When you spread the ‘6%’ lie, you dishonor their memory and disrespect their loved ones.
In his live-stream concert series What It Is last week, a Sunday staple for me during this pandemic, singer-songwriter Todd Snider payed tribute to his mentor, the incomparable John Prine by playing the classic track “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)” from Prine’s 1978 album. The iconic songwriter died of complications from COVID-19 on April 7, and I’ve been trying to write some kind of tribute to the man, who is as much of a literary idol to me as a musical one, but it just never comes out the way I want it. I’ve written pages and deleted them. I…
POETRY
A poem for a day trip from LA to Ojai
a good man is hard to find
in the outdoor bookstore
in Ojai. but not a virgin
apparently, as the tourist from
Virginia quipped as if he were
the first to make the joke,
we’re virgins. his sister maybe
wore a periwinkle sundress
on a Wednesday, and my love
wore a periwinkle tank top too.
and everyone wore a mask.
do you sell masks,
the virgin asked.
no. only books.
later, in the park by the fountain,
we ate well-built deli sandwiches
with chipotle gouda, our masks
pulled down around our necks,
as the sun hit the ivy on the wooden
fence post just…
A Human Resources Director in the Texas oil industry laments mass layoffs due to COVID-19
With a nation writhing under the weight of a once-in-a-century pandemic and suffering through the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, it’s apparent a lot of people are very not okay right now. And with the end of the federal unemployment boost and rent moratoriums now upon us, the fear and anxiety amongst those left jobless can be crippling. It’s a truly frightening state of affairs when it seems like the most in demand job is call center operator for the unemployment office.
But the unemployment agents aren’t the only ones working overtime these days (note the irony of…
POETRY
A Free Verse
my father drew dimensions for
the soapbox car on the exposed
particle board wall in the space between
the 2x4 framing in the garage. he
sharpened his pencil with a carpet knife
leaving incidental lines of graphite on
the razor blade. the soapbox sketch was
crude but intentional. while the design of
the markings on a furrow spider’s
abdomen are breathtakingly beautiful,
but accidental.
i squatted studying the spider who was
clearly not a threat, as it must have died
from a stroke or heart attack or some
other natural effect, when my father
approached, noticing my wonderment. he
studied the magnificent…
A Poem
“You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here.” — Alan Watts
the mighty spruce has shed its bark
the tortoise is just a shell
a frail girl drinks from a little red book
but the sip she draws is blank
the new Moon has sunk into the black
the old frog forgot he’d been a tadpole
a false memory simmers on the campfire
when she falls asleep it boils away
when she dreams the Moon is full again
floating gently in the cast iron pot
she feels…
A Political Poem
POETRY
a beat poem for the moment
conspiracy theories explode
in multicolored mortars overhead,
streaming down in red,
WHITE, and blue
between chopper blades,
spotlighting the DEAD —
lungs turned to stone
in hospital beds,
patients cry out —
I CAN’T BREATHE!
shiny BLACK boots on
hot asphalt,
knees of cowards on
innocent necks —
I CAN’T BREATHE!
walking through walmart,
privileged and FREE
“put on your mask,
would you please?”
But —
But —
But —
I CAN’T BREATHE!
pussy-grabbing hands,
on the bible they squeeze,
oath-breaking Raper
of justice and PEACE.
Rage in my throat so hot —
I CAN’T BREATHE!
bloody mass graves covered
with…
Drew Cash
Actor and Writer from Kentucky based in LA. Poetry and Essays. IG: https://www.instagram.com/cash_drewcash/ IMDB: https://www.imdb.me/drewcash
