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.