High Prophecy for Low Times

Hey you all! Today it’s raining in LA. It’s not that cold, I’m sitting with my balcony door open. I think I’m savoring my last few days here. I’m going to permanently moving in with my grandmother soon. She isn’t doing so well anymore. It’s really hard. But the hardest part is my family and their reaction to watching our matriarch fade. No one wants to take the necessary time to actually do something about the problem; instead they throw money at it. Wow, that’s really harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts.

I wasn’t at the Thanksgiving dinner this year, but I guess they were asking the younger ones to move in with her, like saying “Hey, what are you doing now, why don’t you move in with her?”. I was talking to my brother about it, we were joking saying “Why don’t YOU do something about it, instead of asking us to”.

Which leads me to my blog entry….

I’m in the middle of writing a screenplay, my first. It’s going pretty good. I mean, I’ve always had these things in my head, like swirling around. They are now at the point that I have to commit to getting them on paper.

It takes discipline, which I am slowly gathering. I’m finding I am willing do anything but sit down and write. Like today I had all day to write, but somehow I needed to do laundry, do the dishes, make jell-o (I have no idea why) and the worst… I made an incense burner out of a diet coke bottle. I actually did a whole arts and crafts project, I thought about decorating it, but then said enough is enough!

If it wasn’t for this book that I read, “The Artist’s Way”, I wouldn’t have recognized that I am not psycho, I’m just used to being a “shadow artist”. Basically, that’s someone who surrounds themself with other artists, lives vicariously through them, rather than getting the balls to be one themselves. Well, the book doesn’t say balls, but in my case specifically, I think I need some…that’s what’s holding me back. That, and discipline. So when I almost got out my paints, and started contemplating the color schemes for my incense burner, I basically yelled out (in my head) “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” I even felt like I was Peter Finch, from the 1976 classic “Network”. So after recognizing my distractions, I sat down and started typing.

Oh, but before I actually opened my screenplay, I typed this blog entry and this poem. I rationalized that the poem is going to be used in a scene in my film…It really is! Check it out, it’s in spoken word style. One of the characters will recite it in his workshop that all the main characters go to, like at youth conference…

Warriors in the Wings

We’re coming to get ya
Our minds preparin’
Tired of the starin’
Thinking of comparin’
This tragedy
that you call
our – poor - lives
Were gonna rise
You’ll feel our plight
Goin’ to school
Gettin’ ready for fight
Not with our fists
Ain’t that way no more
It’s a battle of the minds
Leading to bigger doors
Each door we open
Shines some light
Scarin’ away the weak ones
For only the strong
will survive
this fight!
Today it’s about what you know
Know your history! Know your language! Know your laws!
And don’t depend on the casino
Greed's a lost cause
Find other ways to line your nest
For giving back and sharing the message
Is the only way to pass this test
Land? Yeah, we got that!
Heroes, yeah, we got that, too!
The rest of the country doesn’t even have a clue
Add stories, music, history and so much more to the list
Things that you wouldn’t understand, so you’ll dis’
It’s ok, you don’t have to fear
Come sit over here, listen to your peer
Remember you said, “In God We Trust”
Check please!
Excuse me, I’ll be taking this land back for us
Don’t get all mad now, now that we found our mission
The truth and honesty would have avoided this position
Our fighting ring is the courtroom
The once mystery place for us
We raised the bar, knowledge is now a must
We got our education, we learned the law
And we are preparing our young
So they won’t fall
All our pride restored
From rez to city to village to rancheria
Throwin’ out the old history books,
And goodbye welfare, we don’t need ya!
Our culture no longer ignored
We’re in the books, the TV and on the radio
We are getting’ healthy, we’re getting’ smart
Scoot over, we’re gonna be in control.
We’ve learned our lessons
It’s time for us to drive
Fasten your seatbelts
It’s gonna be a beautiful ride!

Comments, questions, clarifications:
ndnjenjen@yahoo.com