A poem

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- g7 g" b$ u, }Ball & Chain Record Store by Ellyn Maybe
, E" H1 Y4 o+ R9 G6 z9 E& X! cBall & Chain Record Store
' X# H+ c: L" B. r  J# C* |+ s
$ D" M" @2 r6 u' j  d" W* N& M# NSomeone came into the ball and chain
record store I work at
& [& n. _# @$ j. l3 L) Band said no bags
a waste of plastic
6 }% B) I- e1 ?# r2 p
I said yes
/ [/ x& A* D1 z! @7 I$ \3 t9 fYou must be a granola eating, left wing,
7 ^1 c8 t1 v  r/ jdig gothic, post-modernist, watch a lot
of Billy Jack movies, Arlo Guthrie type
: U! o9 C. p( n' G# e2 e0 I
; p) c+ I) G* W# `5 j& `9 j& e8 zHe said yes
I smiled
I dream of Tom Waits fingerpainting
; K$ M2 G* K+ Q% {) |9 flightbulbs on my holiday wreath,
  B$ T* k( {* P4 _9 Iand I'm Jewish, pretty weird huh?
I celebrate Tiny Tim's birthday
5 v/ z! F1 @  p6 Y5 x9 cwith a parade of dancing deadheads
some who never sleep and some
) E5 t  ~* d, z" i' h0 Ywho never go to the bathroom
; z4 H. x3 w  ~6 S
His T-shirt said have you hugged
a rainforest today?
4 w4 v9 Y3 c6 n% N
+ v+ J8 e6 c; f( nI said I love the planet
but it's unrequited love

He told me babe, you're bringing me down
  G+ R. V" d0 ~When I was born my first word was ooomm
5 |# q; N) f, v' e  ?In kindergarten I organized the pacifists
to demand we didn't have to read
from Dick, Jane and Spot books
- f/ W8 @6 v- s9 yToo generic

I demanded we get American Indians
to talk about what's real
" ]8 Y8 K6 {' z6 O# t6 Q0 v% IAnd I gave them my nap mat
cause it's their land and
! J: R; ?6 J9 [9 Z6 nI gave them my peanut butter
and jelly sandwich cause
the buffalo have been murdered
7 v7 a6 J+ F3 y+ qand they need protein

He blushed with passion and said
tell me you

Well, the first 15 years of my life
; c3 @/ p/ i* H1 x8 K. G- qI thought Barry Manilow was a sex symbol
Needless to say I got a sort of late start

9 p: V3 E6 d. i4 Hat being at one with the cosmic heartbeat

" Y; P2 g& v5 y- s* L! yHe gave me one of those looks
like I better get this girl
some Jack Kerouac books to read fast
/ m3 a" S8 ]9 L/ Y# {7 ?; `: P; T& Hbefore she suffers the confusion
/ `! l% T- y& S& ]
. ]" {6 l- w. E. Q' F" \of not knowing there's other existences
beside the banal

$ R. ^( K" v4 o% A4 PI put my hands on my hips and squealed
5 E0 [" ]0 I- a0 B6 P# oI read On The Road and the letters

of Allen Ginsberg to Neal Cassady
and vice versa

He said on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
I'm a part time Marxist
/ n! I3 w3 M  b; g6 @9 ^+ RHe took out a beanie
put it on his head
, J) ]5 b' f4 F% S# h! \and began to chant

+ U- B+ o: A% j' z7 B8 aThis definitely turned me on

3 O. A" e' }% K1 ~* K" ?All of a sudden he began to sing
the minimum wage workers' song

the walls are full of faces
the mini-malls are full of neon
the bitter bite the hands that feed them
the food is a mixture of bone, blood
; w7 k9 g/ Z# [- J; ~9 O6 l9 S7 B/ }and snails
: }' U! }5 Y" C" Nman is a cannibal

I said wow! you are the sort of guy
4 G2 M' s# U3 x- |5 D) z8 Ywho says right on and really means it
you probably only drink the milk
of socially conscious cows
+ X/ S0 [+ ^& `0 y& y% N4 kwho voted Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young for president
8 L, p3 L; D/ Y2 ^3 B0 U0 Y* \
He screamed oh chick my life changed
* D2 q! U& `1 f$ ~; @+ f; O0 cin 1962 when I realized the Constitution
was written without women, blacks,
indians, and poor white men in mind
That was not o.k.
4 D; p, `( E# d9 s* [5 r1 \- mI became the Jackson Pollack of feminism
I threw paint of outrage everywhere
* i, n. h* t  F/ L' s2 {6 RI was a man who identified
with Billie Holiday and Ernest Hemingway
  _0 Z9 h5 ^& w' B6 EI was a traveler

+ z6 o! _; F: A% H, c, ~So what brings you into this
& e2 ^9 `, m- C% d  [2 E8 W/ sSan Fernando Valley air conditioned
# Z* U5 W6 F5 w! z% M$ |intellectually malnourished video store
/ n, E# Y! J: y6 s  ewith the exactlys?
# h1 d  X& P& UWe open exactly at 10:00
0 L2 M" T( L% l( O1 Q6 ]( JClose exactly at 10:00
9 f; D$ h* }4 d7 _+ X5 H. \No matter what our karma
Damn it's so crass,
you can't even rent The Last Waltz here
. ^9 _# A! Q- ?# [( w6 g
" J- Y/ L" m& _5 gHe said I'm in a competitive mantra makers
' X: k% a  x% a' i+ v' @8 Hbowling league
We have weavers, chess players
) |' X: H2 n4 E7 Oavant garde stamp collectors
7 Y4 f/ H; Q! j0 P) H6 vand Hell's Angels
Inventors all
( M, v5 N9 D" G6 r  `6 g* r) M7 B! hWe bowl whenever the fuck
. @& |2 ~) V) k0 k0 Lthe spirit moves us
With any luck we'll be playing the
% N( F5 ?7 O2 t  |- w( h5 ZNew Age/lawyers/used car salesman league
$ d1 @* \0 p. F4 Hagain real soon
& F# y) a- C, ?9 o) d$ H
; E& U- p# h' \& x1 \Hippies and New Age people are like
the difference between Bob Dylan and Bob Hope

+ O! ~& @9 q) yHe smiled and said do you want to bowl?
We are definitely into strikes
' W# `& Z7 ^! }/ F& b% o5 O0 ffor the betterment of the worker
: |5 P8 l7 g8 j; y4 w' ^3 D5 |* dWe need someone who looks
, q) u" r, ^; \; _8 @like she could walk into the woods
and find incense without getting poison ivy
You look like Van Morrison
3 j4 J$ c! O  i' W0 r$ Mwhen you pout your lips
" x# b/ u0 E9 \% P: A5 y) ~You could be a part of the father son and
. S; c: }/ U! N! S6 y+ M) [7 ythe holy ghost meshuganeh athletic league
Besides I love you
7 f) e9 c0 C3 W- B4 w
I started to weep
Tears of Bas Mitzvah cake
and tears of being the last kid picked
for field hockey in gym class
" X* D0 ~7 i+ ^' @9 ?9 BAuthentic tears
Nobody ever said all that to me before
* _: O: a3 i. V1 F6 B* u$ |" gI guess I kind of do have Van Morrison's mouth
Why hadn't anybody ever noticed?

I said I love you
But every free moment I moonlight at
) C/ j! t  o" {; E8 ~0 FHairy Krishna Organic Coiffures
8 S/ o; i# Y* c) m9 {and Tea Salon
We use
. z4 J* {* e2 O7 pno chemicals
no dyes
no sprays
no combs
5 I$ I( k- [( R! cno brushes
3 W1 ?1 K# F& y$ qHell, you look pretty much the same going out
as going in
' x1 N( t1 b% }5 F5 }+ J* A
He said what's a nice girl like you doing
  n3 b9 p8 a5 d7 o: q' A8 xliving in a Republican administration
like this?
8 l% _8 s- ?! p6 i8 u% F
$ X) r( c! m) b# RThe manager of the record store comes over
7 K. z& I0 S- p+ F9 ]" Y/ F6 `and says
, a! |# M" @4 [; S9 ?you know the movie Fahrenheit 451
" o, X+ c/ S, }Corporate has ordered us to burn it
Get to it!
Don't give me your damn whimpering
Joan of Arc eyes
0 Q5 T& L' C3 t5 t7 ^Lots of people would love to have your job
$ }- u; Q3 J& U, K$ X# a! ~# }  e
/ ?  L3 h- I5 ]3 W7 c6 g6 ]+ bI screamed pig PIG
You are giving barnyard animals a bad name
Cops are Pigs!
  s6 r' D, m* F& oIntolerants are Pigs!
/ j# j4 W6 Y) G6 q2 f$ tBigots are Pigs!
Everybody who does it and says they're
just doing their job is a Pig!
Everybody who does it to someone else
knows what they are

This is my first day at the record store
I guess if they want to have a quiet
complacent yes sir type of employee
they ought to ask different questions
' P# ?2 ^1 `" ^: ^on the application

like do you conform?
: }7 q1 w) g' d. ^like do you care that this is stolen land?
like do you believe in playlists?
6 H- E" z: F; X! ylike do you believe in yourself?
do you mind waking up alone
) J2 K: g4 i2 ^9 yrather than being beat up with fists?
6 r# @  I% b. d. U5 H, K1 xdo you see the government is beating us up
as bad as a knife in our elbows
as bad as a slur in our ears
7 r6 I" k0 a' x6 f, e$ O  r% bas bad as a rape
4 k0 d% g3 X+ \7 zwhen we just wanted to be held
! a' x. k0 _; c7 @" X
8 c% P# t0 i9 jAnd all they ask is
3 u0 H) t# H; R* g" ucan you work part-time?
and what days can't you work?
and they say whom do we contact
, @5 G, `- p) b. A/ m& ain an emergency?
I said
cause you need to ask that
# J, m; ]. y) c, t! l! Nconstitutes an emergency
The hippie said my name is Hell's Bell's
/ x6 l/ Q  d- @" c  ebut you can call me hope
/ @  v; \* |; U; ~He said I dug you
Now I dig your whole being
' S/ \8 D3 K# A0 F9 p0 e4 u
1 Y. E) \/ `$ ]2 ^It's strange
* }& U: J4 G4 q' V) R2 K4 G) K! ?3 eNo matter how many nights I wake up unhappy
$ d3 e6 }1 c, x- z6 w" X: ]) ]' Zthere is still a possibility of rising
into a change so easily
The outlaw lives in a world
where when he sees a mirror
he sees a hero
  n6 K/ C4 `1 \And all heroes put their bellbottoms on
6 `9 {; F7 J* G% v. q* qone leg at a time
0 k, r# G, n* ?: e1 Y: F; l
Let's face it
How can you trust money when
$ ^. ?; x& R! A: ait's politician's faces printed on it
, q$ |8 J7 }- ?8 F, YMoney is sexist
& _( y" Y' S- s4 O3 p/ rThe only woman on so called American currency
which is really Turtle Island
to the Indians is Susan B. Anthony
and they stopped making those real fast

Is money worth killing for?
Is money worth dying for?

I ran through the store singing
: o( g4 y* P- Fabout William Blake's eyebrows
and Walt Whitman's bellybutton
' Z2 c6 Q' r+ a2 F2 `saying everything is alive
and everything is sort of adorable

I took paperclips and gave them
to loving vegetarian families
who needed someone

I took the bathroom sink and gave it a hug
% v* h9 d, ~! G1 ^I freed all the rubberbands!

& S' C& C# L: IAnd I said to all the plastic bags
I will never burden you
with films weighing you down,
Perry Como cassettes,
! h9 V) c. E( C) ?* o, Oor even a piece of Jerry Garcia's beard
Well maybe

3 [5 R3 v. e5 q! t4 l5 xBut I will never staple a bag
for you brought love
3 S* m! z, N; G8 i. W( b: C5 `
( q6 a. J6 T8 }) ]: i" `$ \  U5 wMost people tell me
it was all the pop tarts I ate
Some people tell me
it was because I was a liar
And I said I'm too honest
to be anybody's best friend
( |* A% j6 X7 o+ L. _8 S/ [but at times nobody believes
this hippie ever even came by
: F2 G- |7 G+ s; A, C
" ]1 q' q# p4 W: jthere are
no lingering peace signs
no incense
no tea bags
1 u. {8 R/ R, y2 o& ono fuck the fuckers pamphlets
yet I still can't even believe
Abbie Hoffman is dead

  L  l  ]) @1 T3 |So my strengths and pains
are in my sense of wonder

4 B% [. h7 i1 ~7 \9 C+ SAll I know is I don't believe in
& y9 B+ ~* S' T! g3 o, vwearing sandals and argyle socks together
9 ]% t, E% J1 G$ Z, S6 UAnd when I needed it most, hope was here
change must not be too far behind


Ellyn Maybe

程普

so long