BREAKING NEWS©

BREAKING NEWS

reeds tied together increase their strength

either chosen by the majority

or imposed by those pulling the strings

as history happens

whether or not we know how it went before

but it sort of makes sense

events are recorded, the records analyzed

subject, verb, object, logical consequences

patterns are traced, points on a graph, predictions

then a volcano

Pompeii is buried

then fossil fuel

the enlightenment becomes climate change

then nuclear energy

the destroyer of Hiroshima

scatters itself across the Japanese sea

recorded music, lies and rants are a plague

words are contested in a battle for minds

which, it is believed, must be tied back together again

great patterns are neither repetitions nor predictions

just sleeping pills

that sort of make sense

as the world gets hotter at night

OH HAPPY DAY

let's hatch a plan and fly away!

just take a look around

no fuel, no job

or got one

and it's a prison

media hypes its stars

talented people with endless adventures

well spoken creative lives

perfume of the one percent

or go to college, study, amass your debt

an angel investor will sprinkle money

a limo will appear

or maybe your street is not worth a stop light

it seems arbitrary

until that day of discovery

when the system appears

there is something much bigger than the flight plan

it says where airports are

or whether smoking dope leads to jail

not as definite as a limo

though there is some connection

it hides, wears lawyer camouflage

and it resides nearby

the local Seven Eleven selling lotto tickets

schools, churches, gas stations

it rides the bus and gives it orders

watches all the customers at Safeway

stores emails and phone calls

for your protection

information is controlled by the Ministry of TV

the Channel 5 weatherman offers

a veritable smorgasbord of bay area weather

from the shoreline to the bay to the mountains

so if where you are is not nice

drive somewhere else

presuming the gas and time are available

and the weather doesn't Change

but last evening even that was out

the Change had us all in its grip

and he had to admit

everywhere will be hot for the next several days

no escape

with the freeway cameras watching

the ones at Safeway

and where you work

there is one on your cell phone

which of course has a microphone

civilization has been hijacked

FIRST THINGS FIRST

between a splendiferous sunset

and urinating by the creek

were crickets heard?

creeks run in concrete channels now

if allowed

downtown trees poke through holes

earth is a platform for rockets

Stanford's epitaph:

The Farm

where the meaning of meaning

is argued

so many people now

more starvation

more motivated workers

in agricultural times not long past

called slaves

reality bytes

compose some music?

better learn how to cook

start with 32 measures of profit

drizzle onto a 78 RPM record

go to a 62 bit computer

download the entire 78 oeuvre in 16 minutes

and who cares

learning rice takes 6 years in Japan

WIND SOCK

added to this evening's shopping list:

Spanish American Asian Trail Mix

with raisins and M&Ms

in the wake of

California's microrain

falling in July

an Ebola outbreak

suicide bombings

perhaps too disturbing for the evening news

freeway sound walls

up since 1960

unable to block the population

from increasing 4 to 6 billion

a 10.0 megaquake is not an impossibility

or an asteroid

or another peaceful nuclear disaster

and the usual political lies

would you like some ketchup with your fries?

on the back page of Wednesday's paper

in the fine print

you're warned that after all the government promises

you're on your own

resilient

and can you float under a collapsed house?

graffiti at least

is colorful

which of course is the purpose

of M&Ms

in the trail mix

NEXT QUESTION

the worst drought in California's history

as summer wears on

and wildfires spread

California runs out of water

the cornucopia of oil

fizzles

fear looms over greed

Santa Clara seems the least likely place:

Silicon Valley Power

the technologists and the hype

the stadium

expansion will be infinite

though the media might try to screen it out

the Change is upon us

how we deal with it

and each other

is the real question

not all of us have been fooled by the hype