Word Up!

DRAFTWord Up!

Jonathan Dunnemann

Published by FastPencil

DRAFTCopyright © 2013 Jonathan Dunnemann

Published by FastPencil307 Orchard City DriveSuite 210Campbell CA 95008 [email protected](408) 540-7571(408) 540-7572 (Fax)http://www.fastpencil.com

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Printed in the United States of America.

First Edition

DRAFTWithout perseverance greatness is a vain aim…

With perseverance you are halfway to greatness…Whatever that is.

This book is dedicated to the memory of my late father William “Bill” Keith (January20, 1929 – September 1, 2004) who was an American artist who began his artistic life

as a painter, but moved into photography and visual poetry. His visual poetry ran a fullgamut from calligrams inspired by Apollinaire and other early 20th Century French

poets to Lettrisme to the Minimalism and Op Art of the 1960s.

DRAFTNana’s tub

DRAFTAs a child, I regularly visited with and spent Saturday’s at my Grandparents house. One of my fondest memories from that time period is the enjoyment of taking a bath in my Nana’s tub nearthe end of an exhausting day of running and ripping with both my cousins and the local neighborhood kids. First, there was the whistling sound of the water filling the tub like a grand curtain call. The fuller that it became the more powerfully it summoned you to its celebration of the day’s closing hour. Slowly, ever so carefully you stuck your big toe into the steam and warmth as the causing message being sentto your brain registered that this is the place where you belong. Wow! It is hot, but not hot enough to prevent you from contining to slip in deeper and deeper. The biggest moment came when you found yourself finally seated in the liquid fusion while taking in thefamiliar smell of Ivory soap. I can still hear those last few drops from the faucet echoing as though applauding my willingness to surrender. At last I am rewarded by the rich surround sound of ethereal grace and contentment.

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DRAFT Yes, I remember well the feeling of my body, mind, and spirit all at once blissfully and yet silently saying ahhh. Please don’t let this splendid moment ever end!!! But wait, following this stillness there is more to come: Cookies, ice cream, and a tall refreshing glass of milkbefore the night-light goes out. These wonderful sensory experiences remain bundled together in a moment in time making it so effortless foryou to recount the bedside call to prayer along with the loving kiss goodnight that Nana saved up just for you. And to think she’s now become one hundred and three. Every time I slipped beneath the soapy water, I felt safely watched over by the Almighty from way up on highas I lie there beneath the warm and soothing water of my dear ’Nana’s tub’.

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DRAFTCan we dream again?

DRAFTWe have already accepted the challenge of renaming ourselves. Are we ready now to go ahead and recapture our dignity and secure our self-respect? The loss and pain that we have suffered from through fractured families, stress, and strife by now should havemade us far more desiring of a better way life. It is time for you to man up my brother and take complete and loving responsibility for the families that youstart. Because this is not how you show the world and yourself that you have got heart. In fact, anything less thanthis shows the entire world that you’re really not that smart. If you happin to be player thinkin its about the bling, bling and droppin a mutha fucka, its time for you towake up and stop acting like a stupid sucka.

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DRAFTNobody really gives a damn if you destroy yourself or your brothers. Coz they get your complete lack ofrespect for your own babies mother. Can we dream again? Hell, I’d like to think so. But first things first, you need wake the f#ck up my brother! Keepin it real. With no disrespect!!!

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DRAFTA stone grows here

DRAFT I don’t want to be a stone that’s always kept in place.So, will you help me to move at a faster pace? Whether from above or below ground it really matters not.I simply refuse to be some ordinary rock. At the very core of my being there is oh so much more.There you will find veins of gold and nerves made of iron ore. Please don’t view me as just some inanimate thing.Because it’s material consciousness that I’ve come here to bring.

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DRAFTElemental

DRAFT Wind blows and there I go. Earth moves and we become. Fire ablaze and they transform. Water flows and now all is at rest.

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DRAFTThis Land Ain’t Your Land

DRAFTWords provided by Jonathan Dunnemann and original music by Woody Guthrie Chorus:This land ain’t your land, give the indigenous people their dueFrom the tip of Florida, right on up to New England tooFrom the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific shoreThis land was stolen along with a hell of a lot more As I was ambling just the other dayI decided to express myself in a entirely different wayI see a pattern here of simply changing the factsAnd that’s why so many of us seem to have gotten off trackThis land was stolen its so painfully true ChorusIndigenous people have been bambuzzled and hoodwinkedwhile others sought to learn how to do the same thing tooThat’s why their children feel like they’re living in the valley of shame

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DRAFTThis land was stolen and the facts altogether are just that plain ChorusThe wise elder knows how much has been lostTheir languages and names all at such a great costThe forest, the medicine man were all once reveredNow these things are generally looked upon by others as just being weirdThis land was stolen and yet no one complains ChorusAs I was ambin’ - I saw a sign right thereAnd that sign said - All Welcome Inn’But on the other side …it said, No Indians, No Coloreds, No Jews, No Gays, No Muslims for that’s a sin!Now that side was made up just for you and me!This land was stolen, now don’t you see? ChorusOut in the suburbs - just past the town squareNear the golf course - I don’t see any of my people over thereAnd some folks are beaming, boasting, and laughin’Cause they know they wouldn’t have any of this land if that stuff had never happened Chorus (2x)

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DRAFTThe Artist

DRAFTIt is the strong yearning within the artist that leads them to find a format for focusing, unveiling, and sharingtheir passion through the arts.The things that they are able to draw out of the depths of their soul become the smooth cheese, sweet fruits,and soothing wine that we learn and love to savor.

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DRAFT Without the Artist, humanity would starve from spiritual hunger and surely buckle at the knees from theweight that is placed upon us in a world where we regularly face fear, hatred, loss, pain and self-inducedsuffering. The Artist’s work lifts us up to that highpoint where our wings unravel, our souls take flight, and inwardly weare assisted in gallantly being set free. Out of the birthing experience of a dance, a poem, a sculpture or song we are enabled to catch hold of thecourage to go forward, thereby greeting each day while gratefully wearing a smile that we might otherwisehave failed to uncover. This is the substance of the Artist’s special gifts and talents. May you, the Artist, continue to create that which makes a heart flutter with joy.

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DRAFTMy favorite ‘ings’ in desending andalphabetical order

DRAFT Automobiles zooming Babies yelling Children xeroxing Doctors warning Evil vanquishing

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DRAFT Friends urging Great thinking Hearty seasoning Independent researching Journeyman questing Kindness plugging Letter opening Midday napping New meaning Open learning Partners kissing Quick jogging Romantic inkling Stress healing Truth gleaning Unique feeling Vacation eating Women dancing Xmas carolling Youth beaming

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DRAFT Zany acting These are just a few of my favorite ‘ings’

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DRAFTLoneliness

DRAFTLoneliness seats us in darkness and engulfs us in silence. In the absence of warmth we become cold and frigid. The heart seems to lose its natural rhythm. Stricken with pause we slowly begin to wilt. Left in this condition for too long we are overtaken by anxiety and despair. Very likely, hope will rise up and abruptly walk out on us. That is until spirit informs us that being alone is all at once un-becoming.

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DRAFTDivine Road and Peaceful Place.

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DRAFTA resting mewill bring CHANGE. As long as I no longerhave to cell MY IDEAS. Allow me the freedom to expressall that I wish to FOREVER. For there is no better avenue on which to parkthan AT THE CORNER OF DIVINE ROAD AND PEACEFUL PLACE.

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DRAFTAs the Fall Wind blows

DRAFTAs the fall winds begin to blow gently our past experiences are swept away.In their place, Mother Nature gradually lays down a colorful and comforting blanket over everything.This quilt is richly embedded with sleeping potential all of which must trustingly lie still, there beneath thewinter frosts, where rain or snow spills.Like the chinkapins, many a wonder restfully lies there awaiting Spring’s calling.But we are to worry not, for soon and ever so suddenly a whispering spirit will roll back winter’s coveringgently exposing the timely birthing of all things both large and small.Dare I say, “the forthcoming of fall does not signal the end, but rather the beginning”.For without sleep, such an awakening would not be possible.

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DRAFTHave you seen my talent?

DRAFTHave you seen my talent?I know not where its gone.I used to believe that it was mine and only mine alone.Now all I can do is stand here and continue to gripe and groan.Chances are that I wouldn’t even recognize it after having laid it down for so long. Only time will tell if it evercomes back to me like an old familiar song.Maybe you saw me share my talent with others at some point in the past. Did you even think to yourself for amoment then, that I could ever make it last?To young and foolish to see its value, I simply tossed it aside.And every since that day it has turned out to be one hell of a ride.As I now look back upon what I’d been mysteriously given.I have to stop and ask myself why wasn’t I more driven?

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DRAFTIn these latest years of my life, I have a hunger that no food can satisfy, a thirst that no beverage can quench.So, when I do find my talent again, and I know that I eventually will.I intend to do much better this time, and climb all the way up that hill.Oh and then, you too will have seen my talent.

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DRAFTA man was made to love

DRAFTWhen a man falls in love with a women it’s as if she has stolen away his capacity to breathe.Suddenly, he realizes that the only way to regain his composure is by drawing nearer to her.Subsequently, every time he is forced into separation from her he remains uncertain of whether he can surviveany more alone in the world.This repeated shortness of breath affects his brain thereby reducing his emotional hardness.He becomes tender and gentle albeit vulnerable very much like Samson, who in the bible upon having his haircut looses his keen defenses and his powerful strength.However, this action of falling into love affords a man the opportunity to become transformed into an other-focused person.Quite possibly, this takes place for the first time in his life.

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DRAFTContrastingly, when a man finds himself having fallen out of love, though the power to reclaim his breathreturns, often it is at the greater expense of what had become his fuller nature.In the end, sooner or later he comes to the self-realization that ‘a man is made to love’ and ‘a women is madeto be loved’.

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DRAFTReincarnation

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DRAFTIf the vibrantly colored leaves just outside my door have already made their plans to reincarnate then why ashell can’t I? Who are you to charge that things have gone arye if I decide to go ahead and give life another try? All I need to know is just when, where and how shall I begin? Because if I can squeeze into another form of life, well then I’ll certainly be back again.

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DRAFTMy Love

DRAFTWhen you hurt I cry.If you stumble, I vow to be there to prevent your fall, to lift you up, and to carry you forward.Because life’s promises at times become broken, it is in those moments that you shall find me standing near toensure their uninterrupted fulfillment.My love for you shall be an assurance of your joy, your happiness, and my deepest pleasure.Protecting your well-being and your virtue emboldens me to accomplish the greatest of things ‘my love’. All of these things I do for the honor and privilege of having you as ‘my love’.

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DRAFTSweet Harmony

DRAFTLove, when played softly, has a unique musicality to it. It is what leads us to dance and scurry about. At other times it makes us blush in response to someone’s clever words of whit. But this great desire that we have to be filled-up by love requires that we always keep our heart-instrumentproperly attuned. For to live a life left empty of the ‘sweet harmony’ of love means that we are bound to become marooned.

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DRAFTNow

DRAFTWrite about Now!Write all about the things that make this time in your life so very different.How we tend to go in and out of things even though we never meant it.That is of course, until we have run out of energy, out of luck, or simply out of time.When this does happen, because it will, who decides whether or not we get to go on the ride again?

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DRAFTEverything that I have experienced up to this point, leads me to believe that our life story turns ahead toanother page.Although you and I both may not be as easily identified in the next chapter, elsewhere we too shall be found.So, right on!

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DRAFTSearching For You

DRAFTAt this very moment I am searching for you.Looking everywhere for your delicate footprints anew. Can you hear my spirit pains as they stir from deep within?Surely, you will recognize them being carried on the wind. My right hand is made useless when it is left empty of yours.Like a high school marching band ready to perform but without its musical scores. Everything I know tells me that you’re out there.Go ahead and show yourself and so that I can show you just how much I care. And, I’m still searching for you.

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DRAFT

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DRAFTMountain Of Love

DRAFTI am a mountain of love.Irreducible and indestructible.As a mountain of loveI am irrefutable and indomitable.Evil quakes all around me.Yet, I remain present and unshaken.I stand in this place like a wall of protection.Amidst the worst of conditions all foes are no match for me.As a mountain of love, it is my stillness that defeats all that oppose me. For I am enormously rooted in what Iam.Ascend me, embrace me, and walk boldly upon my many paths. A splendid resting place awaits you at mysummit.

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DRAFTOn That Beautiful Day

DRAFTEveryday, someone laughs and someone cries,someone fails and someone tries.Everyday, someone is hurt and another is healed,someone drifts away and another is finally found.Everyday, someone steps up their game while another undeservedly gets stared down.Someday, everyday will finally be appreciated and no one will choose to be inebriated.Someday, every way of viewing one’s reality well be accepted and respected.On that beautiful day, we will all be at home, safe and protected.

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DRAFTYes You Can

DRAFTGive to otherseverything that you can,as well as you can,whenever you can,wherever you can, anddo it never expecting anything in a can in return, rathermerely because you can.

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Word Up!

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Transcript of Word Up!