El Fayuquero A Mexican picker heading south In his overloaded truck and trailer Mattresses and tricycles Microwaves and kitchen tables Check off the list a car battery Couches and jumper cables Un Fayuquero heading home Back to his shop Across the southwest he roams Picking at every stop Scavenging American junk piles Shopping at the thrift stores Combing the swap meet aisles Fighting the picker wars In all the little desert towns Blasting winds and dusty roads Enduring the ugly frowns As he secures his unsteady loads Con cuidado , doing 55 on the freeway Bikes teetering on top of chairs Packed pickups towing other pickups Packed to the gills with household wares Flower adorned crosses stand out In the trucks one flickering headlight But the man knows without a doubt… He’ll be in Nogales by midnight Unlike his amigo Miguel Antonio Pedregon-Baray A fellow fayuquero whose cross is nearby His wreck left goods scattered all over the roadway As he d...
Intermountain High In a Hemingwayesque trope I write of the Intermountain West From the basin and range To the Trans Mexican Volcanic belt Of the Great Basin And the Colorado Plateau The Continental Divide Or Sonoran desert snow Intermontane sky islands bereft Of city dwelling criminals and theft Upper range thrust In geologic striations I trust From the steppes to the Shrub land biome Seeking open range And a place to call home Subduction zones and shifting plates Life along the Ring of Fire Pacific Ocean burning Pushing Andes higher Coast of Chile churning Massive land forms I desire Escarpments come to mind Although Death Valley is fine Slot canyons beckon We are so small in their presence And that's the thing, I reckon I feel shallow between every fault Feel uplifted by every rift The Grand Staircase to the Painted Desert From Volcan del Fuego to the mighty Sierra Pico de Orizabe to my own backyard Lo...
Remembering Joseph Hill on his birthday today - January 22, 2019 - by posting this eulogy I wrote over 12 years ago after learning of his passing. Joseph Hill & Culture As we ponder the great loss of Joseph Hill we reflect on his many works. Going back to the foundation of reggae music, Joseph brought forward a sound vibe that still echoes in my brain. As a top-notch vocalist, song writer, and human I'll never forget Josephs influence on me as a reggae listening youth. "Psalm of Bob Marley" brought a tear to my eye, now we need a "Psalm of Joseph Hill." With his straight forward lyrical statements he left no doubt about his meaning, now we need more straight shooters like him. His admonitions in "Youth Man Move" moved you to dance, moved you to take control of your destiny. In "Work On Natty" he stresses the importance of hard work, of being diligent in the face of poverty. I ask Joseph "Tell Me Where You Get It?" Now I ask...
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