​I am not tame, and I do not obey.

Mick Jaggar, by Andy Warhol. 
Mick recently turned 80.

"There is no such person as a stranger. Everybody needs compassion."

-Yoko Ono

It’s different today, Charlesy,

This is an occupied country.

America, held by force.

America, prisoner to the rich fascists,

Prisoner to the police, to money,

Commerce, industry, debt,

War for profit, more debt, stupidity.

America, prisoner to hatred.

Hard to believe that about fifty years

Have passed since we rode my truck

Through the back streets of Dallas,

Getting high, music up loud,

Reaching in each other’s pants in the dark.

And the Dallas police laughed at you,

A skinny girl who told them off,

Yelling that their search was illegal.

We had to pour out the beer,

We were only seventeen years old,

But they left the pot alone, pretending

Not to see it. You were right,

The search really was illegal.

And I was proud of you. Later, high,

You held me tight in your little fist

And my fingers were in you.

Did we want more? Yes... and no.

We were still just scared kids, really,

And we finished with our hands

And drove off down the street,

Feeling wild and sexy and brave.

No fascists controlled us, we were free.

We made our own choices.

-james lee jobe 

"Sometimes it’s not the strength but gentleness that cracks the hardest shells."

-Richard Paul Evans

Across the Yuba River; stones on the far bank

Stacked and balanced by passing hikers.

Beauty in the water and beside it.

Every day that we live is a gift and a blessing.

Every single day. Each and every breath.

-james lee jobe

It’s important to remember that until we straighten up our own lives, we probably won’t be that much help to anyone else.

-Clancy Martin, “It’s All for the Better”

​

Check my pockets. ​I am not tame, and I do not obey.

That is not my nature, friend. 

I am not going to beg at the breakfast table like a dog. 

A flag of welcome? A welcome mat at the door? Hardly.

Check my hands for a weapon. Check my pockets, my car. 

I am a snake. I am a hyena, a professional liar. 

And I will smile like a child just before I strike. 

-james lee jobe 

GAZING OUT FROM THE UPPER TERRACE, FAREWELL TO LI

in farewell on the terrace 

we gaze across the vast plains and rivers 

it is sunset 

birds in flight returning 

travelers setting out 

this never ends

WANG WEI, 701-761 CE

"The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism."

-Wole Soyinka

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James