In the hills of Gary, West Virginia, McDowell County. Typing from a cot in an abandoned school. Been doing construction work with some friends for some friends. And it’s all been my joy. I had some time in the evenings to describe some of it in song.
Sorry for the absence. The ipoet is back. Rap news ain’t dead.
Performed by the ipoet. Music produced by dj clutch.
Today’s song blog here:
My Joy
To all the people whose attachment to their pets I had trouble understanding, I owe an apology.
Our cat was killed this weekend. Not sure if it was a dog or a coyote or a raccoon or what.
Half an indictment of the tragedy-free life I’ve led and half a tribute to the special place pets hold in our homes and heart, it’s been one of the most difficult things I’ve ever experienced.
Without going into all the details, I have some guilt for the circumstances in which it happened. I’m furious that he’s gone. And, I’m unbearably sad that he was conscious and in fear, most likely, when it happened. He was not quite 2.
The worst is that, as a father of three, I’ve been given some horrible window into the more serious tragedy of losing one’s child prematurely. If my reaction is proportionally more severe, it looks like I’ll probably just quit.
Anyway, he was an awesome cat. His name was Pumpkin. My wife, three children, and I will miss him a great deal.
My apologies to Nancy Grace. This ain’t her fault.
I didn’t watch a minute of the Casey Anthony trial. Literally, not one. I know the sparest about it. This song blog is not some considered opinion on its outcome. It appears reasonably perceived as wrong.
But, it seems a collective sin that we so consistently relish the sensational and scream for guilt. I don’t know if we fall into fury for the actual loss of the victim’s justice or for some blood thirst. It’s not like we fear Casey Anthony on the streets. And, our 24-hour news cycle of tabloid television doesn’t help. Nancy’s name seems ironic. I mourn for Caylee. But, she’s all good. If there is a God, she’s all good. My greatest lament is for those among us who, in the name of vindication, seem to have no goal but revenge.
The Courts are a violent place. By its nature, the criminal verdict does violence. Oft justified, but violence nonetheless. It rips liberty, and at times, life, from people and families. It is serious business. We should neither hope for it unnecessarily or celebrate it like some birthday party or lottery win.
I’ve never been able to relate to the post-verdict jubilance of a victim’s family. Then again, I’ve never been victimized. But, I suspect that I couldn’t muster much joy. And, maybe theirs is feigned or forced or some sort of mask. I think, mostly, I would despair.
At the same time, knowing how precarious and prone to error our judicial process can be, I could never be confident of any outrage over a failed prosecution. American justice is built on the notion that it is a fundamentally lesser wrong to allow the guilty to walk than the innocent be detained. In suspiscious outcomes like the Casey Anthony trial, we can take solice in two things: (a) punishment could never have redeemed the victim and (b) we have averted the worse hell of a wrongful conviction. That is not to say, “Let them all go.” But, let us not cry with such arrogance, like we know.
Let us be about grace. It is what we would want for ourselves.
Performed by the ipoet. Music produced by dj clutch.
Today’s song blog here:
Nancy Ain't Grace
ipoetblog.com just got an audio upgrade, girls:
Happy Fourth of July. I’ve been recording late into the night from an undisclosed location in the NC mountains. I thought I would celebrate this independence holiday with a song about Thailand politics. Of course. Nothing is more red-blooded and American than a weekend in Bangkok. See The Hangover 2. Plus, Thailand just elected, to some surprise, its first female Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. The clever part, however, is that she is the sister of Thailand’s former and exiled Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who is presently in Dubai. Ahhh, the plot thickens. So, are they somehow in political cahoots? Who knows? But, it sure was fun comparing them to the “Wolfpack.”
Oh, and today’s song should not be taken as some sort of indication that I’ve actually ever seen either of the Hangover installments. That would be against my religion, obviously. **Double winks.
Performed by Alan the ipoet. Music produced by dj clutch.
Today’s song blog here:
the Wolfpact