Van Gogh's Ear

“who knows the future, he wished on the matter, regularly, thought of the positives, no more complaints to God, why didn't you answer me, why didn't you save me, no more me talk, no more taxes, no red lights to stop at, only green ones, no more confessions, they were doing his head in,  from Rome to roaming and back to Rome again, the world had come full circle, so it seemed to him.

The Romans lived beyond their means, they just couldn't keep it up, not at the expense of everyone else, empires expand so do weaknesses,  and the more  invulnerable you are, the more vulnerable you become, complacency and conceit, can you imagine a tiger becoming a pussycat, the life style change, no longer proud and powerful, no longer pushing your way around, women or men, humble pie has a new following, action will never outlive words, gets more attention sometimes, best of all, you discover that domestic violence is a new form of home entertainment, cause you can’t afford cable, or to go out anymore. Stuck in this hole with you, is it the end of world in a refugee camp, maybe, a hospice probably, in Myanmar certainly not Burma, north Korea certainly, Afghanistan if you’re a woman, depends upon the judge, and if you’re a slave you don’t really care. Some people write complete shit, some painters paint shit, and experts have problems, this ear thought van Gogh, we don’t listen half the time, maybe he was imitating the future, warning us of the road ahead. Songs had been written, anthems the clever folk call them, the IT people you know, “it” been anything others have unless its an STD, clever songs, those action songs, Neil young, Cohen, Dylan, great poets, artists and writers, the common theme, the descent of mankind, and the need for change. As if a real black man will ever be elected president of the United States, pull the other one, anyone near the top usually got shot, certainly shot at, we’ve been warned he thought supping the ends of his glass. Yet he managed to smile through it all, knew there was God, just wasn’t sure which team he played for, there being so many, so many claiming to be Good while the world spun out of control. Tomorrow never comes.