Maps to Home
Jim D. BabweA Poetic Libretto (with links)
One
Ridgetop
Easy to imagine
this peaceful place,
a special site
where some choose
to build a home,
live their lives
away from the city,
away from traffic.
Camping for years--
similar to an ongoing vacation
surrounded by pines
(aromatic scent)
occasional night thunder,
forked lightning
looking for a grocery store
or a liquor store
to destroy
might not be
too farfetched
to an old guy
with or without
a metal kite.
"Ridgetop" Jesse Colin Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76yctdQST5E
Two
Home Is In My Head
Check out the Sunday paper's
Real Estate Section.
It's listed right there
along with homes
not in my head.
Mine is a 900 square foot fixer-upper
described as charmingly rustic,
which implies the current state
of disrepair is intentional
when the truth is
a second mortgage,
outrageous credit card debt,
and bankruptcy
made it impossible
to pay for the new roof,
one which I created
based upon a D.I.Y. strategy,
which obviously
serves as evidence
to prove English majors
should have enough sense
to avoid construction projects
in need of thick tar,
shingles, a nail gun,
and other specialized tools.
"Home Is in My Head" Jackie Lomax
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgXBZXo9fis
Three
We Used to Wait
Except for the absence
of a rickety basketball backboard
and its rusty orange hoop,
except for a wood plank fence
that's in better shape,
except for the yellow lines
for designated parking spaces,
except for the two-story house
behind the garage,
except for the leafless trees--
this could have been my house--
the one I grew up in
and (fortunately) escaped.
I would have picked up those
branches in the driveway.
"We Used to Wait" Arcade Fire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9w9PUzPgg&list=RDxQuUN1HGa0c&index=2
Four
Home Soon
If we filled water balloons
with paint and threw them
at one another,
they would not have been
water balloons
and we would have definitely
gotten the shit kicked out of us
by angry parents.
Primarily because
both parents are no longer
amongst the living,
I could get away
with this kind
of misbehavior
these days.
Summer is only
a few months away.
Feel free to drop by the house,
but make sure you're
wearing old clothes.
"Home Soon" Dope Lemon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-VQHgtV0n8
Five
My Old House to The Towers
The bicycle ride
was just short of five miles
and took less than a half hour.
From my house
on Manette Place
ride to Olanda Street
and turn right
toward Carlin Avenue.
Continue on Carlin
past Atlantic, past Mark Twain School,
past Lynwood High School
until you reach Long Beach Boulevard.
Turn right.
Go to Imperial Highway
and make a left.
Turn right on Fernwood Avenue.
(Hercules Burgers is still there).
Fernwood changes into
Santa Ana Boulevard.
Continue to 107th Street
and you'll see your destination--
The Watts Towers.
"Express Yourself"
Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFyZ4HiLbl0
Six
Home Is In The Sky
Vocabulary preview:
rebellious amplified contagious
psychoanalysis chaotic deceptive
untamability shocktertainment unmanipulatable
I have good news.
Everyone gets an A on today's quiz.
I brought music.
1988.
My Jesus birthday.
The last year
in Los Angeles.
Precious time.
Scabby knees proved
I was the shortstop
never afraid to dive--
highway robbery
according to disappointed
surprised batters
on opposing teams.
My team's name?
Nasty pun
included the following word:
Cunning.
My daughter turned two
with no trace of terrible.
None.
Her first real word was
"Light."
That home is in the sky.
"Ocean Size"
Jane's Addiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDIAJhharwQ
Seven
Going Out In Style
A strange association
among synaptic neural
hemispheric survivors
of what's left of my mind
and recollections
of the day I checked off
a half century
jumped out of the screen
to tell me
I need to see
The Dropkick Murphys
perform live.
Driving distance from Boston
to San Diego stands at 3033 miles,
so the weird miracle
about this wild reckless fun
will continue to exist as imagined reality
where I planted
roots in a commitment
to enthusiastic participation--
the worthy replacement
for an easier, quieter role
as spectator--
which I leave
to the timid and fearful
until I can afford
a roundtrip flight
to New England.
"Going Out In Style
Dropkick Murphys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7g3RuoreRc
Eight
Stealing
Several hundred pages
specify a set of extensive
rules for baseball.
Standing in obvious contradiction
to another set of extensive rules
stealing is completely legal
in baseball—
requires no public defender
or private lawyer
because criminal charges
cannot be brought against
someone who committed no crime
(unless you are a politician).
Fair, foul, ball, strike—
baseball defines and delineates
differences between allowed and prohibited
differences between right and wrong--
rewards successful risk
provides powerful lessons in humility
punishes overconfidence
with relentless consistency.
The path around bases
is a rectangular full circle
with clearly defined chalk lines
and two hazy routes
where choices are abstract
connections to and from safe harbors—
no boats.
The game encourages
skill
luck
and familiarity with the rules
to prove we can
actually come home again.
Fernando Tatis, Jr. Steals Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPiKkPgDd6Y
Nine
Internal Combustion
Powered by a Briggs and Stratton
lawnmower engine the homemade mini-bike
introduced me to large green bushes
on a neighbor's front yard.
Scrapes
and a few bruises
healed quickly
but love
of wind and speed
and unincumbered visibility
(outgoing and incoming)
waited a few years
for the Yamaha 175 Enduro
(never wore a helmet)
which became the symbolic
(dangerous)
source of many true stories:
Evading Police.
Aluminum Freeway Ladder.
Dirt Trails.
Saying Goodbye to The Last Open Space.
City Streets to The Beach.
This bike
became my
mechanical twin.
"Two Stroke Machine"
7Horse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0VgRV5ZhJk
Ten
Home
It happened on your birthday
when you arrived cold and naked
warmed by those who bathed you
and wrapped you in blankets
introduced you to your family.
You did not know what to say
until you learned to speak.
You changed the lives of others
that day and every day forward
every time they changed your diaper
your clothes
breakfast lunch and dinner.
You changed the world
when you learned
to crawl
to stand
to walk
to run.
Compared to earthquakes
and other dramatic new events
maybe you believe
your changing the world
is
inconsequential
insignificant
less than important
small.
But all changes are incremental steps
collected components contributing
to process
a larger accumulation
of conscious
of semi-conscious
of seemingly unconscious
effort
incremental steps
as vital as breathing.
What if I tell you
about your work
for a modern Pony Express?
You
riding a horse
through the desert
up and over mountains
around dangerous obstacles
past distractions
across various boundary lines.
You
carry important cargo
messages for a hungry audience
waiting for encouragement
a thirst for fun
striving to survive
searching for someplace
like home.
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