Tuesday 15 March 2016

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes: 

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Tom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?" 

BEFORE WATERLOO,INDIGENOUS TRIBES
Camped by these Springs and ritually bathed
We find arrowheads in creek beds after rain
Few settled-most were Comanche raiders
Then,before Mexico had a name,new settlers came
They spoke Spanish ,and were displaced by a land grant
given to Stephen F Austin,which opened pre-Waterloo to new folk
who settled,and expanded,and stayed,and built
and named Waterloo after some European incident.
Later,our name would be changed to Austin,in honor of our Founder.
Ever since then,new people have moved in.I am one of them.
Between the shales of cowboy culture,redneck culture
slacker culture and Bohemian culture-a tourist culture developed
Austin was featured in music and film clips as a "progressive"city
KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD our defensive mantra.Leslie and buskers
homeless and hippies birthed a creative culture threatened by high rise prices
and valet condominiums.GROW OR DIE!.So Louis Meyers left SXSW in 1994,
and they then embraced film and interactive to gargantuan proportions.
But they forgot us-those who live here before and after the laminates visit.
We are no longer the Party.Who can afford us?We moved to Buda or Kyle or San Marcos

or Georgetown or Round Rock -and commute.Austin is a hollow bell-with an empty ring.

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