Bleeding Out
I took a walk in town around midday. Mother nature was in her fecund glory. I saw the Poppy blossoms from a distance. Red is an arresting color. These three or four Poppy blossoms were blazing with radiance on the side of a dreary street. Most of the rental spaces for small businesses are shuttered, some have been unoccupied since 08 or longer. I heard that we are to lose one more shop down by the covered bridge by the creek. Our town, preserved for its reminiscent architecture from the early 20th century no longer is visited by tour buses. Retirees no longer can afford to associate for a few hours in a pleasant setting, given the cartel-like cost of health care. Only a few specialty shops remain, livelihoods for intrepid merchants who probably recognize this way of life may be a lost cause. The internet, that vanity fair of every imaginable product and pleasure continues it’s relentless expansion.
In my fantasy I drew a line between a town and a country in trouble, and the magnificent story Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I’ve seen the adaptation by Andrew Loyd Weber several times. Like the citizens of Paris we are indeed being enslaved –vulnerable by virtue of uncritical receptivity to the inscribed lies seductively offered by corporate advertising. Any representation is fair game if growth results. Our lives and fortunes are plunder for a long line of politicians who promise a fantastic future, never mind that we are the only ones that will pay the bill. Of course the hedge fund managers lick their chops at the juice on the ever increasing sums that must be borrowed to keep our society afloat.
No wonder the streets are quiet with few shoppers.
The red of the Poppy reminded me of the red of the flag over the barricade, and the crimson blood of the lives spent to invite a better tomorrow. Times have changed. Building a barricade will not help. We have to believe that tomorrow will come.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?Les Miserables – Do You Hear The People Sing?
One thought on “Bleeding Out”
Beautiful