As We Hang

Posted on June 10th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Bite the Hand Poetry.

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As we hang…

As we relax…

Let’s listen to the sounds of pencils scratching,

Our friends’ songs,

And ideas that pop into our head like new clouds,

Let’s hang like vines together…

Like fur on a brier…

Or old man’s beard in oak trees,

And be a part of the scenery that feeds us

(The above picture was taken at our first Cheap Art Day at Assa ni Assa earlier this year. We listened to music and made art together and basically goofed around all day. It was great for the whole community. Our next Cheap Art Day of hanging and creating together will be on June 29th!)

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On Being Heard and Hearing

Posted on March 1st, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Bite the Hand Poetry.

now the coal is all being stopped in the tracks and cracks/ the friends and neighbors, strangers until now, pound pavement with whistle pan string sirens blazing in the temperate spring air- all flowing information, all tunes, all fermented food pouring from house to house/ won’t you please come over? won’t you say something/ i’m listening to the mock animals and humans play in the gravel

such sounds, i rub my eyes and type/ someone’s banging on my door, “are you the captain?” “yes” “have i got a conspiracy for you! it stretches back to ancient egypt, winston churchill, jimmy reed, and rome! the towers were tires and the planes were pain! i heard it from a buddhist monk and we need to stop it- today! if they only knew… c’mon, are we not men?”

yeah, we are/ but we’re a lot more and less/ frustration aches deep in the veins of the activists/ environmental and anti-war blues keep us in our cell block/ you are not alone, conspiracy man/ i’m hearing your stretched out arms and your aching tongue/ they stretch out beyond our words, the things we want/ man, i want so much/ i’ve nearly made an art out of it

and what of the artists? money’s everywhere, painting the town/ red blasts of incoherent noise/ are the politics artistic? are the artists political? where should i stand? am i blocking the stage? sweet anger and honey drips from both corners, like a river that switches banks/ like a conversation between two friends who just met again/ like being heard and hearing

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Human Life Poem

Posted on February 1st, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Bite the Hand Poetry.

Human life!

It is in the mud, water, and vines of cloud!

It scratches out art, sounds, and manifestos!

Hear it bouncing in the cradle…

Free it from the traffic,

and run with it in the hills.

Human life…

As soon as we’re born, we breathe,

Stuttering laughter,

and swallowing each others’ words.

-The Captain

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Winter Poem for Our Community

Posted on January 5th, 2008 by The Captain.
Categories: Bite the Hand Poetry, The Boogie Room and Gardens, The Crux, Events.

Dear Sonoma County,

Here’s a poem for you:

New Years Eve
And January 5th
Different kinds of rain
Pour over us
Police lights, hail, downpours
The party is broken up
Or called off for a time
We postpone our events
As the ground gets slick and slushy

Yes, it is turning into brown mush
Down in the Southwest Side
Down in The Boogie Room
Where our community has planted a garden
But put your ear to the sloppy ground…
Feel the life growing beneath

The seeds of change are sucking up the water
And getting strong
And we, the new artists and activists
Just like those seeds
Just like the worms and grubs
We store up our energy and prepare to break the surface
Just like the rain
We
Just
Keep
Going

Peace,
The Crux and Bite the Hand

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