The Desk of Nsaa

Men In Black 10 Most Wanted June 12th

2010-06-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Poem: Winding Life

2010-05-24T02:19:00.000-07:00

By NSAA 05/24/10

I look out over
The steering wheel
Gazing out into the hidden-winding
Life before me
Fogged over
Thick as pea soup
High beams on
No centerline to follow, only
The sound of the road
Under my tires for guidance
Leading
Possibly over a cliff
Perhaps into a ditch
Probably head first into a lake
Nevertheless
Recklessly I move
Forward
Into the horrific
Or quite possibly
Glorious
Unknown

Poem: Peace on Earth

2010-05-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

By NSAA 5/19/10

There can be…
No peace if there is profit making war.
No understanding if there is profit in misunderstanding.
No advancement if there is profit in stagnation.
No end to hunger if there is profit in starvation.
No cure if there is profit in sickness.

Poem: Sistah Reads a Poem

2010-05-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

By NSAA - 5/18/10

Soul sistah putting it down
One hand in air
Head down
Eyes searching spiral notebook
With paper half torn out
She’s my poetess goddess
Musing in prose
Lights dimmed low
Crowd with ears pressed to air
She almost glows
Maybe it’s her words that glow
Like lightning bugs
Trapped in a jar
Draw me a picture sistah-poet
Here use the palm of my hand

Observation 14 - The Next Thing You Know…

2010-05-06T09:00:00.001-07:00

By NSAA 05/06/10

When I was turning 18 my mom warned me in her nagging wisdom, trying to make me take notice on how short life is and hopefully scare me to get my act together, “The next thing you know, you’re going to wake up and be 35.” It didn’t work.

Touching my face this morning I thought about how true those words were. Not that you don’t see it coming its just that moments of clarity are like that. We so often go through life on autopilot because routine makes up 70% of our daily tasks, which may be a low percentage. We leap frog from one conscious moment to the next, our mind blocking out the meaningless day to day drudgery we put it through, like ambient noise, our mind chooses not to hear the humdrum of our lives, how old are you--consciously? We so often never really sit back and take notice of time screaming past us, like that speeding end-of-the-day lightrail you just missed. “What is life really about”, that’s what comes to mind in these moments of clarity, before we sink back into mind numbing quicksand of our day to day lives. Can a person live in a state of perpetual clarity? Is it possible to live 70% of your time totally aware and 30% of the time thinking about how you’re going to get to and back from work and how much vacation time you have left? We live so much in the future never in the now. When I say future I don’t mean the cool future, jet packs and if you met an alien from another planet what would you say, I’m talking about that boring future: what clothes am I going to wear tomorrow, I hope I remember to pick up toilet paper tomorrow we’re almost out, is so-in-so going to send me a passive aggressive email and let me watch that formulaic predictable TV-plotted program so that I can be in the know tomorrow and talk about fictitious characters played by people that are no more exciting then me in real life.

So much of our time is spent in non-clear, downright cloudy, foggy like conditions. That it is no wonder why we are shocked when that cool early morning breeze catches you lying in your bed touching your face and baffled to find yourself older than what you thought you were, and you’re left asking yourself what did I do with my time and was it worth it?

North Poll Jihad (Happy Earth Day)

2010-04-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

By NSAA – 4/21/10

This just in

An elf
Strapped with a suicide vest
Is at this precise moment
At a stakeholders meeting
At the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company

Oh my god!

He just blew himself up
50 people dead, 100 injured
Before detonation
He yelled, “Saint Nick says put this in your tail pipe!”

This just in

Santa Clause has just release a video, authenticated by the CIA
Of him claiming responsibility for the bombing of
the Ford Motor Company
He threatened that if
The modern world doesn’t stop naughtily
Polluting the seas and producing green house gas emissions
That we will incur his wrath, and if another
Ice shelf breaks off he will break his foot off in our…,
Oh my goodness--
Did Santa just say that?

This just in

America has just declared war on the North Poll
Designating Santa Clause as a Terrorist
Bombing will commence tomorrow after the Presidential address
Following the emergency session of Congress

As a response to the “Ford Massacre”
Reindeer all over the country have been rounded up
And placed in interment camps
And all people 4 feet tall and under are to be registered
With Home Land Security at kiosks in
Local shopping stores and malls,
Located for your convenience

In other news,
Children all over are writing Santa
Begging him to stop this madness

This just in

Bombing has begun at, what is widely known as
Santa Clause’s secret base or workshop
Bunker Busters have been deployed
Hold on, hold on, hold on
Elf’s on flying reindeer
Are dropping presents rapped in red ribbon on ships
How cute, maybe this is an attempted apology by Santa
Oh my god they’re bombs!
They just took out an aircraft carrier
Polar bears are rolling over tanks and mauling foot soldiers
Christmas trees are shooting pine needles
Squirrels are using tinsel to choke soldiers to death
Frosty the Snow Man is using his nose as a shank

Rudolf the red nose reindeer was captured earlier but escaped
Who knew he could shoot lasers out that thing

Special Report

How to tell if your child is a Santa Clause Sympathizer or
Sleeper Agent
Does your child go up to strange fat men with white beards and
sit on their lap for no apparent reason?
Does your child try to bribe you with milk and cookies?
Does your child compulsively hide Christmas list in secret stashes
all over the house?
Does your child write Santa begging him for cool presents in
exchange for reducing his or her carbon footprint?
If so than your child could be a sleeper agent
Call this number right away
1 800 SLEEPER
Once again that is 1 800 753 3737

Emergency Broadcast

I am currently reporting from the bathroom of my house
Via cell phone
My child is holding me captive
Come to find out
Children all over the country has taken over by
holding their parents hostage in their bedrooms,
bathrooms and hallway closets

One day before Christmas without notice
They rounded up adults with what appeared to be toy guns
(but to our shock can shoot out a strange yellow glittery laser ray)
Right now I hear them singing Christmas Carols of victory

This just in

Slipped under my door
I have just received a statement to read to you
(or else)

It reads:

Dear citizens of the United States

Due to your naughty behavior instead of putting coal in your stockings I have opted to overthrow your government and disband your armies. Your children and I are now in control and will rule your lives from this point onward because you suck at it. Have a marry Christmas and a more evergreen society to you, Ho, Ho, Ho

-Long Live Santa, All Hail Our New King

Poem: Puzzle Book of Life

2010-04-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

by NSAA - 2001

Puzzle book opens
Numerous puzzles to choose from
Puzzles of different complexity and type
Turn to the connect-the-dots page
Begin your game

Dot to dot

Find a form
Search for a recognizable figure

Dot to dot

“No that can’t be right.”
erase your last line
Okay, that looks right.”
draw a new course

From start to finish
Draw your way through
Until the picture is, in your mind, complete

Search

Dot to dot

From start to finish
Trying to find your way
Trying to find a picture that is recognizable

Dot to dot

“No that can’t be right”
Regretting your last decision
“Okay, that looks right.”
As you change paradigms
But connect-the-dots is just one puzzle
There are hundreds, thousands of puzzles within you of
Different complexity and type
Puzzles like identity, sexuality, occupation

Puzzles leading to other puzzles
A “is there a God puzzle” leads to a
“What religion will I observe puzzle.”

Sad-to-say there are no one-fits-all puzzle
Each person is unique
You cannot copy another person’s completed puzzle
and achieve completion

At birth your puzzle book opens
You live your life one puzzle at a time
One decision at a time
Trying to complete as many puzzles as possible
Before the book closes

Observation 13 – Acceptance vs. Settling

2010-03-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

By NSAA 3/28/10

----
playing with her stretch marks
I realized that I accept her,
her imperfections and that
they
in no way diminish what I think
about her,
nor do they mar her beauty,
she is a beautifully imperfect
goddess
----

Acceptance is a strange thing, a truth thing. When you accept something it’s about the truth of a matter. I’m not the best writer in the world and I accept that, but acceptance doesn’t mean I will stop growing, and stop trying to become the best writer I can be. I realized that at my gig last night, that I might not have been the best performer or receive highest praise at the end of my set. But I write, sing and poet because I breathe, think and have a heartbeat, it is my truth, unfortunate for some audiences.

Acceptance is about the truth of you, what you are, what you are going through. The best thing that can emotionally happen to a person is the realization through humbling events of what and who you are really. Reminds us to be humbly human and work to discard jealousy through acceptance of self and others and their gifts. The fact is on my bad or mediocre performance days someone out there is having a good or great one. Lately I’ve been backing away from things, trying to find the core of me, the kernel truth of me. Old things I use to do I’ve put aside because they were done with others in mind and not my heart in mind. I have taken a pause to ask why I do what I do. Maybe the answer can lead me to a fuller and more satisfying life. But this line of thinking got me to thinking. What does it mean to settle? And when is a good time to settle?

Settling is about the road of least resistance. It is the way of nature and of compromise. A stream meandering down a mountain cuts its way using the route of least resistance, finding weaknesses in the topography that give way easily to water pressure. Evolution is like this too. According to my old biology class years ago, humans aren’t perfect like the ancient Greek carved statues, nature settled on the human form not because it is optimal or beautiful. Evolution doesn’t make decisions because it wants to make the human form better but because it settled on a form that is good enough, not great but alright. Evolution is about the survival of the fittest. I always thought this meant the best of the best. But my biology teacher put me straight, it’s about the best suited, the best fitted for the job in a certain environment. (i.e. A dolphin can out swim you but you can beat it in a foot race). Settling is not a truth thing but rather a survival thing.

Knowing the truth of a situation can help you know where to settle. Many years ago, I had an assisting job, I thought because I assisted someone middle-up in the company his position gave me position and power, regardless of me just starting at entry level (I know I was naive). I came to find out that that wasn’t true; I was everyone’s assistant plus his. This was a hard and embarrassing lesson to learn but well worth it. Instead of me trying to strike deals and reaching settlements and agreements to get work done, I was telling people what I expected, very embarrassing. But to my defense it didn’t state this fact in the job description that I was hired under; nevertheless, lesson learned. If you accept a distorted truth you are headed for trouble.

There are pros and cons to acceptance and settling because truth is relative. Because every person has their own truth or perspective this can make acceptance a very powerful motivator, hindrance or catastrophe. If you accept a belief system as truth that acceptance can lead you to help the helpless, stand up for rights, perpetuate a misunderstanding or strap a bomb to your chest. Settling on the other hand is just as powerful. To settle can resolve conflicts, pass a bill or unjustly sail an innocent person down the river. When a street missionary approach you and say, “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?” This statement or question is very serious as well as the answer you give. Acceptance is a big deal.

There are those I admire. People that could settle but don’t even though they risk a life of not being taken seriously, or persecution. Ralph Nader comes to mind, he’s not popular right now, but he doesn’t settle. He could’ve very easily sat back and rest on his past consumer protection victories won that has saved countless lives. But he believes whole heartedly in the idea of the America of the constitution. Each time he run for president he puts us all to the test challenging our ideas of democracy, pushing the rules of the constitution in our face. His actions speak to me loudly “do we settle for a two party system or do we accept the truth that democracy put forth, that every candidate has to earn our vote that anyone that meets the constitutional requirements has the right to run for president”. I remember before him running for office I accepted that I had no choice but now I root for him and yes sometimes vote for him; maybe I just like people that upset apple carts, but admittedly he hasn’t done anything wrong, and any argument against him is a settling argument, not saying settling is wrong. He is like a political artist to me, evoking a response. I feel if you don’t like what he’s saying please don’t vote for him, but don’t say someone shouldn’t vote for him because it’s a throw away vote and bagger him not to run for office, it’s his right and very American. Run, Forrest Run.

But most things have a mixture of acceptance and settling. By accepting certain truths you can have a guideline on which things to settle on. But some things can’t be settled. Take the Israeli Palestinian conflict for instance. There is no settling there. The Dome of the Rock was built right on top of where Solomon’s temple uses to be. You can’t share a holy site. Its like if your grandmother was buried on top of my grandmother, who owns the burial plot. Every time I see you there paying respects, I’m going to get upset because it’s a reminder that you will always be a part of my life. And neither party can do anything about it besides all out war.

Observation 12 – Player vs. Player Hater

2010-03-27T14:49:00.001-07:00

By NSAA 3/27/10

“Player Hater”, this term has always baffled me until recently, and found myself using it seriously for the first time; of course the way I used it might not have been the proper way, sometimes me and slang don’t have an understanding. I guess anyone can have a player hater moment (you can hate on someone because they are so awesome right now, like they win the lottery, and you can think, “Oh they think they’re the ish”). But mostly it means, in a basic explanation, that you are trying to get your Mac on and someone comes along and try to sabotage your Mac-age; or it can mean that someone is jealous of what you have (woman, car, house, position) and is talking negative behind your back trying to tarnish your shine. But I want to use this term in another way. I’m not that in to sports but let’s use a sports metaphor, basketball.

Say you’re playing hoops outside, nothing major 2 on 2, you’re having a good game, you’re about to take a shot and your friend on the sideline is watching you play, every once in a while rooting for you, takes a mirror out of their pocket, right when you’re about to make your shot, and shine sun in your eyes (I know this sounds like an afterschool special). And when that doesn’t knock you off your game, they come off the sidelines and play with the other team against you, okay it sounds like a demented dream now. A little about me I’m not a player when it comes to women never been that good at hiding my true intentions, but I do love women. I’m not a con, meaning I don’t play games to swindle people out of money, but I try to make money the best I can. I’m a player in the game of business, nothing major; I am a lowly self-employed self-slave trying to make ends meet as honestly as possible. So when a friend of mine works against me behind the scenes is revealed it make’s me want to sit on the bench and take a water break. How does one stay conscious in this situation? Do you back off, confront or go tit for tat?

Of course this life is not a game to me, and I must repent from the idea of reducing human beings to mere players in a game; in a game that really don’t have any winners: we all die in the end. I heard an expression once, don’t know where it came from, it went something like this: live life from the perspective of your death bed. Pretty good huh? We hear over and over again on how you gain clarity on your death bed, seeing the difference between the chaff and the wheat in your life, the difference between the fake and false; between the non-important and the important and when to let things slide, come to think of it cream always rises to the top. Plus maybe they, my sideline rooting sabotaging friend, is having a momentary player hater moment and will be cool after everything is over and done. Life is too short, be at peace playa.

Poem: America’s Secret Unspoken Implied Rules

2010-03-26T07:03:00.001-07:00

By NSAA – 03/18/10

1. Do anything to get money; if you do something illegal to get money–don’t get caught.
2. If you do something illegal and get caught and can’t purchase proper representation then kiss your ass goodbye.
3. If you do something illegal and acquire boat loads of money while doing it we will secretly admire you, pat you on your back in private, even while prosecuting you.
4. If you have money and do something illegal, we will arrest you with dignity and be polite about it.
5. If you don’t have money and do something illegal we will break down your door, arrest you, drag you out of your house into the street by your feet and plaster your face all over the evening news.
6. If you had money and lost it you are a heretic, and should be ashamed of yourself and commit ritual suicide.
7. If money is not important to you; you are also a heretic and should be fined or jailed or preferably shot on sight.
8. If you have money you are an upstanding, law abiding, innocent until proven guilty, citizen.
9. Poor people should respect, admire, be sympatric toward and agree with rich people, if a poor person doesn’t do the above stated they are a potential terrorist and should be watched.
10. If you don’t have money and try hard to get money we will make it as hard as possible to get to the next level; because, you should already have money.
11. If you don’t have money you are a nuisance and blight on society and we will do everything within our power to make your life as frustrating as possible.
12. If you have money and dress like a bum you are eccentric.
13. If you don’t have money and dress like a bum, you are a bum.
14. If you have money and get a life threatening sickness, you deserve to be saved.
15. If you don’t have money and get a cough, you deserve to die.
16. If you have enough money to contribute sizably to a candidate or representative your vote counts.
17. If you have money you are a citizen.
18. If you have money and make a suggestion we will take that suggestion very seriously.
19. If you have money you can speak authoritatively on any subject on any talk show and we will take what you say seriously, even if you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
20. If you don’t have money, keep your mouth shut.
21. If you don’t have money you don’t deserve to live.
22. If you have money you are human being and will be treated as such.
23. If you look hard enough all life has a price tag.
24. The only real sin is not having money.
25. Get money or die

Observation 11 – The Element of Surprise

2010-03-18T18:40:00.001-07:00

By NSAA – 03/18/10

Sometimes things happen so fast, a myriad of troubles can happen so fast and come together in such a colliding and all encompassing way that all you can do is stand there and say did that really happen, damn, and ride home on the lightrail with a stunned look on your face.

Observation 10 - Intelligent Betrayal

2010-03-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

By NSAA – 03/15/10

I’m tired of intelligent people. I’m tired of them using their intelligence to make our lives harder. I’m tired of their brains being used to study us on how to coerce us, and manipulate us to do what their corporate and political masters want us too. I’m tired of the intelligent selling the average, regular, working, and artist down the river to fight wars, sacrifice to satisfy for a bottom line of some entity that sees us as numbers instead of people or at least a precious commodity. The intelligent that with their diehard-duracell-brain power could figure out a better way to distribute wealth, fight poverty, end hunger, shelter the homeless, solve crisis, save and make the world a better abode for us all are instead recruited to find better ways to track us, watch us, steer us, contain us and control us. Intelligent overseers rewarded with a financial high horse to watch over us as we toil endlessly in a field of which we profit little. I plead, I know to you it’s just a job but for us it’s our destruction or salvation so I plead with the intelligencia to help us escape to a brighter human future just north of here, while the masters are asleep.

Poem: Carcinogen Blanket

2010-03-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

By NSAA – 03/08/10

On, under your press-on nails
In your hair
Under your arms
Rub it on your skin
Attached to your hip
On your lips
Hold it to your ear
Drink it
Breathe it
Eat it
Smell it
Glue it to your scalp
Braid it in
Have sex with it
Masturbate with it
Prepare your food with it
You won it
Watch it
Wear it
Drive it
Ride it
Bath in it
Paint with it
Medicate with it
Swallow it
Your children play in it

There is no escape
Like dust in a beam of sunlight
You realize, I can’t see it normally, but its there
Hold your breath

Particles
Radiating
Dumped in that empty lot
Ground water
Up stream
Out to sea
Waste

Advancement, is not advancing us
Enlightenment is killing us

Everywhere, floating
In air, water, blood, cells
Crawling into your DNA, altering

Lump, growth, growing, unstoppable
Unwanted guest that we invited in, invented in

Is this slow self-euthanasia
Or is it premeditated self-murder
Profit, profit, consume, consuming death in mass
Found a mass growing in the money center of your brain
Money, blood money
Exchanged for
Carcinogen convenience

Observation 09 – Be Kind Rewind

2010-03-08T11:44:00.001-08:00

By NSAA – 03/08/10

Do you remember VHS’s? If you ever went a video rental store, you know the deal, rent your video but before you return it remember to rewind. Some video stores charged a rewind fee if you forgot, but most didn’t, it was common courtesy. This may seem unrelated but recently I’ve wanted to compile a list of cancer causing products for women history month, why you may ask? Because I know quite a few women lately battling cancer in some form or another, so I was thinking maybe I can give a list of cancer causing products or good preemptive habits to give to woman trying to steer clear of this cancer epidemic, so I clicked over to the American Cancer Society’s website (http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3x_Known_and_Probable_Carcinogens.asp) looking for a list carcinogen products and got a long list of funny named chemicals instead. Not very user friendly I thought, so I started to break them down. Taking a chemical at a time and plugging them into my search engine and see what come up, I found out very quickly that these chemicals are in everything and everywhere, did you know cigarettes alone had over 400 chemicals in them (large amount them cancer causing, I was floored), so small and so cool looking but oh so deceiving. Okay check it, if you own a VHS video store and one person returns a video ever so often and don’t rewind it, that’s cool, you pop it into your nifty little tape rewinder thingy and wa-la. But if everyone does it, you’re going to be there day-in and day-out rewinding videos, you can charge a fee but why if people could just “be kind and rewind”; you can forgive the few people that forget. Or, better yet, you can leave them as is and pass the videos on to unsuspecting customers, there was nothing worse than popping a tape in, popcorn in hand, all comfortable and finding out you have to rewind the freaking thing. If these chemicals are everywhere and in everything how can we undo the damage done, how can we fight something everyone is producing, it would be much better if manufacturing companies had common courtesy and look for healthy alternatives, I’m not saying right a way but soon, because I think one day its going to be considered crimes against humanity to intentionally put cancer causing products into the marketplace, sure they can pay a fine now, but why when they can be kind, even if they can’t rewind all the women dying.

Poem: Normalcy

2010-03-05T15:05:00.001-08:00

By NSAA – 03/05/10

What’s so attractive about normal?
Do you think normal push forward evolution or was it mutation?
Does progress come from a measured reaction or from revolution?

It is the abnormal
The unusual
The catawampus
The asymmetrical
That moves history to its next marker

There are no
Normal-God, with stoic power
Normal-Hero, with beige cape
Normal-Saint, that preaches mediocrity

Yet normal is elevated
Before us
Like a Greek statue archetype
Etched in our minds by drug pushing companies
On heavenly floating, harp strumming, commercials
By leg crossed PhD’s in cushy offices, recommending drugs
By over glasses staring teachers with pointing boney fingers
Threatening, to put that child on drugs

“If only I was normal” a mantra repeated
Blessed are the normal, the average, and the assimilated
But let’s face it
It is the off, the not quite, the slightly askew that give life flavor

So give thanks for the disheveled, eccentric, passionate

If it wasn’t for us--
Who would you talk about?
If it wasn’t for us--
You would implode from boredom
If it wasn’t for us--
You would still be an ameba

Observation 08 – Monkey Punked

2010-03-05T08:05:00.001-08:00

by NSAA 03/05/10

Are we just gonna take this? I heard somewhere that 10% of the population makes more than 70% of the wealth, more than the bottom 90% combined, or something close to that. What have free markets done for us lately? They call it free markets, but what it amounts to is them being free to punk us and call it the American dream, nightmare is more like it. There is a monkey on our back; riding us all the way to the bank. When will we say enough and cast off these free loaders? Yes, free loaders. If we do all the work, do all the thinking, do all the research but yet they own everything we create, think and do and profit hand over fist from it, what a good way to describe them? If on the playground, in grade school, a boy took your lunch money everyday, told you to do their homework, stole your girlfriend, locked you in your locker and gave you wedgies, you might call him a bully? Well guess what, I know you’re an adult, you’re so glad you grown and moved far away from that jerk, and he’s the reason why you wear boxers today. But I’m here to tell you, you’re being bullied all over again. And it’s high time we freed the playground from this spoiled-evil-little-tyrant, group of tyrants, so that we can play on the monkey bars freely, like a true American.

Poem: The News

2010-03-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

By NSAA - 03/03/10

My jaw dropped

Taliban
Road side bomb
Katrina
Woman suicide bomber
Bush wacked
Ambushed
Second tower falling, 9/11

All rolled into one

Pure white china with gold trim, crashing
On virgin white tile floors
Baseball through front bay windows
By breakfast nook
Your church just burned down
Car crash, no insurance, no baby seat, no jaws of life

All rolled into one

Rolled
Like an overstuffed tortilla
Forced fed down your esophagus
Into your stomach
Migrating into your brain
Your breast
Your rectum and lodge there
Grow there
Pulsing there
Throb there
Like sound waves
To my cell phone
To my ear
Rolling off your tongue
Causing my jaw to drop

News on how cancer has invaded your body
Like Nazis invaded Africa
Like a flash flood
Like ants invade
Unseen until you look closer

I feel so helpless, useless, defeated, pitiful
Yet hopeful

All rolled into one

Observation 07 - Evil vs. Good

2010-03-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

By NSAA 03/02/10

I wonder is it easier to be evil and cruel or kind and gracious? It just seems to me that there is a lot of senseless cruelty in this world; it might lead one to believe that cruelty is easier. But if cruelty is the default then where do all the nice people come from? Is it a matter of upbringing? Maybe some people find it easier to be cruel while others find it easier to be nice. Maybe it is a matter of family. I can be cruel to you because you’re not related to me, you don’t look like me, believe like me, where I’m from or as intelligent as I am (we are). Maybe one set of people are cruel while another set is nice, maybe these are traits no different than brown eyes or hazel eyes, something we pass on in our DNA: the mean gene. Maybe the people with the mean gene are in charge because they are more aggressive and savage in taking what they want. Maybe we can develop a test to screen those with the mean gene out of leadership positions and let them do things that is more up their gene-alley like bug extermination.

Brotherhood Poetry Police Service: Protecting and serving poetry events since 2010 (Draft 1)

2010-02-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Anna Marie’s Poem: The Introduction
By NSAA – 02.19.10

Stop what you about to do
Stop it, sit back down
Go back to that bar stool,
Dance floor,
That rock you came out from under, and
Calm down; take a deep breath and focus

You see her
Yeah her, don’t point, just listen
I’m gonna say this as clearly as I can
Don’t mess with that sistah
Yeah, I know, she looks good
Fine, even
Mega fine, absolutely, but…
She’s a poet
I’m Officer Johnson, from the Brotherhood Poetry Police Service
Of course that is not my real name--
Here’s my badge

The Brotherhood is tired of poems about you
Yeah you, pick your jaw up off the ground
Never mind how I found you
I go to a lot of readings, I enjoy spoken word immensely
And even though you are not there your name is mentioned
A disproportionate amount of times
Yeah you, don’t look surprised, don’t look around, you’re not being punked
You’re the infamous
Come-on-brotha,
don’t-take-no-for-an-answer-brotha,
wack-line-spouting-brotha
inappropriate-pelvis-thrust-brotha

You’re going to go up to that word-smith of a sistah
And say the wrong thing
And she’s going to go home and tear you a new one
On paper
Bring that verbal rocket propelled grenade to The Show, The Blackout, Mahogany
And murder you with extreme prejudice and me by proxy, collateral damage

And the kicker is,--
You’re not even there to hear it
Because you wouldn’t know a metaphor if it jumped up and bit you
Nor would you step foot in a poetry venue
Plus you think a Haiku is a drink

Don’t you see--
You’re sucking up all her creativity
Tonight could be the night she writes--
The all American classic, redefining poetry as we know it
But instead she’s writing about your ass

Remain calm, put that one on pause, there is nothing to see here, keep it moving
sit your ass back down, don’t hyperventilate because
you can’t get your mack on

Put the brotherhood ahead of yourself for a moment
There are plenty here you can mess with, check it
Consider your options:
The dance floor chick, I love her personally, I love to dance
The alcoholic chick, she probably smokes, ash tray kiss,
not so romantic, blah, unless you smoke
The loud chick, good luck with that one
The professional chick, yeah maybe not,
you have to have cheddar to mess with her, she is both out of our league
but hey you never know, I don’t know about you,
but I love sistahs in business suites
The back sliding chick, but you might have to pray with her afterward
But the poetry chick is off limits, do you hear me?

--Rip--

Here is a citation,
For illegally trying to talk to a “Black Woman Poet” without the required paperwork
You have been warned, don’t make me come back
Or I might have to yellow tape you with caution tape
And the brotherhood will not hesitate to disown you
You may go now, have a nice day

Poem: Getting To Know You

2010-02-17T02:28:00.001-08:00

by NSAA - 02/16/10

I am not a teenager anymore
I have urges, but today
They don’t rule me
I’ve been starving, surrounded by cotton candy
Small talk, weather talk, choking on fluff

I want not what you think I want
I want your conversation, dialog
I want not what is nestled between
I want your mind, oddly yes, your mind

You’re not the only one amazed

I don’t want to make promises
Leading your imagination to places of erotica, desire, love
I want the present, here and now
You and I, this moment
This interchange

Sit down
Take your time; think before you speak, I can wait
Can I get you coffee, maybe tea?
Let’s talk for a while
Be still for a while
I dig your shoes
I dig your fashion sense
I dig your luster, you humor, your figure
But most of all
I dig you, respect you, I want to hear you
The thoughtful you

You have nothing to fear
I’m not here to press sexuality
Neither am I running from it, I’m a man
But if you don’t mind, don’t think less of me, or
Think me less manly
If you allow me to pull back the layers of doubt

I’m here because I enjoy your company
Let’s talk way into the night
And be pleasantly surprised when we find
We’ve talked into the daylight

Observation 06 – The Art of Being Pitiful

2010-02-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 02/12/10

Growing up, things looked up, like they could only go up, and maybe it could of, but it didn’t go that way did it. The older you get it dawns on you that you are not one of the lucky few that live a fantastic life. You haven’t been traveling up but you’ve been going down, down into a deep valley. In this valley of your life-journey you are not in charge, nor are you the main character, but simply an extra, an extra thing moving around in this vast swamp. This valley is not just down low, but it is pitifully low. So pitiful in fact that you feel sorry for yourself, because you know if you just had it together, things would be better; that if you could just do that one thing that could turn your life around, you would be alright. But you can’t do it, can you; and that’s the thing that makes it extra-pitiful. You can’t do it because it’s too much like right. And here you are, sitting there, looking in the mirror, thinking how pitiful your life is. That all the things you said to yourself growing up, things that you would never be, you are and more. This is as real as life can get. This is when you really see yourself, in this pitiful state. This is when you realize there are two type of people in this world, those who live on balloons and those who must tread to their destination on the ground, those who must fight for every single step, not that they didn’t have a chance to make things better but because they are hardwired to do things the hard way, that no other way feels right to them. “Feels right” is the key isn’t it. How do you make doing the things that would make your life better, feel right to do? But then again that’s what makes it pitiful.

Observation 05 – Let Go and Let Human

2010-02-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 02/12/10

How do you respond to negativity, a negative remark made toward you due to the fact that that person don’t really understand where you are in your life right now? And if they don’t understand does that mean your feelings are less real, less valid? How do you deal with other peoples’ assumption on how the world should work, of which ordinarily you might agree, but right now, in this moment, the world has turned upside down? And for once in your life you see things from another perspective, from the vantage point of emotional, physical, and/or psychological weakness. And if they don’t understand does that mean it is your duty to try to explain it to them, will they be understanding, will they listen and give you the benefit of the doubt even if the don’t quite get it? The hardest thing in life is to let go. Let go of the argument, the grudge, and the damage to ones ego, let go of knowing the right answer, that there are some questions that only can be answered with a hug. Let go and embrace the humanity pumping through your veins, that there are some things you can’t explain, some feelings that are new and confusing even at a mature age. Accepting that no one is right all the time; that feelings do get hurt without people trying to hurt them, that sometimes the smallest thing can be one thing to many to handle, and allow ourselves to let go without explanation; to allow yourself to be fragile, biological, to allow you to be unapologetically human. It’s not their fault that they don’t understand. Sometimes there is no response.

Observation 04 - Grave Distinction

2010-02-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 02/11/10

What separates us? What makes one person feel superior over another? Is it culture, money, religion, language, education, possessions, skill, or something as simple as clothes? But if we all took off our clothes and skin (gross), stood in a line up and didn’t say a word, wouldn’t we all look the same, be the same. When you close your eyes on your last day; when you are stuffed/planted into the ground like a seed. What makes us different than any other? When we decompose and give back to the earth what it has given there will be no more distention between us and soil. Maybe we should look at each other in light of this ultimate truth, in light of this wonderful contemplation. From the earth we come, to the earth we shall return, my dear earthling.

Poem: Steal Away

2010-02-10T16:10:00.001-08:00

by NSAA - 2/7/10

Steal away
Little children
Steal away
In the dead of night
Little children
Massa’s sleep

Little children
Steal away
Steal yourself away
Catch that midnight train
Little children
That freedom train
Little children
Do you have your ticket?

Little children
Steal away
Steal yourself away
Because you do not belong to yourself
Going where you please is a crime
Doing what you please is a felony
And
Judgment day has come
Judging your resolve
To follow that North Star

Ain’t nobody gonna stop ya now
Tho they may try, little children
Moses will lead you out, to the promise land
Trough insect infested swamps
Barking bloodhounds in the distance
On your heels
On your tracks

Derail not, little children
Fear not, little children
Because this train don’t stop
This is the emancipation express
Abolition its conductor
All aboard, little children
Next stop--
Freedom

Poem: A Valentine Surrealistic Dream of You

2010-02-10T11:27:00.001-08:00

by NSAA 01.14.10

In a dream of you
I hover over a landscape
Of rolling green hills, in the space between clouds and ground
Like an immense Macy parade balloon
Floating there, with a static simple smile plastered across my face

I’m tied to your wrist, on the hand that’s placed over your heart, you
Lying by still waters, you
Humming love songs, you
Lovingly looking back up at me at a sideways haphazard glance
While your other hand stroke the petals of a nearby flower, that
I’ve wished into existence to comfort you

I float there, wondering, what you’re wondering,
I see your brain-gears
Churning in perfect time, ticking like a father clock
I wish you could climb the string you hold,
tied around my heart to my lips, and kiss
But there you lay, thinking, beautifully thinking

The string you hold, holding me in place, is spun from pure gold
From the loom of an ancient African artisan
That was delivered to you
By way of butterfly, by way of trade wind
To find its way, wrapped around your wrist, with one end
With the other end, wrapped around my heart
So long I’ve been tied to you, that
this tread has become an
intricate part of my heart functions now
Conduit from your hand to my heart delivers voltage with
the tiniest flicker of your fingers, defibrillate my every heartbeat
You lay there in a dress of shear white silk,
your nipples erect, your back arched, alas
You decide to rise and walk across the landscape with me in tow
Your dress float in win, clinging to your body,
I sway in wind, bobbing up and down, content behind you,
to watch over you, to adore you

Where you go, I go
Where you walk, flowers grow
Where you tread, joy follows

On our journey
You bring long awaited peace to a
50 year war between dragonflies and fireflies
Which they, in gratitude--
placed a portrait of you in their great unity hall
In a trunk of a 1000 year old silver oak tree

You board a ferry and sit there
On the deck
Legs pressed against your chest
Playing with the flower in your hair
While the attendant drives us across--
A river of pink lemonade
Ever so often you gently look up at me
I began to enjoy the wind across my face, when
The ferry stops suddenly, destination reached

You climb to the highest peak
In this foreign land, on the other side
Standing ankle deep in snow
With one finger
Your reel me in
And kiss

Poem: Henchman

2010-02-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

by NSAA 11/30/09

Did you know you were a henchman, a goon
We all were one, once
Backup, a foot soldier, a hired gun
A henchman, with talking points

Yeah, like on a cartoon, the movies
Except you don’t wear a cool outfit with a cobra logo on the front
You wear a suite and tie

You say it’s your job, I get that
You say that you’re a professional, I get that too
But, it doesn’t diminish the fact that you’re still a henchman

If this was a comic book you would be the villain
You would go back to your lair and listen to your
Master, boss, evil genius, CEO, mad scientist
Rant on about, how, he or she, is gonna take over the world
On how you are an intricate part of that endeavor
I know this is shocking to hear
But “knowing is half the battle”

Poem: I Can’t Wait

2010-02-02T10:52:00.001-08:00

By NSAA - 07/2008

A man I am
But
Secretly, shhhh
Even though a man I am
I can’t wait
‘Til women rule the world

Man’s rule has meant
War without end
Religion without mercy
Weapons without pause—
killing thousands in a blink of an eye

I know there is no magic bullet to this
I know everything has a downside, but--
I just want peace, common sense, a more gentle society
100 years of woman rule, how say you?
What would it be like?

T.Poem: Imagination Role

2010-01-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

By NSAA - 1/15/10

Use not imagination on self-prophesy scenario endless loops
Use imagination 2 build tree houses
Where joy comes home
Where creativity frequents

Poem: Loctician's Creed

2010-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

By NSAA - 01.14.10 (Dedicated to Akilah)

Sit in my chair, confessional
Let me put my hand in your hair, soul
Here is sacred, I am your priest, priestess
Of the order of Care
Of the doctrine of Nurture
I am disciple of Wellness
Rest here before me
While I tend to your garden
Let us pray together
Let us beseech the ancestors
In a language as ancient as ancient
In a tradition as old as Africa
In a ritual as beautiful as earth

T.Poem: Sleep Siren Song

2010-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

by NSAA – 01.13.04

Sleep calls to me, melodiously
Like siren song
“Sleep Longer” they sing
Guiding me deeper
Into waves of warm sand
Pass muted alarm clocks

Observation 02 - The Flawed State

2010-01-13T04:59:00.000-08:00

by NSAA 01/13/10

The flawed state of our human bodies with all its faults and limitations is our vehicle for this life-journey. Does it not behoove us to find beauty in its imperfection and seek to understand our drive and desire to become god-like. This prone to sickness human form, with all its excretions, fibers, flakes, shedding, lopsided, metal failings, shriveling, stuttering, out of proportion, filled with mental and physical self-betrayal beckons us to be humble and merciful toward each other; being that, you are like me and I am like you; in that, we are both imperfect. That the very idea of being human means imperfect just like the very idea of being an ant is to be small. Should not we look upon each other and say how wonderfully human we are.

Poem: Infested

2010-01-12T17:34:00.001-08:00

by NSAA – 01/12/10

sorrow nest in my heart
nightmare chewed its way n2 my mind
regret burrowed itself n2 my soul
second thought eroded my confidence

Poem: My Companion

2010-01-11T06:49:00.001-08:00

by NSAA – 01/11/10

turn your head 2 see
lonesome child playing in corner
talking to self, laughing
hand in air like plane
zoom, shooo, dat. dat. dat. dat.
shot down by hand behind it

Poem: Sum

2010-01-10T13:09:00.000-08:00

By NSAA - 01/10/10

live thru breath
sustain thru gut
refresh thru sleep
reason thru mind
behold thru eyes
feel thru fingers
life, more then the sum
you, more then liv’n

2010 for NSAA my people

2010-01-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

Boy 2009 was something else. Some heavy ish went down in 2009, some realizations, observations and revelations percolated to the top of my reality. The main thing is that I have to step back and work on me. But this note is about me as an artist not me as broken winged free spirit. So I'm gonna take this vehicle toward the exit labeled poetry.

2010 I think is gonna be a different, hopefully better, hopefully something you can dig, year for me. What you will see from me is more concentration on my craft, more readings and performances, I already have a booking at Luna's and CRC and hosting at Mahogany (my favorite poetry spot) every 3rd Wednesday, howbeit you will see me less there on other nights because as you know, I'm self-employed and business is slow and people are calling me, "where's my money" so I have less free time to just kick it for fun, I have to network and promote what I do, which is bad because I'm a terrible self-promoter. Doing this blog is helping me get out there. Also a closer ties to the Sacramento Poetry Center this year is in the works, growing more as a writer.

I have a new collaboration with Ross Hammond that I'm excited about its definitely gonna make me grow as a lyricist and a poet. We’re thinking about calling our partnership “Electropoetic Coffee”, what you think? There are some other names we are kicking around, but that's the one I'm feeling right now. The stuff you going to hear from us is going to be very experimental, so don't trip. LOL, it’s intended to sound that way, its all about growth this year. As most of you know I'm really into live instruments and live performances. So all the stuff we are doing has a garage feel to it, which I totally dig. Also you are going to hear more singing from me this year. Not that I can "Sang" as Khiry says, its just that I have words coming out of me that sound better done in song. Also my new book of poetry collections is due out in February, "A Tale of Abandonment"

Also there is talk of me doing 3 shows with my favorite band FoShang to launch the CD of the body of work I did with them which I compiled called: NSAA Live: Lightning In A Bottle: The Official Mario Ellis Hill Recordings. Listen to it online here: http://nsaa.bandcamp.com/. The shows are going to be CD Release / Rent Parties, cause a brotha is hurting (all my struggling self-employed people out there please stand up with fist in air). I really want the shows to be as close to a concert as possible so I'm trying to bring that quality to it if I can, but keep it cozy and intimate.

So that's it I guess. Happy New Years hope I see you at the MLK celebration. :)

10 New Year Resolutions for 2010

2009-12-31T09:50:00.001-08:00

by NSAA 12/31/09

1. Be the best me I can be
2. Be more open to recognize serendipity when it says hello
3. Try to find the best in people when they are not at their best
4. Try to be a better friend to those who are friendly
5. Try to reduce stress in all its forms, manifestations and self talk
6. Do more soul searching for my inner child, “Marco?”
7. Live artfully, truthfully, whole heartedly
8. Learn when to say, “That hurts”, “No”, and “I can’t handle that right now”
9. Try not to promise more than what I can deliver
10. Try to take care of, care for, have mercy on--ME

Happy New Years and Kwanzaa

Now you can buy my CD Online :n)

2009-12-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

&amp;amp;lt;a href="http://nsaa.bandcamp.com/album/lightning-in-a-bottle-the-official-mario-ellis-hill-recordings"&amp;amp;gt;Sub-American by NSAA the Black Root&amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;gt;

Poem: The line

2009-12-16T10:37:00.001-08:00

by NSAA-12/16/09

I grope at words
At words
Trying to find a life line
On which to tie my life
Tie tight around my waist
And dangle there
Swaying under a creaking rope
Tied to a line of reasoning

Poem: A Christmas Thing

2009-12-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 12/16/09

My eyes bounce here and there; back and forth
Trying to find the pattern
There is a pattern
There has to be a pattern, right
That makes the butterflies inside flutter
Transporting me back to childhood feelings
Childhood wonder, which bring fairytales to life

Such beautiful visions
Dance a ballet in my mind
Daring the world to pause
Exciting temporary amnesia from troubles’ future and present
I stand on sidewalk, watching
Christmas lights
Play peek-a-boo with me

On, off, down, around, up
Leading my eyes in maze
Outlining windows
Around makeshift profiles of stars
White, blue, green, red
A choreograph of colors
Blinking at me, winking
At me, to me, right now

‘Tis the season of electricity
Electricity is a living thing
A Christmas thing
An ambassador of good tidings from
Elder memories
The perfect snowball
Snowmen with carrot noses and Oreo buttons
Childhood crushes never confessed
Grandma’s smile of approval
Snowflakes falling, floating, lightly, landing, melting
On my tongue

I turn to continue on my way, mindful, don’t step on sidewalk cracks

Even though I leave your glow
I am thankful
For blinking me back for a moment
In a blink of an eye
Back to pleasant snow-angle-making-days

Poem: Warrior Poet

2009-12-05T20:08:00.001-08:00

10/28/09

I am warrior poet
Hear my sonic boom
I rain fire
I am verbal soldier
I am an occupying force
These lips drip Agent Orange
I walk boldly through minefields
To bring fields of dreams to reality
Hear my war cry
Metaphor warheads, armed with
verbs, nouns and adverbs, launched with
laser guided precision
Double barrel vocal cords
My tongue is the trigger
Bullets burst from my lips
I am fire breathing, exhalling red hot lead
I am status quo murderer
I am propaganda-killer and I am bloodthirsty

Poem: I Love Christmas

2009-12-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

11/26/08

I love Christmas
Not because of tidy wrapped packages
in neat bows
Nor because of the tree laced in tensile,
lights and adornments
Nor because of music playing with
festive melody
That haunts your every waking moment

I love Christmas because of you
Because it brings out the best in you
The dancing lights across your smiling face
Your wishes for all humankind
to be kind to all kind
--spoken over a cup of eggnog

And for one day,
You are eager to see how others
receive your gifts
And Lord knows why this season--
Makes you want to sing in front of
a perfect stranger’s house
And give to those who
have less than us, something
Even if we don’t have much

I love Christmas
Not because of stories told
Of a King born
Or a jolly white-bearded-man bearing presents
Or a gravity defying reindeer
with a demon possessed glowing red nose
But because of the stories you share
Of Christmases past
Of gifts received--
Of gifts wanted and never realized
Of younger days’ past pains and joys

I love Christmas
Because
It brings out the wide-eyed child in you
And how it makes you believe
the impossible, possible
Even like--
Peace on Earth

Poem: All Missed Today

2009-11-29T16:59:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 11/26/09

Thanksgivings’ past
Flavors, smells
Sounds, people
All missing today

All missed today

Lone table
In crowded buffet
Private moment
In public place

Food missing “I made this” pride

Ocean of conversations

Laughter;
Other people’s laughter
Smiles;
Other people’s smiles
Make me smile

Memories of me smiling
With people I knew
In living rooms,
Around dinning tables
With cups made of glass

Poem: Thankfully

2009-11-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

by NSAA - 11/25/09

I am thankful
To have here
To be here
To hold you dearly--
Here
In my heart

I am better in just
Knowing you--
Here
In word and song
Wholeheartedly,
Truthfully,
Thoughtfully,
Thankfully.

Essay: The “People First” Initiative

2009-11-10T11:15:00.001-08:00

By Nsaa, 7/26/09

Fellow citizens, yes I said citizen. I propose to you an adoption of a new initiative, a set of principles that will guide us from henceforth. Dog eat dog rules are obsolete, because we are not dogs, we are humans. We humans are set aside from all of God’s creation because we have opposable thumbs, let us revel in our uniqueness and dream big. I will attempt to set down in black and white, ten principles that will stage a fairer, rational, experience-informed existence worthy of our thumb status.

Being in a society is about progressing, growing more civilized has always been the moving target. When did we stop this pursuit? Have we stagnated? If we affirm that human growth is as important as economic growth that the immeasurable is as important as the measurable then yes we have stagnated. Far too long has our society only served in assisting the wealthy to manipulate the poor out of their wealth, enslaving the citizenry to the idea that economic growth is paramount instead of human societal growth. Far to long have we set aside our bold ideas to linger and die from neglect. Democracy didn’t fall out of the sky riding a booming voice it was a human creation, simply a thought experiment, physically implemented. Are we not bold; was boldness buried with our forefathers?

So I submit to you, fellow citizen a simple list of principles that will help push our society forward. One step closer to utopia, yes I said utopia. Utopia may be a fantasy, but it once was an idea bigger than the Roman Empire, and humans shot for it like space travel during the space race of the middle 1900’s. Utopia might be an unrealized dream but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t shoot for it.

When I was younger my mind was filled with the bold ideas of space travel, hover-cars, and the end of hunger. The whole country dreamed big. We walked on the moon for goodness sakes. But now instead of pushing forward we go in circles, there are 560 satellites in space orbiting earth, majority of them point down.

Let us dream again. Not so big to scare you off, but just big enough to get the wheels turning in the direction of human societal growth. Let us entitle this thought experiment “The People First Initiative”. It is as follows:

1. War is the last option.
2. People are more important than profits.
3. Treat Earth like it’s our home.
4. Healthcare is a right.
5. Healthy food and clean water is a right.
6. All forms of exploitation are wrong.
7. Make the world a safe place for women.
8. We are citizens not consumers.
9. Art and culture are necessities.
10. Play nice with others.

These are simple principles targeted at the roots of human conflict and unkindness. Each one represents a leap into experience-informed knowledge with the extra step of simply making them binding principles. If we commit to this, we can move on to bigger and better ideas aimed forward to a brighter bolder future.

Poem: The Cult of Mammon

2009-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

By NSAA 07/21/08

They all speak with one voice
“Praise Be To the Market”

Dressed in pinstriped cloaks
Gold dollar sign money clip medallions hang around their necks
Dangling at the end of gold chains
They line up in formation bowing in syncopated sequence
Before a giant carved pig-god named Mammon

They believe that when the Pig flies
Salvation will come
That when the markets are free
The whole world will be made righteous

Their temples are banks
They meet in upper levels
Behind buzzer protected doors
Digital display readouts of endless scrolling numbers
Left to right

Arms high and hands open, they rise from bowed position
And with one voice, they say
“Blessed be to our economy”
And chant
Privatization! Privatization! Privatization!

They wonder through streets in khakis
Warning all
That if you do not join them now
You will be only sheep
In the grand scheme
You will be only
Red ink on the last balance sheet
On judgment day
When the Pig flies

Essay: You-Socialist-Evil-Person-You (Part II): Why does Americans see red when they hear Socialism?

2009-11-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

by NSAA 11/4/09

Americans seem to break out in hives when you mention Socialism. It’s almost like yelling snake. People get angry, jump up and down, and shout kill-it, kill-it!

I dislike snakes myself but I must admit, more than anything else, it’s because I don’t understand them. Snakes attack not because they’re hungry for human flesh but mostly because they’re scared, cornered or provoked. Maybe it’s the same with Socialism; maybe we simply don’t understand what it is all about.

I will continue my experiment using Wikipedia to try to understand why Americans get red with rage over the word socialism.

Socialism seems like a fair system right, as described in (Part I), everyone in the system would eat: but, you eat in proportion to what you put into the system, yet, no one starves; unlike the Feudal and Capitalistic systems. Socialism has a safety net to protect from starvation, namely the government.

The role of government in socialism is the sticking point for most Americans. Okay, no one starves, that’s all well and good, but “who” makes sure that no one starves? You see the first two systems have a very light government touch. Basically in the Feudal system you are beholden or subject to the Lord of the land (Land Lord), no real government is needed, only for national identity, in the Capitalistic system you are beholding to the deal or, in other words, what you trade, little government is needed because you decide your fate one deal at a time. But in Socialism you are beholding to the government, because what you give to the government it gives back to you its weight.

Now America from the beginning tried to be government-lite as a feather (4). Because the founders came from, basically, the Feudal system (you know Kings, Queens, and Lords and stuff like that) and they didn’t want to be subjects again so they established a government with a weak authoritative structure. But the struggle for independence from Brittan turned into a war (5), and war drove the newly formed government-lite into government-medium (6). For example they needed a standing army and stronger tax laws to pay for that army.

Now let’s stop here. Before we go any further we have to talk about Combos; not a fast food menu combo; but political and economical system combos, not as appetizing. If economic systems like capitalism answers the question, who eats? Political systems answer the question, who serves?

For instance Democracy is a political system. In a republic-democracy like America the people choose from among themselves those who will be Servers. And the Servers will make up rules to decide how easy or hard citizens have to work to eat. There is also Monarchy systems where a ruling class is set aside among the people that will act like servers elected not by vote but by blood-line. Then there is a Theocracy, where servers are chosen by clergy.

America has a Democratic/Capitalism combo system. The people select among themselves people that will make rules regarding the exchange of commerce and trade. In other words, people eat by doing deals. And the Servers instead of serving out food directly to the people they distribute the food into food banks and its first come first serve. If you’re a great deal-maker you can store a lot of food and eat like a king or if you suck at deal-making, you will starve. And for some people in the early 1900’s this was unacceptable. Because the people that were doing all the work to produce items for trade was starving because they weren’t the deal-makers. If you live in a system that is based on rewarding according to deals how do you eat if you’re not a deal-maker? You must work for a deal-maker. If you are a worker communism looks very attractive because as you remember from Part I, “…communism is based on the principle of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’”

World War I and II saw the rise of communism and Monarchy governments like Russia toppled. Russia’s new communist government help win World War II placing communism on the stage to compete directly with capitalism using the spoils of war, which one won? Given that we are not drinking vodka and saluting a waving red flag with a Sickle and Hammer icon we know which side won.

By 1945 Lenin’s Russia emerged from War World II powerful enough to spread its influence over Eastern Europe and Asia (7). That scared the crap out of capitalist countries, especially America. And America and Russia (Soviet Union) went to war, a Cold War (which I think is a cool term, a hot war is with bullets, explosions and stuff, whereas, a cold war is a virtual war, basically chicken played with very high stakes, being that both countries had enough Nuclear weapons to delete each other of the surface of the earth). With all this going on a man appeared upon the American political stage that put the red scare into every American boy, girl, man and woman: Sin. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, ladies and gentlemen.

Starting in the 1950 he dragged suspected communist to public trails. Until this point communist parties were legitimate in the US. But now Joseph McCarthy had everyone was scared to death that there were communist in every bush, cupboard, and under every bed and liberals scared of their shadow. Blacklists were formed, prominent people were jailed, deported and ruined for years. And America lived under a cloud of fear until 1985 when the Berlin wall fell. 35 years of fear.

Even though Socialism is not full fledge communism it has suffered collateral damage from Cold War rhetoric. And like a person panicking from fear at the very mention of the word snake, Americans jump up and down and yell kill-it at the very uttering of socialism.

(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Confederation_and_Perpetual_Union
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution
(7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism#Early_communism

Poem: The System

2009-11-02T15:04:00.001-08:00

By NSAA 10/6/07

Starting out in deficit, new born
Already insufficient, negative balance
Naked before the system, assessed, bar-coded
Scanned, digital readout: EXPENDABLE
Robot arm grabs you, shrink wraps you,
Places you in discount section
2 for a dollar, marked to move
In your cellophane rapped generic-box-neighborhood
Haphazardly inspected for damages
Potential buyer’s names ending with INC, LLC, CORP
Indexed, categorized
Man handled
You are product
Expendable
Perishable
Consumable
Price check--

Poem: Warrior Poet

2009-10-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

By NSAA - 10/28/09

I am warrior poet
I rain fire
I am verbal soldier
These lips drip Agent Orange
I walk boldly through minefields
To bring fields of dreams to reality
I am propaganda-killer and I am bloodthirsty

Essay: You-Socialist-Evil-Person-You (Part I)

2009-10-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

You-Socialist-Evil-Person-You (Part I)

In the healthcare debate going on right now opposition to the “Public Option” main argument basically is their assertion that the public option is a slippery slope to socialism. I don’t know what that mean. I even saw a commercial on TV the other day calling for volunteers to stand up against this socialist take over of the people’s personal liberties. So I’m setting out to do a novice look at socialism this morning.

So what is socialism?

Merriam-Webster (3)
1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3 : a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

I know it was hard for me to understand too.

On to Wikipedia… (A very socialist website, LOL)

And the idea credit goes to: Karl Marx (1818-1883) he has a really cool beard. (2)

Marx believed that Communism (a state ruled by the workers) was the natural outcome of human societal development. First come Feudalism (the whole Lord, vassal, fief thing) then onto Capitalism (the whole exchange of stuff for stuff thing) and thus Communism (the whole worker’s hive thing). So where does Socialism fit in? Between Capitalism and Communism.

To Marx Socialism wasn’t much. Socialism is the lowest stage in Communism according to him. “Based on the principle of ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution’” “while upper stage communism is based on the principle of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" (1)

Okay lets look at this another way. All systems of government are based on the distribution of stuff. Simplest way to think about this is how do we decide who deserves to eat?

In a Feudal system (which is based on land), if you help protect the Lord’s land from other Lords you deserve the chance to grow crops on land giving you by the Lord and eat; Capitalistic system: if you trade well you deserve to eat, some eat better than others because they trade better than others, some don't eat at all because they have nothing to trade; Communist system: if you do your part you deserve to eat the same as anyone else, no matter how big or small your part is. Socialist: you will eat according to what you put in, but everyone eats, just some not as well as others. I know this is a very simple explanation.

Links:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism#Socialism_in_Marxist_Theory
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
(3) http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

Poem: Mary Ann & Jo Ann

2009-10-24T11:57:00.001-07:00

Mary Ann & Jo Ann
by NSAA

There was two sisters, way down south
Mary Ann and Jo Ann, way down south
Mary Ann was a clean and tidy church mouse
Jo Ann was a loose and loud talking alley cat
And it use to be that they use to be close
Until they met—
That man

There was two sisters, way down south
In love with the same man, way down south
He could make sweet saint Mary Ann sin
No matter how much she prayed
He could drink Jo Ann into submission
No matter how loud she got
Mary Ann and Jo Ann use to be 2 peas in a pod
Now they fight like two cats in a sack
Because of—
That man

One night, way down south
In a juke joint, way down south
That man and JoAnn drinking like it was judgment day
Until 2 shots ranged out
That man was now face down on the ground
Standing on the other side of the smoke filled room
Was Mary Ann with bible in hand and 45 in other
She killed—
That man

Late at night, way down south
Hugging and a’crying, way down south
MaryAn and JoAnn is now friends again
They buried that man’s body in the woods and ran
But now their doing time, due to be executed
Tomorrow afternoon
All because of

That man

Poem: What’s On Your Mind?

2009-10-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

What’s On Your Mind?
by NSAA
09/02/09

What’s on your mind?
Am I on your mind?
Please say yes
Please say you think of me
In the morning time--maybe
Please say you remember me
The way we use to be

Poem: I AM

2009-10-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

I AM
By NSAA
9/10/09

I am more than financial
I am more than gender
I am more than relationships
I am more than actions or inactions
I am more than education
I am more than race
I am more than sexual orientation

I am friend
I am brother, sister
I am son, daughter
I am lover
I am father, mother
I am neighbor

I am as confused as you
I am as certain as you
I am a fellow traveler
I am lost and found
I am in need and a provider
I am human

I am you