Being Cool

Being Cool is Good. 

It's not bad. 

I have a friend who after raising his kids said, "Spencer. I don't want my kids to be cool like us. Being Cool is bad. I want them to make money, be productive, have good jobs with 401 K's and Roth IRA's. Not like us being Cool is not a life goal."

I said "We can all want things..."

But being Cool is Good. Sneaking out late, smoking cigarettes, drinking booze in the park or taking amphetamines after dark. 

Necking with girls on porch swings,

Or with boys. Whatever you want.

It's cool.

It's Hip to be square, and it's cool not to care,

Because being Hip and being Cool are not the same, but they're both Cool.

Good things.

A flask, an instrument case, being hungover going down an elevator, drinking on the sidewalk with sunglasses on. Sleeping in the library, being always late. These are things that Cool People do.

And we like being Cool, and we ARE Cool, and maybe you're Cool too. I don't know you, we just met. But you seem cool.

Weeping over a dead Lover is Tragically Cool.

Being kicked out of your house is unfairly Cool.

Going to Jail is always Cool, because getting into trouble makes you Cool-er.

Poets are cool,

Painters are cool,

Communist professors

And Vegan Agitators.

Sculptors, weavers, musicians Folk Rock and Other are Cool. 

DJ's and Ravers have to be Cool, because these are all Cool things to be. Cool things to do.

Models and Hair Dressers and Fashion Designers. Photographers, the Paparazzi...Princess Di and Elton John. All are cool, especially Meghan Markle and lonely Prince Harry.

Marijuana is Cool, shrooms are Cool, dairy alternatives are Cool. The Factory is Cool. Grey Rainy days are cool. Andy Warhol and Ondine slinking through the party high as kites wearing T-Shades not caring who's there, hanging out with Black Panthers, talking to them is Cool.

Leather Jackets, Rolling Stones, Long Neck Bottles and Camel Filters and the smell of urinals are as cool as they come.

Being Skinny. Skinny people are Always Cool, especially if they're not. Especially if they're bad.

Not caring is definitely Cool. 

Unless it's about the planet, or your aging parent's affairs. Having a car does not make you cool. Paying your rent and your bills does not make you cool, because who cares?

Walking in the rain without an umbrella is not cool, but it could be if you're rushing to catch a train to meet a girl that you talked to at the museum or the gallery or the concert and now you're having coffee because that's cool. And you're paying for everything, because cool guys like us take girls that we meet at galleries out for coffee. Or boys, whatever. It's cool.

Racism is not Cool, because being Black is the Coolest, even if you're Square. Because Black People, we invented Cool. And we tell YOU what's Cool and what isn't.

Playing hot Jazz or listening to Rhthym and blues, half naked fumblings in the backs of Cadillacs and fucking on your parents' furniture is so cool. Because Jazz and Sex and all these bad things are really good things...if you're Cool.

And in a cold world full of evil and starving penniless orphans, mother's wailing over Israeli Coffins and gang leaders with dementia dropping bombs over Baghdad...in this world sometimes being Cool is all you've got. And those other things are definitely not cool. But BEING Cool...

Always is. 

Definitely.

-Spencer Hutchinson, Chicago, 2023

Fall Haiku

 Grey skies and soft light.

Yellow leaves against red brick.

Green fades to Fall hues.

Pulling a Splinter

 There's something primal about pulling out a splinter.

An all consuming activity that while is not necessary for survival,

represents a reminder that the natural world is still frought with danger.

All other activities must cease,

the pulling of the splinter is the most crucial action of the moment.

Meditative, surgical, satisfying.

Perhaps it reminds us of picking lice,

it is an activity of ultimate self care,

one that has been around as long as human beings

have been walking upright and picking up things made out of wood.

à la Tragédie

 Francais

Je ne suis pas étranger à la tragédie.

Au contraire,

elle est restée ma maîtresse la plus fidèle et la plus constante

en dehors de cette vie à laquelle je suis marié,

de ce corps, de ce destin, de cette âme

pour m'accompagner jusqu'à la mort.

C'est vers elle, vers la tragédie que je fuis

quand les exigences de la vie deviennent insupportables,

quand le bonheur lui-même devient une corvée.

English

I am not a stranger to tragedy. 

On the contrary, 

she has remained my most faithful and constant mistress 

outside of this life to which I am married, 

of this body, of this destiny, of this soul 

to accompany me until death. 

It is towards her, towards tragedy that I flee 

when the demands of life become unbearable, 

when happiness itself becomes a chore.

True Love

I kept my heart in chains just to talk to you. 

For eleven years, at all times.
I see the world in your eyes, when I look at them, 

and as I do, I know I'm in there too.

I speak with terror, 

because I know too well the venom of unrequited love. 

It paralyzed me before. 

My mind, my body and my soul. 

but my love for you releases me. 

And even if I fall instead of fly into your arms. 

while my heart speaks its truth, it does not know the difference. 

My Love, 

talking with you from the bottom of my heart may be my idiocy, 

but it is the most divine and the most intoxicating. 

And if you said that you loved me once, 

even if it was not true, 

the world would be so much more magical. 

all the ice of my heart would melt, 

and rise through unbroken light. 

But it is enough simply to say I Love You, 

and I hope I did not embarrass myself. 

Losing your company would be a shame too great to bear.

Look in the mirror, look in your own eyes, 

do you see me there as well?

Art in America

As long as the wild fire rages for days on end engulfing all in its path. 

As long as the flood waters continue to rise, 

until there's nothing left but murk and destruction.

There will be a city that rises from the ashes, 

a people who tame the waters, and rebuild their houses--

stronger to resist its wrath.

As long as there are men in bondage, 

and men who grow fat and rich from their misery, 

there will be those who take up the hammer to tear down the prison, 

and use the shackles of the enslaved to tie up the wardens 

and march them through the streets.

As long as there is a dream deferred, 

a hope unrealized, 

and a well laid plain destined for ruin, 

there will be one who lives their dream, 

one who learns to hope anew, 

and one who stoops again over the drawing board and dares to dream again.

And as long as there is one solitary voice, 

alone, crying in the wilderness for freedom,

there will be Art in America.

The Upper Room

The Upper Room

A one act play in two scenes

Cast:

Jonas: A salty white sea captain with a red beard and stocky build
Jeffries: A medium built caucasian male
Humphries: A white deckhand with long hair
McGee: A white deckhand, also with long hair
The Egyptian: a light skinned woman of African descent

The play takes place between the hull and upper deck of a slave ship.


Act 1, Scene 1

Jonas: Wake up!

Jefferies: Oh dude, I must've fallen asleep. Where are we?

Jonas: Nevermind that son. That's none of your concern.

Jefferies: What?

Jonas: Go fetch me that ladle please.

Jefferies: What ladle?

Jonas: Don't argue with me boy, get up and fetch me that ladle…THE WOODEN SPOON BOY! GO FETCH IT WILL YE?

Jefferies: Sure, sure. I'm sorry…You still haven't-

Jonas: Haven't WHAT LAD?

Jefferies: You…

Jonas: Eye?

Jefferies: …

Jonas: is that all?

Jefferies: I and U? Here we are together. Just you and me?

Jonas: Now fetch me that ladle or I'll send Somebody to BEAT YOU.

Jefferies: Hey wait…what's that sound?

Jonas: It's the sound of The Dark Ones.

Jefferies: The Dark Ones? Who are the Dark Ones?

Jonas: Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to lad.

Jefferies: Where are we?

Jonas: Somewhere close to Charleston by now...I hope.

Jefferies: Charleston? South Carolina?

Jonas: Yes boy, Charleston. What's your name?

Jefferies: Stuart Jeffries.

Jonas: So you're Scottish TOO i take it?

Jefferies: I don't catch your drift…I'm an American sir.

Jonas: No…you're Scottish. Sorry. That first name is English. But the last…well, I'm afraid Jeffries is Scottish.

Jefferies: Well, what's your last name?

Jonas: Doesn't matter. Could be anything. Pass me those bowls will ye?

Jefferies: Sure, sure. Bowls. Here…

Jonas: Humphries!!! ( he yells up the stairs) McGhee!!! Come down here lads. (foot steps can be heard coming down the stairs)Takes these down to the Nigers.

Jefferies: Wait, the WHO?

Jonas: The Nigers.

Jefferies: Don't you mean N-

Jonas: DON'T SAY THAT WORD!!! God HATES that WORD!!! We call them where we found them. The Niger River. The Dogons helped us catch them.

Wait, what's going on. Where am I?

Jonas: A Slave Ship.

Jefferies: …

Jonas: Somewhere between Africa and America, that's all I know boy. I'm not the Navigator. Humphries!!! GET DOWN HERE NOW!!!

Jefferies: Oh…my head hurts. I feel sick.

Jonas: Did they drug ya?

Jefferies: Drug me?

Jonas: Eye.

Jefferies: Who? No, no, I must've just drank too much last night.

Jonas: Ha! That's what they all say.

Jefferies: Who's they?

Jonas: The Black People.

Jefferies: Wait, I'm not Black.

Jonas: Your name's Jeffries isn't it? You're a Scotsman.

Jefferies: Wait, but Scottish people are supposed to be WHITE, right?

Jonas: WHAT? WHERE? Maybe in Heaven with the Angles. But no no sir, you're Black. Blacker than me, I signed up for this job. You must've gotten Shanghaied.

Jefferies: Shanghaied?

Jonas: Yes! Kidnapped you idiot! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Gods you're stupid. A Great Scot, just as dumb as the rest of us. Jeffries. Humbug. (The man stands up, walks up the stairs) When I call for you I mean NOW DAMMIT.

(two men appear on stage)

Jonas: Mr. Jeffries, this is Mr. Humphries. Mr. Jeffries is going to help you take this gruel down to the Nigers, isn't that right Mr. Jeffries? Right. Now go!

(The men depart)

-------End Scene 1---------

Act 1, Scene 2

Jefferies: Oh GOD, that STENCH!

Jonas: Yes, I told you we were in a slave ship boy. But not the lowest of hells. That's reserved for them. For the Niger People, The Dark Ones. You look like a good boy Jeffries. Can ye read?

Jefferies: Well, yeah. I can read.

Jonas: Good. They don't recognize you yet. Take the book, go down to the hull and start reading.

(Jeffries departs from the stage. A voice booms over a loudspeaker, loudly.)

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives of the River by Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoichin's captivity. 3. The word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the North, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out. of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lighting.

Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they moved, they went toward any one of the four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them for the spirit of the living creaturs.


Jonas: (shouting down to the hull) Get The Egyptian! She's the only one who can speak english. I don't know how she learned it, but she can speak it. You'll recognize her becuase she's more fair than the rest. Looks…I don't know, Exotic. But how she learned to speak English is anyone's guess.

The Egyptian: Oh Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you for bringing me out of there.

Jonas: See how pretty she is? How does it feel to be back up here with the Angelos?

The Egyptian: Oh my lord, I can Breathe again!

Jonas: Are you still with child?

Yellow Girl: No sir.

Jonas: I see. Jeffries! She's yours. Now BE GENTLE! We don't want to damage her. She's the only one who speaks our language. Must've been by GOD somehow. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Jefferies: I don't want her.

Jonas: Then you'll be a lefty all your life. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Jefferies: Stop laughing.

Jonas: You know how they wipe their arses in India boy? They use their left hand.
The WRONG hand. Same way we do. cept they don't use papyrus…they use the bad hand. The evil hand. So unless you want to be an evil man for the rest of your life. You'll take this Niger-ess to be your wife. They don't want her back. She's bad luck. They call her yellow. That's the only english word they know. Yellow. It's all we can do to keep them from tearing her to pieces. If it weren't for the chains…well it would be a lot less quiet in The Upper Room.

Jefferies: Why can't Umphries take her?

Jonas: Umphries is a citizen boy! You're just a NOBODY.

Jefferies: I'm not a Nobody! I'm an American!

Jonas: HAHAHAHA!!! You hear that boys? This lad here thinks he's an American!Listen up Jeffries, you're just as American as she is, so you'd better shape up. Now we're NOT SENDING HER BACK DOWN THERE. UNDERSTAND? She's a miracle worker. She kept them from screaming…Until Humphries and McGhee here decided to abuse her. Looks scowling. Kept me up at night. All that howling, and hollering. The chorus of the damned.

Jefferies: Well, there doesn't SEEM to be anything wrong with her.

Jonas: Not on the outside. But it's what's INSIDE that counts Jeffries. Not outside. You know the one's that brought the Niger people to us were just as black. Dressed in Robes they were though, like noble romans. These folk were stark raving Nude, Naked as the Day God Cursed Noah and ordered him to spit his Ham into the Sea. Black as the Devil Himself. Black as a Klansman.

Jefferies: As a Klansman?

Jonas: Eye sir. Blacker. A Clansman can be Irish, but that's no good. Running farther away from King Richard just makes you easier to catch in the end. The Lion ALWAYS defeats the tiger. That's the Law of the Jungle. Have you BEEN to America Jeffries? Or do you just like to call yourself an American?

Jefferies: I'm an American sir! I was born in Indiana!

Jonas: Indiana territory were you?…where abbouts?

Jefferies: Indianapolis.

Jonas: Indianapolis? Did they find Redmen who speak Latin? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Jefferies: Well no…everybody there speaks English!

Jonas: Yes most of them do. Now anyways. Indianapolis…that's very interesting. A Greek City on the Frontier. Such a shame.

Jefferies: Where are we going?

Jonas: VIRGINIA!

Jefferies: What's in Virginia?

Jonas: More of the same. Nothing. Just you and me, the she devil, and Humphries/McGee that makes five...give me the she devil, your wife, hand her over.

Jefferies: she's not my wife.

Jonas: Your Cousin then. Just hand her over. She'll come quietly. You wait here. I'll return shortly. (The man takes the yellow skinned woman upstairs). And comes back alone. Ah there!

Jefferies: There, what there?

Jonas: Nevermind that. I took her to home, to Heaven…to be with the Angelos! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

(THE SOUND OF SCREAMING CAN BE HEARD UPSTAIRS)

Jonas: AH YES! THE HEAVENLY CRIES OF THE ANGELOS LAD, HEAR HOW THEY ROAR!!!

(SILENCE)

Jonas: Well I guess that's it. It's over. (Jonas goes to the wall and scratches a number in chalk next to 7 hash marks.) We'll be feeling that one. She would've made a fine Creole Whore. The Angelos boy, they just can't control themselves. A bell is rung. Huh. That means we're ready to weigh anchor. The angelos must've had mercy. It's not yet midnight, she can still find her way to shore. 'Land Ho!' Alright. We're here. (The sound of footsteps can be heard clambering down the stairs filling the room which is now suggested to be full of people mumbling to each other.) Alright lads! Now listen! When we open those doors, all Hell's going to break loose, so be ready! On Three.

1.

2..

3…!!!

 (A loud crashing sound, angry voices. can be heard an overwhelming stench trails behind them.)

Jonas: Tell them to follow the Light! The Light takes them to heaven!

Blackout

END.