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got a friend finding his way out in California

got a friend who found it out in the middle of nowhere, B.C.

got a friend playing in the U.S. Open

got a friend with a successful business

got a friend in heaven who knows all the scores

got a friend workin' his guts off for the next chapter

got a friend holding it all together with heart

got a friend in England, gonna be a great actor one day

got a friend who's strugglin' 

got a friend who's strugglin' more

got a friend who's a DJ

got a friend who's happy where he is

got a friend that doesn't know where he is

got a friend that won't give up on rock n' roll

got a friend who's my cousin

got a friend who's my cousin

got a friend who's a girl

got a friend I haven't met yet

got a friend in more debt than I am

got a friend in Indonesia

got a friend I miss

got a friend in Scotland who's married

got a friend of a friend

got all the people I need to keep me writing, going, laughing, hoping, living....

I was painting a friend's house today when I realized all this and there was the perfect amount of heat outside that sparked something in me. I could have packed up and called it an early day to go find a pool to swim in but I suddenly remembered that I had a tab of "white dog" Ecstasy that a friend had given me the night before. I made myself a small sandwich to chase it down with and cranked up Rod Stewart and the Faces, a serious diamond in the rough of feel good rock n' roll. Then I got into my work. I thought about everyone and everything about them that I dig as I put color to the walls. I didn't need a chemical motivator to do this but I took the little pill because I was already in one of those rare and amazing moments of clarity where you comfortably know that everything in life has a meaning and you feel closer to it all, whatever it all may be.  Hope you understand. 

Born in the bottom of a wishing well

The very first point to take notice of was the faintly evident sound of shoes being worn without socks. There’s a certain kind of low squeak to it, and by now you know it well, because you, yourself never wear socks with shoes in the summer time-sometimes no shoes at all. Just like this guy….

He didn’t walk with distinction or confidence. He definitely didn’t saunter. He cruised as if he didn’t have a care in the world, which in this day n’ age is pretty much a bullshit term. But the sound of his feet moving in and out of rhythm meant he was skipping the odd cracks. The sound of the small stones and dust meant he was on the fringe of the road, not the sidewalk. He must have had a song or a girl in his head, or both. It was impossible to tell if he was on his way to or from something purely divine.

Hopefully that last paragraph drew a descriptive scene in your head.  A scene put together by your ears and your brain. You wouldn’t be able to realize all this by looking at the young dude because you’re blind. Not metaphorically either. It’s for real this time. In this story YOU ARE blind.

Don’t waste your time wondering how or why- you’re out on the street without anyone else, it’s a sweet, warm day, and the sun is shining so hard on your shoulders that you must be wearing a black t-shirt. You feel free. You picked up a hell of a good vibe off the young dude that went walking by and now it’s about time for your own  strut. You don’t have a seeing eye dog either. It hasn’t been born yet.  It’s just you, with heightened sense of sound, smell, touch and happiness. 

When you see a blind person do you ever wonder how happy they really are? Of course not, you’re blind too, remember, you don’t see shit. But you know that you’re happy. What choice do you have? You’ve got other choices instead. You don’t have to worry about half the worthless distractions that the rest of us must face on a daily basis. We can’t escape what you can’t understand. Don’t sweat the self-esteem either ‘cause you never have to look at yourself. In fact take all the time that us visual fuck-ups waste going nowhere and do something meaningful with it. It’s a success story no matter how you slice it. There’s so much more than seeing.  Music is all that is life so learn it and preach it. Touch everything n’ everyone. They’ll understand. Move in close for the “scent of a woman”. If she doesn’t let it happen, she’ll never be a blind man’s baby. Walk on.

Back on the street you’re literally aimless as you feel a perfectly cool breeze and then moments later it begins to down pour with the rays of the sun still present on your skin. Forget about rainbows and everybody else. You’re so money and you don’t even know it. Find yourself a nice long stick and utilize it like never before.  You won’t need much money or distance to have fun.  The neighborhood is a universe when the lights are always off.  Just try n’ stay on the sidewalk.

 

Note: This piece was not at all inspired by that movie “Blindness,” which was a god-awful film by the way.