Hermosa song

Synergy is such a stupid word. Not all mistakes are negative and not all hand holding is miracle work. We learn by our mistakes. October. 1992. DUI. St. Croix County Slammer. Nearly lost the scholarship. Never before had I celebrated Easter break-I never really did celebrate Easter. Three years away from home, living like a vagabond, and there I was-Easter Dinner with the family in March 1993. Celebrating a new Driver's License. A new appreciation? No. My aunt pulled me
aside. "Every man needs a chain," she said as she gave me a late birthday present. Inside-a gold necklace. Men in my clan don't wear necklaces. "Every man needs a chain," she said. I didn't know what she meant until she died a few weeks later. Every man is a danger to himself. Trade in the hand cuffs and the stupidity for the respectable version. Every man does need a chain, a link back to the earth- something solid. Gold, wire, steel. It doesn't matter. The final link to earth is rotten and holds no hope.

jdw

There is no task

that is beneath me. No job I would not be willing to do. That is not the kind of pride I am cursed with. I don't concern myself with retirement. Most likely, I will die with my hammer in my hand.

Float like a butterfly...

Grimly by young eyes
on the edge of a bed in a dining room
sits a man with a beard
Bumblebee slippers hide
dying, disfigured feet
that dangle off the floor
Eyes down once and up again
the black and yellow stripes bring a smile.



Contributed by JDW