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(10/27/06) for Frank Sherlock. I would be agoraphobic if I could afford it. But I'd meet you once in a while for a beer Frank. Our city has been invaded and occupied by the horrid rich, making landlords the happiest it seems. The New York Times referred to Philadelphia as "blue collar kitsch," BLUE COLLAR KITSCH!? FUCK THE NEW YORK TIMES THIS OUR LIVES! Why don't they ever reply to my hate mail Frank? You and I have been friends for fifteen years now, and that amazing friendship and poetry are the same to me, inseparable. But I still can't believe you thought I went to New Mexico for a sex change. Man, don't you think I trust Philadelphia doctors? I'm not getting a sex change though because I'm a gender they don't have the parts for yet. Unless of course they could replace my genitals with a mini bar or toaster oven, I LOVE RYE TOAST! Speaking of rye toast I'm glad a bunch of us went to the diner the other day to celebrate my Philadelphia anniversary. That was so beautiful having a meal with friends in the same spot where I had my first meal in Philly EXACTLY half my life ago. What was up with that poetry reading earlier in the day though? The embarrassed poet showing us how she made clothes for the naked statues in the anthology out of yellow post-it notes, as though it was cute. Someone did say, "Ah, that's sweet," and I almost LOST IT, meaning angry, meaning what kind of artist censors another artist? Trust me, I understand how I set myself up for disappointment, expecting artists to be open and alive, but I WILL NOT trust an artist who apologizes for art! That anthology she filled with paper clothes for the naked statues was Surrealist Love Poems. Does she have ANY IDEA how pissed off Breton would be, hearing her read his poems after covering up the nipples, cocks and cunts!? Who needs Breton's anger, we can get there just fine without him! To NOT be angry in America, 2006, is to be subdued, duped, or high all the time. I want a crystal ring to my anger, a healthy inhalation of the stuff. Ian Keenan emailed me about Pennsylvania Green Party candidate Carl Romanelli being forcibly removed from the ballot by a pack of vicious lawyers and judges to squelch YET AGAIN that alternative voice so many of us seek, and NEED! Another election fixed? When writing to Green Party staff in Philadelphia and elsewhere, everyone confirmed the worst, in fact the more I read the worse the news became, meaning it's a nationwide epidemic with this mid-term so-called election. Going to work after reading such information is hard on the nerves and Soul, working retail for a bunch of rich creeps. Like this guy who said to me, peeling a hundred dollar bill off a roll of hundreds, "Once you break a hundred it's all over." I said, "Yeah, I know what you mean man, I feel the same way when I break a ten." He seemed confused by the pile of shit he found himself standing in, unsure what to do for a moment. Then he glared and called me a "SMARTASS" while walking away. What the FUCK did he expect me to say? Why would he think I know what it means to have a fist of hundred dollar bills? I wish I believed in redemption and divine justice like my grandma did. I wish I could believe in karma like some of my friends do. What I do believe in is a terrible thing to believe, but part of it includes hope. As awful as things are I'm not interested in serving Doom. Our friend Mary Kalyna says that when we went to hear Hugo Chavez speak in New York we went for a MUCH NEEDED political-spiritual recharge! Thank you Mary for reminding me, I'm needing the reminder tonight. We all need the reminder, don't we? Get brave and stay brave together! With us on that van ride to see Chavez speak was Michael Berg, a man who lost his son in Iraq. Look at Michael Berg now, HE'S SO BRAVE, running for congress in Delaware on the Green Party ticket. The other day when they barred him from the debates he defiantly walked onto the stage. The moderator said, "I'm asking you, Mr. Berg, to please leave the stage. If you want to make a spectacle of yourself, I understand that, but we're ready to start." Berg replied, "I think you're making a spectacle of democracy." I bow to Michael Berg's courage. And every week I look at my pay stub, see the taxes taken out, and imagine the machine guns it helps buy.