1400 Dead Soldiers...

I just heard on the news that over 1400 soldiers have died in Iraq since america invaded. This figure does not include all the civilians killed on both sides. The horror, the horror... as Joseph Conrad wrote in the novella, The Heart Of Darkness.


I had coffee with an ex marine last night, a brilliant guy named Talib Morgan, who writes and raps. He just missed going to Iraq. Listening to him talk last night, I couldn't help but think what a waste it would have been if someone like him had been killed. He is a tall, handsome black guy with dreads. I don't use the word brilliant very often, but this cat deserves the monicor. Our conversation went all over the place: diasporas, colonialism, the crusades, numerous writers and philosophers, a lot of obscure stuff about christianity . . . For a guy who hasn't had much college, he has done a remarkable job of educating himself.

He has performed twice at my show. Once with a buddy, who did music while Talib did improvisational poetry. He was incredible. They played for the entire week before the fucking election that kept Bush in power. I was like their only fan, going down everyday to listen to them, and then inviting them to be the showcase at my show on friday. The guy who works at the cafe, Stan, couldn't stand thier music. It was very different, a clash of sounds; they were trying to show the horror of the world, and make a strong political statement, and the discordant clash of sounds produced by their synthesizer, saxophone, and god only knows what else was transcendent. Talib's words were incredible. He has sent me a couple of his rap songs, which read like dense, very deep poetry.
I'll ask him if I can put one of them on the site.

I wish I could do something to make people like Talib survive the war and become warriors in The Good Fight. Talib and I both consider ourselves at war with the dark forces trying to manipulate our culture, which is why we hit it off so well. Well, that and we both could see that the other was an intellectual seeker.

Running the literary reading, the elves attic, has put me in touch with some incredible people. All writers should do something like this, or make themselves a regular at readings. It really helps me in other ways too, especially with the comedy... hearing people laugh and gaffaw at my work opened a new world for me./