If Not Now When

Coil of wire

0:00 Veggie Revolution

God knows I, with my background, must be fed up with social

Upheavals, what with the words such as "uprising", let alone the

"Revolution" sending shivers down my long since oh so spineless

Spine, direct result of years and years of living under

Totalitarian rule or rather the absence of any rules

Except the yoke of fear, the omnipresent fear causing the

Deformation of spine and mind alike, yet luckily

Not the heart, as proved by my reaction to the news about

Lydia, "Che" Guevara's granddaughter going to be the face

Of PETA's new campaign calling, you think, upon the toiling masses

To rise against the oppressors of humans for a change? No way!

It's "veggie revolution", a misnomer if ever there was

One! To think that Lydia appears seminude and wearing, what

Else but that beret of course, camouflage pants and bandoliers

Of baby carrots! Sticks might've been in order, baby.

Can't you see your grandpa now turning in his communal

Grave! And can't you see the others, those countless smitten

Others like myself, who in their heart of hearts retain still

An adoration for the revolutionaries, much as we're dreading

The notion of revolution --.

©George Katznelson



02:39 Waiting For Salvation
(Freedom to Khodorkovsky/Lebedev)

On 14th Street and standing in striking contrast

To those other buildings all of which are catering to the flesh

But not the soul by selling liquor, bagels, Big Macs or muscle fitness,

Was one of those homeless, fast asleep while waiting to be saved,

Encouraged apparently by the engraving of Salvation Army's

Grand motto: "While there remains one dark soul without

The light of God, I'll fight...". So said General Booth who

Pledged to keep up that fight, he added, "to the end".

Alas, it won't be coming soon. That soul on the steps

May keep up sleeping --.

©George Katznelson


04:16 Chelsea Peers: oeufs sur le plat sans le plat
(L'interprétation des rêves)

I had a dream and in it I was a-
bruptly

held accountable for some
thing which

was not my fault at all and
grilled by

someone whose face I could
not see

and only this droning Voice re-
peating

those endless accusations.
I was

trying my level best to reason
with that

Voice until I understood a phone
call was

coming soon to settle what
the Voice

referred to as "his case". I
started

waiting and soon lost count
of time.

Uncertainty is worse than death
and I

was prepared for worse when
I woke

up. Someone must have known
all along

the plight I was in? 'Twas nothing
but a dream

Bad dream ---

©George Katznelson

---
Featuring: Beethoven String Quartet No.1 Second Movement "Adagio affettuoso et appassionato"; Yma Sumac "Najala's"; Diamanda Galas "Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down"; "16 Tons" Freddy Quinn (Sie Hiess Mary Ann)/"16 Tons" Tom Jones/"16 Tons" Frankie Lane/"16 Tons" Anna Domino/"16 Tons" Jerry Reed/"16 Tons" Homer Haynes & Jethro Burns/"16 Tons" Schooner Fare; Ivan Rebroff "Kalinka-Malinka"/"Poljushko-Polje (remix)"; Live poems by George Katznelson; *LIFE photo archives; *Prelinger Archives c. 1930s

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