Part I
Parental Guidance
This is the place they say people come
Reports of San Francisco’s demise have been
from far, far, far away to find their dreams
greatly exaggerated* news this month that
Chasin' down these meteors and comets
monoculture matters not just for the loss of the
(chasin' 'em, chasin' 'em, chasin' 'em down)
unexpected or the creative, but because it rises
Called dreams, in the sky of life
alongside the forced displacement of people.*
(chasin' 'em, chasin' 'em, chasin' 'em down
Living off a heart of nuclear fire we unravel with-
Chasin' 'em, chasin' 'em)
out understanding the sun and how the children
They say this is the place stars are born
of cosmos can come to know each other, how
This is the place where it can happen for you
we are all made of star stuff said Carl Sagan in
(for you, for you, for you)
1981** (and he got arrested for protesting nuclear
California knows how to make dreams sweet
bombs) because the cosmic perspective of ex-
California knows how to-
pansive supernova explosions mean catastrophe
Whisper in your ear and tell ya you're a star
birthed the remainder of elements of us here
You're a star, you're a star, you're a star,
now me and you/us and them and nothing.
You're a star and you keep on shinin'
Punished for no good reason - right?!
California knows how to make me smile
I wanted to love you but everyone can't
sometime yes they do (woo) yes they do
get together could be the tech buses the
California knows how to do what they do
illegal eviction notices that force out kids
when they do what they do when they do
and single mothers move to the central val-
what they do to me and you too, hey-ay-
ley desert shanty towns and levied slums,
California-how-hey-ay-ay (phenomenon,
their men are locked down or shot dead.
phenomenon) worldwide original style (indeed)
Reports justify murder and occupation for-
It's everything they say, it's everything they say
getting our cosmic connection with the stars.
It's everything they say
It's everything they say.
all italics are lyrics from Mos Def's song Kalifornia (his version of Tupac Shakur's song)
*from article by Rachel Brahinsky, with Rebecca Solnit's monoculture appropriation,
in Boom: A Journal of California, Summer 2014, Vol. 4, No. 2.
**I'm guessing around 1981 was when Carl Sagan said we are made of star stuff.
- - - - - - -
Part II
I dedicate this one right here
To all my homies out there grinding.
You know what I'm saying? Legally and illegally...You know what I'm talking about?
So, check it out:
This part II is still in the works.
Part III
I'm the earth, wind, fire & the thunder
an un-epithalamia