minimum maintenance or sacrifice: do or die

FRIDAY 4:52AM

hello world, talking about somebody w/nothing to say
just been off the grid lately, almost woodshed time

ought to have something to say about mugabe though
that situation gon from bad to worse and its still

panafricanist folk still support mugabe but i dont see it
boy exemplify whats been wrong w/african leadership

african politic so winner take all everybody else
poor that folk dont want to leave when its time to go

i hear zuma want to apply more pressure than mbeki been
willing to consider - make me reconsider zuma - but i aint

had my finger on that pulse like i should
old boy in a pre woodshed mode - going off

the grid in about 2 weeks - i cant wait, already
fudging it - o it feel good, this what i live for

dont know how my palf obligations gon work
in a woodshed mode, will have to see

i apologize upfront to you o regulators, you might want
to skip next couple of months, i get self referential

when im in the woodshed - when its just my world
when im in the woodshed thats all that interest me

so anyway they got this syracuse haiku poster project right
some years ago i sent them some i use the word loosely haiku

cause i like the idea of collaborating w/graphic artists
so i got chose this year by young artiste erin schechtman

this the poster she came up with, im pleased w/it, it feel warm
and toasty - you never know what folk gon come up with

i was riffing off syracuses chilly nature, which i dislike intensely
vs the warmth of the relationships ive found, bonnie et al

i treat syracuse like its a writers retreat - its been
good, ive grown as a writer, i been clocking pages

rest for the weary and the
hoodoo book of flowers

win or lose been a good run

i sing the blues sometime but im cool, life is
good and its time to put the weary to bed

look like im feeling kinda cocky today, give me a couple days
wrestling w/the beast and i will likely be back here crying

well what would a woodshed
be w/o dues

heres to a productive summer woodshed
moneydraft rick - do or die

may the gods of literature
be good to us all

rdoc





TUESDAY

wow, juno diaz won the pulitzer, go juno
me and juno got a checkered history - bout the only kind you can have w/juno

him finally finishing his novel and getting a pulitzer
for it has messed with my head somewhat, make

me ever more determined to get my own novel done

at this point i dont expect prizes for it (though they would be nice) - at this point i just want to get it done - for it to exist

had to remind myself to stay focused, to not start tripping,
had to remind myself - a luta continua

also thinking about martin luther king, yesterday bonnie asked me accusingly if i was one of the 'looters' broke up his last march in memphis, and i told her we werent looting - some folk may have but for the young turks who broke up that march it was

about turning our backs on nonviolence - and king - but even then we recognize
the changes king and the movement brought into our lives - i dont even try to

explain the apartheid south to young blacks today, they cannot imagine such a thing
might be good of they could, might commit them to some struggle

i remember when imoguna, a harlem boy who loved malcom the way i love king once ask

who caused the greatest historical change/influence and decided it was martin hands down
and i think how he was vilified from all sides in those final years and how much more

there is to his vision than the soundbites you hear every mlk day -

and how wonderful it is that the movement get explored every year like
this - and how much obama exemplify something about the movement

21st century stylee

and this post just wandering isnt it, i will clean it up over the next couple of days but let me
say it was the death of king, april 1968, that turned me out and made me a lifelong warrior

in the struggle

my chosen vehicle been the Work and the Word - and i still
hope/feel/pray i got a contribution to make

cant be sidetracked by jealousy of my literary companeros
victories, defeats, jealousy - everything get one response

work harder rick, work smarter - focus rick
moneydraft this summer - do or die

i know for a fact that juno struggled w/that novel
11 years he paid dues on it - do or die

way to go juno

in the name of the king
do or die

rdoc

SUNDAY 1 AM

was talking to a friend of mine today he say it was sad that
mlk got shot like he did but it was because he was shot

at his peak that his vision/myth/martyrdom
gained the power that it has today

sacrifice

i wonder if he had been given the choice
would he have chosen the hammer

as he said that stormy night in memphis
longetivity has its place

rdoc

FRIDAY

minimum maintenance and
sometime not even that

off the grid
rdoc




TUESDAY?

hello world
been off the grid

palf/schoolhouse got me running/gunning
squeezing noveltime when/where i can

im out of it
palf slowly falling into place

step by step, inch by precarious inch
jeff and mohammed on point

rickydoc slacking as always

got to step up my game/always
old boy got to pull his freight

ok, some really quick commentary

mugabe out but not quite
darfur - statusquo
kenya - no news is good news

ok clearly im not into this, maybe later - me and bama both
burnt out - but all you can do is keep doing

buddy of mine once say if it was easy everybody
would go down the street and get some

look like aint no/rest
for the weary

just maintain
rdoc

Comments

[rawdawgbuffalo]

Hey whats been up?

[rod]

It's not clear to me exactly what folks want Mbeki to do regarding Zimbabwe. Bomb him to oblivion? Oviously, the rest of the world employed a strategy that has failed. Now those same folks who have failed are pressing Mbeki to imitate their path of failure.
I have no idea what Mbeki says to Mugabe. However, I hope it's something different from what others are saying to Mugabe. If Mbeki's approach will fail, then let him fail on his own terms.

[rickydoc]

well rod, gon always pay attention when
you got something to say

i will slide mbeki some slack based on
that alone, and hopes that something comes

out of this do over, i am susceptible to your position
because i am always in favor of an african solution if one

is to be had, and i fear my news sources are
western sometime and you have to judge if you

being mislead or seeing true and in this case
ive decided im seeing true, ive decided mugabe

is a real problem and my disappointment is that
africans arent dealing with it instead of the west

which means my greatest disppointment is mbeki
bombing to oblivion wont be necessary, just pressure

to take the high road in this matter
forceful pressure would be nice

ive been monitoring that trip and feeling
like i might see a little daylight depending on

how this do over get executed, i fear the worst
but i hope of course for the best, de conjureman

would like this issue addressed

ive got some other issues which cause me
disappointment with mbeki vs his potential

then zuma got his baggage too but folk/countries
i guess got to play out they fa

and my respect for your eye is such that
i will back up some and try to see better

but my question to you is has
not mbeki disappointed you too

do you think he is actually playing a positive role here
obviously you do, is this based on knowledge or loyalty

benefit of the doubt

youve said what he not doing
just what do you think he is

in struggle

arf

[rod]

Art:

Has Mbeki disappointed me too?
Of course. As will Obama.
All politicians disappoint armchair theoreticians like me. But I resent a mindset, exemplified by say, the New York Times, which chastises Mbeki because he's not towing the line they (i.e. The West) want him to.
If anyone can use moral suasion on Mugabe, it's fellow freedom fighter Mbeki. On this issue, I give Mbeki the benefit of my doubt.

As for Zuma. We tend to forget that "democracy" can have unfortunate consequences. Hitler was democratically elected, as was Mussolini. But we can't eat our democratic cake and have it. Is Zuma's baggege despicable? Hell yes! But if he's elected to head the ANC, and the ANC wins elections, then we have to shut up about it. Or be pro-democracy only when its convenient. What sort of ethical/moral ground does that put us on?

[rickydoc]

if you give him benefit of the doubt i will too
but mbeki is not really the main act here, he just

a sideshow, im willing to be flexible on mbeki
if you gon speak for him

and i acknowledge we cant see whats happening behind closed doors
but judging on the results im not impressed just yet

i cannot fully express how much it upset me, in tribal shaman manifestation, when my people, for whose quality of life i bear ultimate responsibility, forced to live under

authoritarian conditions like some b grade nazi movie, i hate that w/a passion and

i would like this situation resolved
if mbeki can contribute to that cool

if not he needs to step aside

apologies about getting on my hobby horse on you
w/the tribal shaman bit, this aint really the place for

rhetoric

let me ask you this, your comment on democracy correct but not really the issue here

from our afropolitical perspective, what do we do in a situation like this one

do we try to have some influence on the matter, no matter how tenuous, ie, dialogue and reasoning, articulation of issue (?)

or do we accept whatever we are given in this matter

or do we step back and let the africans handle it

or do we try to provide i guess you would say, hands off support for however they choose to handle it

even when we, separate from western hype, express that a given situation ought to be handled differently

and what to do in situation where africans dont seem to have the resources on hand to handle a given situation and it appears to be spiraling out of control

in so many ways this is a farcical discussion because we dont have the power to do much more than talk about it anyway

but some blackfolk in positions of power have the power of influence, and i dare say, even we hope to some day

and if obama does become president, these issues will take on more resonance, we have to assume this half kenyan will take a more strategic interest in africa

will this interest be african world or will it be us president or some strange unholy blend of the two

but primary question, do we accept what we are given
or do we try to impact

i suspect your answer will be case by case
or will you persist in being unreasonable

hope things well w/you and yours
hope your novel is limping along

as game as is mine

in struggle

arf