Arts & Culture

A strong, spirited and resilient assemblage of anti-war protesters gathered at Kent State University on the anniversary of the students killed and wounded 32 years ago on May 4th. A crowd estimated just under 1000 people combined efforts to commemorate those lost in similar anti-war efforts over three decades ago with a crystal clear statement against the Bush Administration’s self-declared “war on terrorism.” The rally and protest march resoundingly rejected the war in Afghanistan and any expansion of war with resounding chants of “NO MORE WAR IN OUR NAME…LET THEM NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN.” Over and over the chant repeated, just to the side of the site where Ohio National Guardsmen shot K.S.U. student protester Allison Krause dead in 1970. Respects were paid to all involved on that horrible day in history. Most of us there made another pledge on this day in history (in part)….

     ancient trees standing
     so many leaves it seems….
     have fallen so early this year
burning trees
now fallen too
returned to the earth
preceded by millions
in other places
acres now barren
cows are grazing
where giants once stood
     normally when an animal
     takes another energy is exchanged
     understanding occurs….
respect in both directions
all those trees taken
with such little regard
strong reverberations
have returned to call
as the laws of physics
in cosmic proportions
unfolded right before
disbelieving eyes
     so many leaves fallen
     so many trees
     so many clues….
     have fallen with them
tears streaming down
in disbelief then rage as the first two trees
have been taken
whole trees in fact
with leaves still attached
taken from our own forest
by the hands of others

pulverized

the good son has fallen

as the clock crushed twelve....

hey-ya- hey hey -ya hey

minute grains of sand

smashed beyond recognition

mired in unimaginable dimensions

late for a family photograph

-no lack of commitment

hey-ya- hey hey -ya hey

family tree can not be traced

-but for the tendencies

you want proof

you want justice

you want freedom

you think you want truth....

there is no metaphor for truth.

hey-ya- hey hey -ya hey


december 2001

Difficult times demand clarity from those who have the ability to express opinions in the media. Often times, media will seek an “expert” or an “informed” opinion to add texture to a particular story of national importance. Not surprising in the least, the lead story in The Columbus Dispatch on Sunday October 14, 2001 was “Testing America’s Resolve.” Within the text, were quotes from professor of military history at The Ohio State University, Allan R. Millett. According to the professor, “The terrorists are ahead of us by 6,000 dead to begin with, and that adds up to a lot of angry Americans.”

the hotchkiss cannon’s opened up . . . .

as those who ran, were chased down   like rabbits.

women with or without child, men and even children

   all unarmed.

deadly silence fell over the killing fields . . . .

as cardinal red blood lay in stark contrast

 to falling pure and driven snow.

all metaphors still stand . . . .

distinctly apart, only one of the earth

 all balance remains undone.

michael eckhardt
december 29, 2000

Yuppification . . . corporatization . . . bland o’rama.

What a drag it is getting older as the forces of reaction grow bolder. For a quarter century the people’s liberation front gathered at its headquarters in Columbus, Tradewinds. You entered the revolutionary space through a door under the sign of the Dragon.

On Wednesday, July 19, the Dragon breathed fire no more. Scott Solomon, lacking wisdom, evicted the store’s owner Yvette Garayalde Wyman from the legendary storefront. The late Libby Gregory, activist extraordinaire, founded the original store. It gave shelter to the Columbus Free Press when the underground newspaper was being hounded by a joint operation of the National Security Agency, CIA and FBI in the 1970’s. Indeed, there’s a certain nostalgia for the terms MH Chaos and COINTELPRO.

Perhaps it would have been a more fitting way for the store to go out being blown up by the neo-Nazi Gerhardt brothers in the early 80’s – in fact they testified under oath to plotting the bombing to destroy the progressive movement in Cowtown.

cold black monolith
               reflecting the source
                from the east...
                 phallic monument
                  symbolic underwriter
                   as background static
                    emits from yet another
                     monument also reflected
                      this one from the west...

It’s summertime and the reading should be easy. Or, at least, fun and educational for progressives. Here are the books I’m enjoying this summer: A double dose of Texas populism at its best in the new books by Jim Hightower, If The Gods Had Meant Us To Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates, and Molly Ivins’ and Lou Dubose’s Shrub, The Short But Happy Political Life Of George W. Bush.

Ivins, a syndicated columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (who thankfully appears in the Free Press) and Dubose, the editor of the Texas Observer, a Freep role model, are long-time observers of the notorious Bush dynasty. A clan I personally believe to be the most evil political family in the United States history. Shrub does an excellent job of cataloging the rise of “Dubya’s” bizarre career and fabricated imagery. If you thought George W. was a drunken frat boy ne’er do well who shamelessly leveraged his father’s political power to gain preferential treatment, and a governorship, now you’ve got the facts.