America, America
Memorial Day was when I got fired.
July 4th in 2019 is when left it all behind. It is the day I put my shit in the car for the first time, and drove up North, without a plan.
The Bay Area fireworks paraded my departure from the default world.
America sometimes loves me with poetic notions such as that. That’s why I love her, not to mention her vast landscapes that can heal generations.
So today is my fifth anniversary of saying No.
No to the nice rental.
No to the hours of bullshit Zoom meetings.
No to the 80-hour workweek on work that means nothing.
No to the fraying of my nervous system.
No to the twisting of my gut.
No to the self-loathing.
No to the 7-star cage.
I was 31.
Today I am 36.
It has been a long journey, continuously revealing itself, with no end.
Today, 5 years later, I harvest the long journey towards independence, that led me here.
I somehow wrote my way here, over three continents, many cities, and some village and farm explorations.
Today independence looks like this in Richmond California…
My freedom today includes working 25 hours on the farm and 25 hours per week on my writing and health program.
In return for accommodation, groceries, and a more than enough supply of, zucchini, cucumbers, mixed greens, eggplants, kale, onions, radishes, strawberries, cauliflower, and other plants I don’t even recognize yet.
Not to mention fresh eggs from the chicken coup every day.
I have time, education, and social backing to know that I am ok and to sit and write to you about my experience here.
However, for many people in America, Independence looks like this…
And since I am writing about my journey with health and lifestyle change, biomarker analysis, using technology, and all that jazz…
I pause today and share the part of me that is not so optimistic about our overall health as humans.
The part of me that wants to see the system as it is: predatorial, crushing, and demeaning to human health.
A system that is destroying our bodies, in every literal sense of the way.
America, America
she loves me
If and only if
I work hard enough
And play loud enough
And smile wide enough
She has
No space or time
For work life
Balance
Nonsense
The only thing she's
Interested in balancing
Is her sheet
Profits good
Losses bad
uncle Sam
Needs his tax
revenue Stat!
I Work Harder
I Eat faster
I nap less
I Insure for disaster
That is sure to come
Not from the outside
But internal collapse
Where I fall off
The safety bandwagon
Into the pit of despair
That is cold and dark
Far from Lady Liberty's flame
After years of her love
I am left alone
Sinking
In debt
And bills
After free steak dinners
I'm given food stamps
No more macadamian nuts
Only beans and
Cheese its
Now.
Damn her wrath is
Cruel
I must be mad
To still believe in
Her dreams
As I watch her
use her own superpowers to
Self implode
As we all gather Once more in 2024
For the puppet show
To lose our shit
And raise the flags
And look into her stars
And sing and dance
With hope
For a comeback
From this polarized
American
Nightmare.