the old-school guestbook archives
my amazon wish list... my favorite astrologer... my favorite artist... yerba mate revolution! erowid: a travel guide for interior journeys... no more war: MoveOn.org United for Peace and Justice True Majority seek the truth: Common Dreams Unamerican Activities The Nation people I adore, diaries I read: rev.raikes ariana cubiclegirl epiphany glitter333 laurakay wammo the music: the asylum street spankers backyard tire fire blue highway bill camplin wendy colonna freedom tribe joules graves guy forsyth band hamsa lila hanuman libby kirkpatrick leftover salmon pamela means medeski martin & wood the motet the nice outfit nickel creek open road rose polenzani railroad earth south austin jug band string cheese incident taarka tha musemeant the devil makes three tim o'brien band trolley wild sage keller williams yonder mountain string band |
rod serling, coretta scott king, and me ~ September 17, 2001 - 9:43 p.m. it's hard to know what to say. I was on top of a mountain in vermont when everything went insane. it was too surreal to be listening to the news on npr and looking out at that view that went on forever. there's too much to say, and so I wind up saying very little. I pray a lot; I meditate. I pray for peace, for healing. I pray that our own government won't mow us down and lock us up in the name of anti-terrorism. knowing, of course, that they will. my brother and sister-in-law in new york are fine. so is everyone else I know, as far as I know. ozone and I just came from canada, the flags are at half-mast there, too. we're in ohio now, at my old college, antioch. it's strange to be back here. wonderful, in a way, it's my first time back in four years, and I'm flooded with memories with every step I take through this town, this campus. there's no describing the experience of being an antioch student. it's something only another antioch student can understand. it's an experience that has defied words every time I've made the attempt. those years I spent here, crazy, stressful, wild and touched with magic. there were times I didn't know if I'd survive. and times I didn't know if I'd survive without it. I was almost afraid to leave, knowing I'd never experience anything like it again. happily, life since has continued to open and grow and unfold. I've had experience after experience, each as rich and wild as the one before. I've never regretted leaving this place, but some piece of me will always be here. walking through this campus now, I am an alien. I used to know everyone. but I still feel like I know these kids. they are as wild and filled with life and passion as the ones I made this journey with years ago. very little has changed. there's more computers here now; a few things have been renovated, a few things have deteriorated. I found so much of myself in my time here, gained tools and perspectives that I've carried with me down all the roads I've journeyed since. If I had a child that was thinking about antioch, I'd say go. in spite of everything. in spite of the trash and the fighting and the slapdash administration and the underfunded everything and the overargued everything, I'd say go. explore the world. know what it means to live in a community. find what nourishes you, feed your passions. argue, fight, love, fuck, and struggle your way into the rest of your life. make your own way in a crazed, dysfunctional family of lost children making their own way. antioch is the land of lost children. it's a place of power and intensity. it's like nothing else in the world I've ever found. and it used to be home. it's good to see this place again, to touch it, feel it, smell it, to put my arms around it and know it's still there, in all its messiness and imperfection. I will always be glad that my journey brought me to this place, and I will always be glad that the road carried me beyond it. I always knew that once I left, I could never really come back. but I carry this place with me, this crazy home, this strange world. go, I tell my dream-child, go. become.
(((rings))) |