POETRY|FICTION|NON-FICTION|RECORDINGS|INTERVIEWS|READINGS & PERFORMANCES|CONTACT|LINKS
SING ME ONE SONG OF EVOLUTION
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for Andy Tallarita |
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1.
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
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DO THE ENRICO FERMI EAGLE" |
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shunned & shunted |
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to the corner |
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won't stand at the vice-principal's |
COMMAND.
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"Why should I be forced to fit |
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in, just to make their image |
perfect?"
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Eagle the bird |
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Andy pays for his words |
with a two-day suspension.
2.
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Stand firm, Enrico Fermi High. |
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Try the youth with your full authority: |
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"If you'd just play along, |
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here's what you'd get: |
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to |
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the |
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side- |
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lines, |
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like |
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any |
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normal |
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kid |
with Tourette"
3.
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
myself at his age:
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tried & found himself outside," |
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I read his mother said to the press. |
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Ah, yes! Thirty years of reflection |
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past my anguished introspection |
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& I still can't detect a change |
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but that the torturers |
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have turned teachers |
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& their kids wear their genes |
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like hearts on their sleeves
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catcalls windtunneling the halls |
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behind me, making hell of what |
YOU CAN'T HELP/BEING
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
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the cruelty of the light |
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so shiny, so desirable |
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these Future Leaders |
radiate:
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seven years, not one |
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friend, not one date, |
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mirrored hatred of |
their Social Order
_____________________
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the Doctor told me, thirty years later, |
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my diagnosis. |
______________________
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I pounded the punk |
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who kicked my chair |
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all year in class |
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On impulse |
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I refused to stand |
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to salute the flag |
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breezing over the |
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land of the Future |
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Leaders. On impulse |
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against their |
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indignant outcry |
"WE NEVER DID NOTHIN' TO YOU"
why shouldn't I
refuse to be
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
the(ir)
Red White & Blue
nightmare
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When I told him why I wouldn't stand |
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he threatened not to graduate |
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
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Andy, his life, my life, the pain |
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surfacing again. I liked him from |
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the first (exposure to my own |
kind)
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how many kids |
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beyond the blinking, beyond the twitching |
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beyond the grunting |
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if only they looked |
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beyond what |
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YOU CAN'T HELP/BEING
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his wired mind & wit, |
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would like |
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him just for |
being
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a nice kid |
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& a mirror |
reflecting
their basic decency.
4.
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Stand firm, Enrico Fermi High. |
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Try yourself with your full authority: |
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because thirty years past |
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my adolescent introspection |
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I still can't detect a change |
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because the torturers |
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have turned teachers |
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& their kids wear their genes |
like hearts on their sleeves
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teachers & their students |
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have taught Andy |
"The world is mean in general"
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tested yourself with |
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a single question: |
IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT
A NICE KID
& YOUR MIRROR
TO SAY?