trip.

For those who know me, there ought to be no mystery as to why I'm feeling a little saddened today.

For those who don't know me that well, I should explain that I am one of the those eccentric Michael Jackson fanatics, the kind that my parents were quite worried about me at one stage.

So it's with deep deep sadness that I woke up hearing the terrible news of Michael's death this morning.

But I'm troubled in another sense... one man's death grabs the whole world's attention, meanwhile death and dying is all around us due to injustice, starvation, lack of sanitation.

But as I reflect, I think about many of Michael's songs, lyrics and poems... not the Billie Jeans or Thrillers - But the songs generally less glamorous and known that point us to some element of truth.

Here are the lyrics and video of two my absolute favourites. I won't comment on them, as I think they say enough in and of themselves.

They say I'm different, they don't understand
But there's a bigger problem that's much more In demand
You got world hunger, not enough to eat
So there's really no time to be trippin' on me

You got school teachers who don't wanna teach
You got grown people who can't write or read
You got strange diseases - ha! but there's no cure
You got many doctors that aren't so sure
So tell me why you wanna trip on me
Why you wanna trip on me - stop trippin'

We've got more problems than we'll ever need
You got gang violence and bloodshed on the street
You got homeless people with no food to eat
With no clothes on their back and no shoes for their feet

We've got drug addiction in the minds of the weak
We've got so much corruption - police brutality
We've got streetwalkers walking into darkness
Tell me what are we doing to try to stop this

So tell me why you wanna trip on me
Why you wanna trip on me - stop trippin'

RIP Michael and the "Children of the World"

peace.

nh

poet.

"The poet is the healer of language. A poet can carefully, gently, with dignity, return the word to its home. The poet can graft, gingerly bind the word back to its rightful place. Amazingly, what was prostituted and left for dead, comes to life, flourishes, grows!"

I found this quote on a blog post. Check out the rest of the post here.

peace.

nh

lennon.

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasents as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.

If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.