico from America.  This was during the Mexican American and Asian American race war of 2026.  The people of San Diego wanted Texico to protect and accept them as their own, but the Californians were insistent on certain demands and the Texicans passed on the deal.  Insulted, the San Diego Brigade of the Mexican American army turned it's fury towards Texico.  Details are undisclosed, but the Texican Especialista Unidad was called in and the conflict ended quickly.  The following day, the Brigade had another commander with a more reasonable attitude towards Texico and tensions subsided.

     A pipeline now runs from the Pacific Ocean to the Edwards Aquifer.  It is the purest water in all the world, hailed for its healing qualities and mineral content.  The holy water of Texico.

Texico (Draft): Follow The Sun

 
     Texican hands were rough. Full of earth spots, sun spots, and nicks.  From the fertile dark soils of the northeast to the dust left over from the dust bowl of the previous century, there was a purpose for all the dirt.  Sands of Galveston, Padre Island, and the Yucatan Rivera met the Sea of the Gulf.  Baja and Acapulco bid farewell to the Pacific.  It does always go east to west it seems.  Follow the sun.

     The family farm was a thriving industry in Texico.  Robust local economies supported direct trade. Producer to consumer was the normal exchange.  Only manufacturers of large or specialized items used middle men.  Mostly, it was direct and modestly priced.  America's corrupt institutions included its economy, where several deals were contracted and negotiated before the buyer got to decide.  Persuasions to fool the masses represented the largest industry in America.  Advertising and media.  Billboards were not existent in Texico, where anything to burden the evening views and morning sunrises was scorned by the population. Money was a means to an end, not the end of the rainbow.  Many American farmers migrated to Texico to live the life they knew.  The estado of Trinity, with its spring rains and rich soil, largely supplied the nation's food and textiles needs, allowing economies of other areas to focus on other industries.  There was cooperation and strategy, not competition and sabotage, among the estados of Texico.  Oil energy in Delta, sugarcane in Veracruz, wind energy in Ogallala, technology in Pecos, automobiles in Chihuahua, media and tourism in Yucatan, telecommunications in Mexico, financial services in Brazos, sports in Tabasco, music in Galveston, beer and wine in Louisiana, foreign exporting in Baja, and the farming and ranching of Trinity.  Never had the world seen a well coordinated and executed strategy applied to an entire economy.  The results were spectacular for all Texicans. 

     The term limits written into the Texico Papers ensured innovation and evolution of thought.  Creative solutions to problems and, more importantly, the avoidance of creating new problems motivated the politicians and their actions.  Like the economy, middle men were cut out of government.  Politics was not an industry like the still-greasy Washington D.C. of America.  The lobbying profession barely existed and went underground.  Offenders would rightly be brought up on bribery charges, usually convicted, and sent to an Ogallala tent prison.

                

Left Brain Maniacs

cfcgx2
harmonica tones and blabber mouths.
two times the tears as yesterday.
and it's only noon.

left brain maniacs and hopers.
silly dances and wails.
lunged for a slice of muffin.

cobwebs and crazy faces.
our globe turns and speeds through space.
the territorial games.

huffing and puffing.
plenty of h2o.
plenty of love to go around.

agaex4
we are tangled up in love, together forever on a timeless ride.  we are the frozen tramps with glory plans so we can sleep at night.  call out for me in the desert, forgive me for my lies.  honey please forgive me for all my lies.          

reaching desperately for the ladder.
the boat won't stop now.
you can make it--swim!

on the deck they're giving eyes.
reading minds and blaming.
starving for a moment of flight.

Said Willie And LBJ

Chatter chatter chatter
My guy my guy my guy
Winner winner winner
Chatter chatter chatter
Historic and extremely important
It's all a game of dice
God is indifferent
The devil is a political junkie
Hope they pick up all the signs
Don't mess with Texas
Said Willie and LBJ.

Pull The Shades Tight

...trips through the garage. the trash carried, the rakes and cutters. same star is always there. the once great meadow now an estate. and the world revolves around them all. the importance of each life. outcomes only temporary, pain endured. lock 'em down girls. pull the shades tight. the bikers and wheel boys keep coming around. looked him in the eye and told him the truth. he seemed to understand as I explained the rules. don't come around here again. these girls don't like you...

Long Sleepers

razor birds flying on a clear morning,
playing games of tag in between giggles.

long sleepers complain about disinclusion,
sincere and heartbroken the woman screams.

carefully creating a long and static life,
knowing nothing more and enjoying the earth.

evolution in an instant and watery eyes,
the fear of this life gone for good.