Between Yesterday and Tomorrow

Why would anyone want to be a poet? I don’t know. As a profession it’s not exactly profitable. And profit’s useful if you’re hungry. I, personally, fell into it, never intended to be one, don’t know if I really am, do know that it’s FUN. I throw out a line and hope I’ll hook you!

Why am I asking now? Because my reading at Linnemans is two days away, on Monday to be exact, and I’ve been too swamped to do much about it. There's an open mike first for anyone who wishes to include some poetic words, a great chance for a closet poet to give it a shot in a relaxed and accepting atmosphere. So please bring something of your own to read if you're moved to do so!

Usually I perform with other poets, and everyone has equal time. On April 30, as the featured poet at Linneman's, I'll have a whole hour. Don't worry, I doubt I'd go on that long! Here are the details:
Poets Monday, Apr 30
7:30 PM: Open Mike
9 PM: Featured Poet
Linneman's, 1001 E Locust (one block west of Humboldt)
Emcee: Tim Kloss
Admission: $3

I reworked the poem that I wrote for tomorrow's and Saturday's Earth Poets and Musicians performances (see my last blog for info) and thought I'd post the latest version! And, sticking to the subject of environment, I checked into the Pick 'N Save bike rack removal and learned that the old bike rack collapsed. So now Pick 'N Save has the opportunity to install a larger rack, or maybe even two racks, one with a roof overhead for rainy and snowy days.

GLOW BALL WORMING (GLOW LITTLE GLOW WORM, GLIMMER, SIMMER)

Let's cool down the glow of global
Rev up the war on warming
Cool down the glow, rev up the war
Lower the heat, live with less, not more
Lower the heat, lower the heat
Wear a sweater, double socks on the feet
Throw out incandescent
Use bulbs that are fluorescent
Minimize, minimize, don't be a user
Love mother earth, do not abuse her
Is this something we can do
It's up to you, and you and you, andyouandyouandyouandyou
We can't start anew anew, anewanewanewanew
What's done is done, we can't undo
Done is done, can't undo, cannot start anew anew

Let's cool down the glow of global
Rev up the war on warming
We're all in this together
Don't want to die of weather
Each of us has the weapon
Better not to weep but to step in
Try not to take a plane
If there's a bus or train






Try not to use a car
If you can bike that far
Walk walk walk wherever you can
Live your life close to the land
Wash small items in a wash bowl
Use a clothesline when it's not too cold
Eat your dandelions, love your purple clover
Whatever kills them, will also kill Rover
Don't poison the soil, eat organically
Don't grow grass, plant a tree,
Cosmos, coreopsis, zucchini
Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli
If you don’t grow a garden, at least eat local,
If you care about the earth, at least be vocal
Let the whole world know
We have to cool down the glow.

Is this something we can do
It's up to you, and you and you, andyouandyouandyouandyou
We can't start anew, anew, anewanewanewanew
What's done is done, we can't undo, cannot start anew anew
And you, and I, and I, and you can choose
Ego or eco, ego or eco, if it’s ego, we lose
Egoecoegoecoegoecoegoeco we go we go we go we go
Where we go We’d better know
Ego or eco, ego or eco, the difference is a g or a c
C in eco, C in community
G in ego G in greed
Wanting wanting more than we need
Ego eco a G or a C
And that may determine
Life’s viability

In 1988, when Jeff Poniewaz founded the Earth Poets, you seldom could even sniff global warming in the breeze. Now that breeze has become a hurricane, rivulets have become floods, and the mainstream has caught up to the Earth Poets. I've never missed any of our performances, and I've written many of my poems specifically for them. After all, being an Earth Poet changed my life: it made me a part of a group of creative people who really care about what's happening in the world around them. So here are the details for next weekend's 20th annual events, and here's a new earth poem I may or may not have finished!

20TH ANNUAL EARTH POETS AND MUSICIANS PERFORMANCES, April 20 and 21
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 7 P.M. Interactive Poetry and Music for the Whole Family
8 PM Earth Poets and Musicians
Jahmes Finlayson, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Holly Haebig, Jeff Poniewaz, Suzanne Rosenblatt,
Harvey Taylor, and SPECIAL GUEST: Milwaukee Poet Laureate Peggy Hong
URBAN ECOLOGY CENTER, 1500 E. Park Place
$5.00 Per Person, $10.00 Per Family, UEC Members Free

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2007, 8 P.M.
Jahmes Finlayson, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Holly Haebig, Suzanne Rosenblatt, Harvey Taylor, and SPECIAL GUEST: Musician & Poet KT Rusch
THE COFFEE HOUSE, 631 N. 19th Street (Just South of Wisconsin Ave)
Donation: $5.00 Benefit for Wellspring

GLOWBALL WORMING
(Glow Little Glow Worm, Glimmer, Simmer)

Let's cool down the glow of global
Rev up the war on warming
Cool down the glow, rev up the war
Lower the heat, live with less, not more
Lower the heat, lower the heat
Wear a sweater, double socks on the feet
Throw out incandescent
Use bulbs that are fluorescent
Minimize, minimize, don't be a user
Love Mother Earth, do not abuse her
Is this something we can do
It's up to you, and you and you, andyouandyouandyouandyou
We can't start anew anew, anewanewanewanew
What's done is done, we can't undo
Done is done, can't undo, cannot start anew anew

Let's cool down the glow of global
Rev up the war on warming
We're all in this together
Don't want to die of weather
Each of us has the weapon
Better not to weep but to step in
Try not to take a plane
If there's a bus or train
Try not to use a car
If you can bike that far
Walk walk walk wherever you can
Live your life close to the land
Wash small items in a wash bowl
Use a clothesline when it's not too cold
Make dandelion wine, love your purple clover
Whatever kills them, will also kill Rover
Don't poison the soil, eat organically
Don't grow grass, instead plant a tree,
Cosmos, coreopsis, zucchini
Lettuce, tomatoes, broccoli
Eat local, be vocal
Get active, proactive, politically involved
In the hope the problem can be solved

Is this something we can do
It's up to you, and you and you, andyouandyouandyouandyou
We can't start anew, anew, anewanewanewanew
What's done is done, we can't undo
Done is done, can't undo, cannot start anew anew

Ego or eco, ego or eco
All of us can choose
But if we pick ego over eco
Life on Earth will lose
Ego or eco, ego or eco, the difference is a G or a C
Ego or eco, a G or a C
The difference that determines
Life's viability

Copyright 2007 Suzanne Rosenblatt

A few years ago I jogged to the corner of Maryland and Olive to mail a letter, and the mailbox was no longer there. You know that feeling: something was there, was always there, suddenly it’s not, yet you’re sure you’re in the right place! I called the post office and learned they’d removed several Milwaukee area mailboxes because of vandalism. Someone had poured beer or soda into them. This was one of the most popular mailboxes in Shorewood. Drivers would always pull up and run to the box, motor humming, to drop in their outgoing mail. I was willing to take a chance and continue using it. And then one day it reappeared, an old friend on a long trip had suddenly returned to his usual corner!

I mention this because I had a similar experience yesterday. After almost two weeks in New York and, thanks to weather delays, almost five hours waiting at Laguardia airport, I was back home. I went to Pick & Save to restock, and the bike rack had been removed. Like the corner mailbox, this was a very popular bike rack, in fact was way too small. Maybe, the campaign against mailboxes being unsuccessful, they were removing bike racks in the Milwaukee area. No, I could still see the rack in front of 31 Flavors, and I’d already used the one centered between Schwartz and Walgreens. Maybe they moved it somewhere not within my line of vision. I locked my bike to a nearby signpost.

When I came out with my cartload, four half gallons of Lactaid, a few pounds of organic bananas (79 cents a pound), two boxes of cereal, and some broccoli, green onions, snap peas, and mangos, I realized my eyes were bigger than my backpack and basket. I had to balance the bike against the post to load it. I glanced nostalgically at the spot where the rack had been, and tried to imagine all the Pick & Save bikers trying to squeeze their bikes around a single signpost built at most for two. I expect that rack to reappear any minute.