Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The "Know Not" Advantage



A Brutha’s Rhapsody


A lime green Olds ’77 sits 
in the empty parking lot
of the Black and Tan. 
Its gold-fleck paint
catches the last rays of
rose-colored sunshine.


Migraine-inducing bass
rattle rusty bolts,
falling into a moldy ocean 
of pirated CDs,
and black market gear.
He leans back on heated leather,
and takes a long, slow drag
of his medicinal,
savoring cannabis
through clenched teeth,
Zig-Zags flow from
open suicide doors
to join yesterdays’ headlines
on barren streets.


He nods his head
in time to his favorite jam 
under the flashing “open” sign
as suffocating clouds move eastward.


 rainwriter jones @2014

---------------------------------------------

Last night as a lied awake, my mind began to wander.  I thought about how I previously believed that the homeboys on the wall of the bar and grill across the street were the unfortunate ones because they lacked knowledge about the world at large.  All they know is the immediate day-to-day needs/wants of only themselves.  There in my bed, I had a revelation:  we are the unfortunate ones!  Why?  Because we have the knowledge that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. We worry about world affairs, homelessness, near-Earth objects, religious fanatics, global warming, the Dow Jones average, unemployment, life-shortening health problems, impoverished third-world countries...

They are oblivious to anything other than themselves, and wouldn't know nor care about anything other than heading to the next bar, screwing some dim witted female, or playing their car stereos so loud that hibernating bears would awaken from slumber.  The only way they'd know the world had ended was if the bar wasn't serving alcohol that day.

Well, who's more fortunate?  The one who knows, or the one who knows not?

rainwriter jones