In Brownsville

In Brownsville did the Chertoff a mighty wall decree
Its ramparts tall and gleaming with turrets jeweled blue and green
Built of sturdy stone quarried from la Cerro de la Silla
And set in place by los manos de muchos albiñiles;
Many hands, many days and nights stretched to weeks and months,
Oh, how they labored and the wall did rise
And extend along the levees of the river’s north;
And secrets did they build in those stones-
Chambers and tunnels all connected through the wall
So passing was all the easier for those who knew.
And celebrations both public and occult did break out as this section or that
Was completed in the town, and the people marvelled at the work
that had risen in their midsts; and the Chertoff himself
Came and pronounced his wall a wonder,
And before long, all the world had praised this feat in stone.

then I awoke, this fragment in hand,
and wondered, I did, that such marvels
could only inhabit the precincts
of imagination’s land. Here, in this land,
free and brave and proud, no such tale

will arise, will it, my children?

This was a fun little piece to write as, I suspect, most doggerel is. And confessedly, this is a piece of dogerrel. But every time someone said something about the Wall, that first line ran through my head. So one evening, trapped in an airport and having really tired of the magazines I’d brought and not having the arrogance or courage or whatever to pull my guitar out and practice, which was what I really needed to do, and having been reminded of the Wall by something, I pulled out the little notebook that’s always with me and started out. I think it was finished in ten minutes. From a performance point of view, it’s been a success. I took it to an anti-Wall rally a few weeks ago, when the folks made it into town after their protest march from Roma during Spring Break, and read it there. I’ve done it at the Narciso. So why not burden you folks with it, too?