clouds

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

you may ask me what i want but i don’t really know i never asked to come here but am afraid to go if i could look inside the heads of people passing by maybe i would laugh but more likely i would cry o people with your smart phones pressed upon your ears the sidewalk that you walk upon is a river of tears o children with serious faces intent upon your games the clouds look down upon you but do not know your names

the white flower

by emily de villaincourt

illustrated by eddie el greco

when bertrand was a little boy, his mother went to see the gypsy one day and she took bertrand with her. the gypsy looked at bertrand and announced - “one day you will look out the window and see a man walking along and carrying a white flower. on that night, you will die.” “good heavens!” exclaimed bertrand’s mother, “what a thing to say to a child!” “but it is the truth, madame,” the gypsy replied, “and i always speak truth. it is my profession.” bertrand’s mother had no answer to that, and she proceeded on with her usual business with the gypsy. the years went by. due to a combination of excellent connections and fortunate circumstances, bertrand grew to be a very successful and very old man. one evening at dusk he looked out his window and saw a man, apparently some sort of deliveryman, walking along carrying a white flower in a crystal vase. had the gypsy’s prophecy finally came true? bertrand had almost forgotten it. bertrand rushed into the street as quickly as he could on his cane. he saw that he must have been fooled by a trick of the light, for the flower the man was carrying was actually red. much relieved, he went back into his house. that night he went to bed at his usual time, and fell asleep immediately. in the morning his housekeeper found him dead.

two philosophers

by nick nelson

illustrated by eddie el greco

a worm and a beetle were sitting in the dust having a conversation. a butterfly flew by. look at that butterfly, said the beetle, i wish i too could be as free as it, and could wander wherever i would, instead of having to sit here in the dust. just then a human wearing khaki shorts and a pith helmet came along with a net, and captured the butterfly. you see, said the worm, the butterfly was not so free as all that, but could be captured at any time by a human in khaki shorts. look at that river, said the beetle, because they were seated near the bank of a river, it can flow all day, never stopping, and travel to distant lands. a nasty little boy came along and began throwing rocks in the river, splashing water in the air, and disturbing the river’s steady flow. you see, said the worm, anyone can come along and throw rocks, and who knows what else, in the poor river, and it is helpless to stop them. look at that blue sky, said the beetle, up there smiling all day long, without a care. dark clouds suddenly filled the sky, and rain began to pour down. see, said the worm, how quickly the tranquility of the sky can be disturbed. yes, said the beetle, but it is raining on us, not on itself.

an obituary

by fred flynn

citizen johnson harrison died today, at the age of 131, at his home in city 224, second european-atlantic sector. citizen harrison was born on february 27, 73 b r, in the former province of britain. citizen harrison is believed to be the last person to have been designated as an “adult” before the old designations of “adult” and “adolescent” and “child” were abolished in the year 33 b r, by edict 347-fg of the world congress. he received a certificate of “adulthood” on his 45th birthday, on july 20, 33 b r, a couple of days after edict 3467-fg was promulgated but before it could be effectively put in place. according to neighbors who knew citizen harrison in his last years, he took an unreasoning though harmless pride in this fact, and kept the certificate well preserved and prominently displayed in his living space. he was an active member of his local art, poetry, and cooking groups, but won few prizes in them. he was not so active in the local exercise and fitness groups, and took no part in political affairs.

walking in the rain

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

walking in the rain with a hole in my hat tried to conquer the world didn’t know it would end like that walking in the rain drifting through the mist tried to conquer the world didn’t know it would end like this raindrops on my head water in my shoes this is how it ends when you begin the booze sirens fill the air flashing lights ahead i will answer every question with, soon we’ll all be dead walking in the rain water floods the earth this is how it ends when you are cursed from birth

imagine

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

imagine a world without injustice imagine a world without oppression imagine a world without exploitation imagine a world without alienation imagine a world where everybody is equal imagine a world where every time somebody says something bad all the other people in the world tell them to stop imagine a world where everybody is nice imagine a world where nobody says anything mean imagine a world where nobody says anything at all because there is nothing more to say imagine a world where everybody has exactly ten billion dollars to spend however they like or maybe there will not even be any money because nobody will have to buy anything imagine a world where nobody hurts anybody else or threatens anybody else or offends anybody else imagine a world where the word “offend” does not even exist imagine a world where nobody is any better looking than anybody else because everybody looks exactly the same where everybody weighs exactly the same and does the exact same amount of exercise every day imagine a world where everybody eats the same thing every day in exactly the same amount where everybody in the world votes every day on what to eat that day and then they all eat it at the same time before they do their exercise at the same time every day or everybody could vote on a menu for the week it might be tofu on monday, black bean soup on tuesday, granola on wednesday, seaweed in thursday… you get the idea or where there might not even be days of the week because time will be abolished just like money will be abolished imagine a world where everybody watches the same movie every day in their own space and everybody is the star and the director of the movie that everybody watches every day the movie is about a brave prince who rescues a beautiful princess from an evil dragon every day and everybody is both the prince and the princess but nobody is the dragon and everybody is famous, as famous as everybody else and everybody is an artist as much an artist as anybody else and everybody is a work of art the same work of art which everybody will look at forever and be inspired forever and be happy forever imagine!

smoothie: a dream

by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy"

as i was walking down the street a strawberry smoothie i did meet i asked him for the time of day but what it was he could not say he pointed to the moon and stars and asked if folks still smoked cigars i told him that that form of sin had been consigned to history’s bin he asked me if i thought the times were propitious for oracular rhymes i answered that the wisest sages were hiding, if not burning, their pages the smoothie and i parted ways i entered a forgotten maze where demons sing, and gods are slain and no memory is too arcane