TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK IS TO STAND STRONG TO NOT GIVE IN
The more wounded we become
the more the shame rounds us up,
It fixes all eye upon a day never come and never seen,
The Union shouts in papers and television
Their God arrives in slick metal and poison,
An armor betrayed by cowardice and rage,
And then here we are in the dark together
No weapons among us, just a song, a belief,
Roaring “One nation together we are strong!”
And then the black suits come with tear gas
And Kevlar shields, tan horses hold the line,
Gandhi said to lay down and let the powers stride by,
Jesus said to stand strong by turning the cheek,
To not run, to stand, to hold to our love,
Our love is our land, our America, our Constitution,
But all across in our great cities they kept
A march into the crowds, they turned weapons
On her people, unarmed, just chanting,
But still weapons were turned upon the Voices
Of our land and the media showered a black snow
On their words, changed the message by acting stupid,
And they let the weak dollar pile up behind them,
They let a cursed corner of New York command
Our America into submission, and for today they have won,
For today the winds lay down their words
And America acts like a fool, worship their Police in full
Battle dress, with the assurance that we did submit,
But I’m here to tell you that resistance never dies,
War pipes play across the Union, we remain,
No matter what they do we remain One country,
Hear the distant pipes playing Come Out Americans,
Give me freedom over Broad and Wall,
Freedom over the lies of Savings and Trust,
And what the hell you say? No one did a thing
When armed Policemen came to take aim on each other,
They took aim on Americans who dared to say
That our leaders have gone wrong, who dared to say No!
To being round up and told to go away, SWAT teams,
So where are you all now who say we are free,
Where are you all now who still have lips to sing
Who have the power but set it aside for another day,
And I know what you think, you have a full belly,
A rebellion took place while you were eating,
We lost the war for American independence.
We are own oppression. Culturally, physically
And in our hearts we found the cash cows won,
We found the guns were in our own hands
And at that moment America died,
A new fascism rose up out of the struggle that never was.
And while y’all watched each voice was round up
Used in commercials for midnight dreams
Where once and for all business and the Republic
Came together and said the marriage was sanctified.
All I can say is “go to hell you bastards”,
America is not this thing you spewed out in Homeland papers,
America is her people, and we will rise up.
PRETTY POLLY BROKE HER CHAINS (THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM)
PRETTY POLLY BROKE HER CHAINS (THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM)
Lotta dust getting trapped in the sweat on my face,
A muscle swings unstrung, strong & it hurts like yesterday.
Like fighting death, Death who comes running drunk & full,
Comes gunning for grief & points of sorrow.
We looked up from the line of corn we were working on,
Looked up just in time to see the gun raised,
So we ran down into the wood between Tucker & Clarkston,
Raced on the rail tracks where my Papaw was arrested
In nineteen thirty one, caught dropping bags of flour
Off the train the Nancy Hanks, as she slowed for a stop
At the family lumber yard; he did a spot of time.
He was a great man; me, I was just a shadow, high
On rebellion no shame in my heart, I stand proud & dirty,
Another shout in a bloodline of people working for the people,
Yet a pause, hear them knocking on our chained doors, stupid Death,
Here I stood singing songs of Hobart Smith & Blue Ridge Boys,
The gauzy layers of mountain in our stretch of the Appalachians,
You can see them in my eyes, you taste them in my food,
This long lonesome daisy chain, the pulse of my people
Defiant to the march on ancestral homes, on churches
& graveyards going back to the seventeen hundreds for majority rules.
We fought oppression then & we fight it now for minority rights.
We fed our neighbors gave the schools & churches land,
Wept at the words of FDR, built a New South out of blood & cotton,
Fought for the dreams of Martin Luther King, we rise,
We are proud & we will not die. We will not move.
On a green horse tea people come riding in, stumbling,
Changing texts, writing new histories, forgetting our own,
They come on hate & machines run by spiders, cockroaches
From the border, no new vision, no calculus, no logic, no morals,
No honor & no love, no 11th Commandment. They mount a red horse.
They swear by God but worship sand castles, pray to greed itself
& give bread to Mammon, so chain the doors it’s 11:59 on the clock,
Gather together with a new war song, a tilted hat, look to the clouds,
Crow flies west where the Mississippi slows, sludge & soot River.
Yeah, we are alone, thugs roam the street & we will not succumb.
Welcome home to the new Revolution. Fight lies, fight deceit,
The soul of a nation, ready to lead the world, to be Progressive,
To be anything other, & the shots rang loud, no one came for us.
Fear lodged a complaint with Homeland Security, saddled the black horse.
But listen to the songs, the heart of our hills, Blue Grass & Blues speak,
High lonesome in the poems that fought coal mines & clear cut hills,
The drama never stops, there’s still a rich side to the Mountain,
They think it’s cool to hate poverty, the sick & the old, “kill the weak!”
When boy spoke and said “they hate our freedom” it was not about
Some faceless fighter in the desert, it was a warning of what was here,
The venomous cluster, the body of hate, the national reich, the tea people.
But America has a mind as One in the margins, we need to gather,
We have to speak as one against the new Death raging,
Against the power aristocrats, against the grain of their golden cow.
They know who they are with their black suits & brown shirt squads,
Crippling the strength of women’s rights, taking them down law by law,
And I am here to tell you, this Song of Man & Womanhood,
This is one that never stops, is young every day, & I am putting
My Southern legs to the wall, this door will not open,
This thing of me that knows Science, Math & Civics,
This part of us all before ‘no child learns’ education. You know.
You & I know that there is an America without bluster & slander,
That there is a hope beyond this day, that if we all realize
A paper tiger is their flag, then all the lives & work before us here
Will have not been in vain, will carry us forward…Awake! A white horse.
My Amazing Grace is played fast; singing again, the mud
Falls from my eyes….Awake! Damn their hearts, do not give in.
Who will speak for the sea & the sky? For the lives & the future
They seek to destroy? We will. One body. One country.
We are THE America, to hell with the Diaspora of the masses,
Scattered through the nation, we march, we will overcome.
SECOND VERSION
PRETTY POLLY BROKE HER CHAINS, WHO HATES OUR FREEDOM?
(1910-2011 and on ….. )
Lotta dust getting trapped in the sweat of America,
Muscles swing unstrung, strong & it hurts like yesterday.
Fields or factories, homes or hospitals, desks or tables,
Like fighting death, Death who comes running drunk & full,
Comes gunning for grief & points of sorrow. 1917,
We looked up from the line of corn we were working on,
Looked up just in time to see the gun raised,
So we ran down into the wood between the Wars,
Raced on the rail tracks where they were arrested
In nineteen thirty one, caught dropping bags of flour
Off the train the Nancy Hanks, as she slowed for a stop
At the family lumber yard; they did a spot of time.
He was a great man; me, I was just a shadow, high on
Rebellion no shame in my heart, I stood proud, romantic,
Another shout in a bloodline of people working for the people,
Yet a pause, hear them knocking on our chained doors, stupid Death,
Here I stood singing songs of Hobart Smith & Blue Ridge Boys,
The gauzy layers of mountain in our stretch of the Appalachians,
You can see them in my eyes, you taste them in my food,
This long lonesome daisy chain, the pulse of my people
Defiant to the march on ancestral homes, on churches
& graveyards going back to the seventeen hundreds for majority rules.
We fought oppression then & we fight it now for minority rights.
We fed our neighbors gave the schools & churches land,
Wept at the words of FDR, built a New South out of blood & cotton,
Fought for the dreams of Martin Luther King, we rise,
We are proud & we will not die. We will not move.
On a green horse tea people come riding in, stumbling,
Changing texts, writing new histories, forgetting our own,
They come on hate & machines run by spiders, cockroaches
From Legislatureland, no new vision, no calculus, no logic, no morals,
No honor & no love, no 11th Commandment. A red horse is mounted.
They swear by God but worship sand castles, pray to greed itself
Feed Mammon , fuel the barges, so chain the doors, burn IDs,
It’s 11:59 on Mr. Clock,
Gather together with a new war song, a tilted hat, look to the clouds,
Crow flies west where the Mississippi slows, sludge & soot River.
Yeah, we are alone, thugs roam the street & we will not succumb.
Welcome home to the new Revolution. Fight lies, fight deceit,
The soul of a nation, ready to lead the world, to be Progressive,
To be anything other, & the shots rang loud, no one came for us.
Fear lodged a complaint with Homeland Security,
Saddled the black horse.
Who came to ride? Peace in a coma.
But listen to the songs, the heart of our hills, Blue Grass & Blues speak,
High lonesome in the poems that fought coal mines & clear cut hills,
The drama never stops, there’s still a rich side to the Mountain,
They think it’s cool to hate poverty, the sick & the old, “kill the weak!”
When boy spoke and said “they hate our freedom” it was not about
Some faceless fighter in the desert, it was a warning of what was here,
He was here, boy and Cheney monster, a cabinet of knives,
A venomous cluster, body of hate, national reich, tea people,
Wall people, all kinds and all colors, full glasses, still they thirst.
But America has a mind as One in the margins, we need to gather,
We have to speak as one against the new Death raging,
Against the power in feudal covens, against the grain of their golden cow.
They know who they are with their black suit & brown shirt squads,
Crippling the strength of women’s rights, taking all down law by law,
And I am here to tell you, this Song of Man & Womanhood,
This is one that never stops, is young every day, & we are putting
Southern legs to the wall, this door here will not open,
Yeah, Art of No War, yeah man, this is the Art of No War.
This thing that knows Science, Math, Civics & History.
This part of us all before ‘no child learns’ education. You know.
You & I know that there is an America without bluster & slander,
That there is a hope beyond this day, that if we all realize
A paper tiger is their flag, then all the lives & work before us here
Will not have been in vain, will carry us forward…Awake! A white horse.
My Amazing Grace is played fast; singing again, the mud
Falls from my eyes….Awake! Damn their hearts, do not give in.
Who will speak for the sea & the sky? For the lives & the future
They seek to destroy? We will. One body. One country. One land.
See, the worship of money is evil, not money itself,
Dragons stretched over jewels washing into the ocean.
We are THE America, to hell with some Diaspora of the masses,
Scattered through the nation, march, we will overcome.
Up from the margins, march, we will overcome.
Chinook Salmon and Sesame Catfish
THE RETURN OF THE KINGS OF SUMMER:
GRILLED SALMON WITH PINEAPPLE AND ROSEMARY
AND
SEARED SESAME CATFISH WITH BABY BOK CHOY
The return of summer for the West and the South is defined by two fish, for the West it is salmon and for the South it is catfish. Today we pay our culinary respects to the mighty King Salmon, the Chinook, the Coho, the Pink, the Silver bright (chum), and the fatty, deep red Sockeye. It will be grilled with rosemary and pineapple. This traveler of the oceans who knows two homes, the river bed of their birth and the oceans they explore and live before returning to spawn and die in the smooth rocks from which they were raised. I can imagine no life so determined and so beneficial to all life as the salmon. They swim UP waterfalls! Imagine how they swim upstream. They manage every possible roadblock in the water world. As fingerlings they feed a great amount of other fish, as kings of the sea they devour tons of krill and shrimp. After a few years they return from their mystery tour of the seas to the mouths of the rivers of their birth. They then stop feeding. After crossing our dams and our intrusions, our overheated overflows, our pollution, they pass waterfall and rapids, they pass bears and other mammals, they pass our nets and lures, and then they spawn and die. At the end of this journey they nurture the soil and they enrichen the fresh water with their decaying bones. Parts of our Northwest are alive and green, the rivers themselves are alive, all by the presence of the powerful and life giving salmon.
I feel a kinship to this fish. Much of my life has been enjoyed on the rocks and sands of the magnificent coasts of Northern California and the Carolinas. I am a native Georgian, and by native I mean going back into the 1700’s where my relatives settled into what is known as Tucker, Georgia. There is a lot of Irish and English in my DNA. The wandering nature of my life I attribute to the ancient line of world roaming Celts, and of course of personal love of our beautiful nation. How did I come to enjoy working with the flavors of America and of the far Pacific? By traveling in both life and thought through the vast network of poetry, food and philosophy that this land has to offer. My love of salmon is not just culinary; it is also a philosophic and poetic love. Watching the salmon run on a river is beyond description. Understanding the life of the salmon is to understand how Life interacts in our world where all things really are connected and that all life is sacred. As with all life on this earth we must work to protect and properly harvest salmon so that we can enjoy the flavor and health benefits, and so that the ecosystem can flourish through the life of this unmatched species of life. Wild salmon is filled with all things good for our health. Also, fresh wild salmon is just about one of the best tasting things I have ever eaten. In June I will be hosting a sustainable seafood dinner at the restaurant for those of you interested in the benefits of our streams and oceans.
Now on to the good stuff of why we are here: the fish and the grill! Everything will be cooked on the grill. And I trust you are eating outside, close to the source. Also, if you are buying your fish at Publix or Earthfare, remember that their seafood delivery days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Ask ahead for special fish so that they can have it in for you. Except for my Hawaiian fish we use the same purveyor, Inland Seafood, so I can vouch for the superb quality.
We will be using wild Chinook salmon for this recipe. If you cannot find the wild Chinook (King), then use sockeye, chum or Coho. If at all possible avoid the Pacific Ocean farmed Atlantic salmon as the harm outweighs the benefits of this particular fish. The first run of Chinook is a treasure. This fish is fatty, healthy, strong, large, and full of wide flaked meat. If you buy the whole fish you can use the head and backbones for fish stock for a rich and hearty chowder. When buying the steak cut go for the one that still has the backbone in it as this has more flavor and is more amenable to the grill. After it has grilled just lift the center bone out of the fish, all the other bones will come along with it.
What better way to celebrate Summer than with the best of both coasts? Catfish and Salmon! We will have catfish for the appetizer and salmon for the entrée. I recommend frozen green grapes, blueberries and raspberries sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar for a cooling dessert.
The history of Southern cuisine is lush with odes to catfish. From the catch to the table this slick fellow is the South. Can you imagine the writings of Mark Twain, or even our own late, beloved Lewis Grizzard without catfish? As a boy I learned to fish by catching bream, crappie and catfish. Later in life I developed a love of fly-fishing for trout and steelhead. A s my Uncle Allen Driscoll tells me I will end up at the end of a boat spinning for the three great bass species. Any way it goes, I am happy just to be near the water. This is pretty much how it is for most of us who grow up in a fishing boat, on the edge of a stream, or in the cold surf.
Farmed catfish is a stellar example of environmentally friendly and delicious fish cultivation. Catfish, trout and tilapia farming are what fish farming is all about. Everything is used, and nothing is poisonous to the earth or to us, the consumer. And besides, each one is delicious and easy to prepare.
For our grill we use an equal portion of two different charcoal briquettes, coconut and hickory. Coconut charcoal for intense heat, and hickory for the flavor.
It has to be blazing hot for the catfish appetizer so don’t fear the red glow from the base of your grill when the coconut charcoals are primed. By the time you get to cooking the salmon (20 minutes) the coals will have calmed down a bit and the hickory smoke will be dominate in the mix. This meal is for 4 people.
Four hours before it’s time to eat you will do all of the preparations. This way when the grill is ready all you do is cook and eat. Oh yes!
SESAME CATFISH
1 pound catfish cut into two inch cubes
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 ounces cilantro, fresh, chopped
4 tablespoons poblano pepper, diced
1 cup beer (yeah beer, any non-light kind)
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 teaspoons sesame oil
8 bamboo skewers
Mix all together in bowl and marinade in refrigerator for three hours. This removes the pond taste and gives them an extra punch of flavor. Four pieces of catfish per skewer.
GREENS
4 heads baby bok choy (find this at Fooks Market on Baxter St)
1 medium red onion (or Vidalia if they are any good this year)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut in long thin strips
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut in long thin strips
1/2 cup sweet rice vinegar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
Cut the baby bok choy (a.k.a. Shanghai cabbage) in half. Slice the red onion in rings. Mix all together in large mixing bowl and marinade two to three hours. After it marinades, drain the liquid before cooking it. Roll the Shanghai cabbage in aluminum foil.
SALMON
4 –8 ounce salmon steaks
1 cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons coarse pink sea salt, or any other coarse salt
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1/2 cup oyster sauce (Asian section of store or at Fooks store)
1/3 cup corn oil
4 stalks rosemary, fresh of course
1 pineapple, check to see that it is a sweet one
When it comes to the oyster sauce, as with all things culinary the better the brand the better the flavor. Mix the pineapple juice, salt, black pepper, and oyster sauce together. Core and cut the pineapple into one-inch thick triangles. Cut the rosemary stalks into 8 two-inch pieces. Pierce each salmon with two rosemary fronds. Rub the salmon steaks with the oyster sauce mixture and let them set in this for about thirty minutes. Save the juices for brushing the steaks while they grill. Save the corn oil for grilling time. You can buy rosemary bushes at Home Depot.
IF you have a rosemary bush all you gotta do is reach over and pinch a bunch off of the bush and throw it on the grill for extra flavor. Two years ago I presented a salmon recipe with rosemary, so as an anniversary memoir I am using the two together again, in a different way, but still together. Fresh rosemary is an incredibly versatile herb that I think is not used enough in the home kitchen from appetizers to desserts. It must be fresh. I’ve used it in crème brulee, ice creams, savory dishes, with fruits, with roasts, on the grill, and as a garnish. Fresh rosemary is without bounds and in many ways has more uses than even the most popular of all, basil.
HONEY WASABI SAUCE FOR THE SALMON
1 tablespoon wasabi powder
1/2 cup honey (check for different kinds of flower honey)
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
Whisk all together and refrigerate until time for supper.
VEGETABLE
Do you ever feel as if you were a slave to the will and whim of the grocery stores here in the Athens area? FOOKS on Baxter in Athens is a great choice for a concise selection of Pan Asian ingredients.
That no matter what you plan they will not have the best produce that you need? If that is the case then make the drive to the International Farmers Market, or to the market at 99 Ranch, and best of the best is Super H on Pleasantdale Road. What you save in groceries far exceeds the cost of gas in driving there and back. If you have no idea what it is that you are looking at when you examine the produce, the seafood or the prepared foods and ingredients then just ask anyone close by. In my experiences most of the time people are more than happy and ready to not only tell you what a food is but also how best to prepare it the same way they did in their native lands.
If you are afraid to try the too culturally different, then stick to the tried and true of grilling our own sweet corn and zucchini, yellow squash, or green tomatoes. After all, Southern cuisine is a true and valued food all it’s own just the same as any other international cuisine like French, Chinese or Italian. True Southern, for many of us, is really the first and foremost food of life. Thing is, you really must follow the rules of fresh and take your time. Fresh is the only way to cook. There is no excuse today to cook any other way. Some will eat to live, and others happily live to eat. I prefer to live to eat. When you live to eat there is no obstacle too great to stand between yourself and a cherished meal or ingredient.
So, if you can’t make the drive and the yellow squash is looking good then go with the squash. It’s the same for sweet corn as either is perfect on the grill with salmon and pineapple. The plate will be sort of yellow looking but that’s ok. Sometimes our foods can’t be as colorful as we would like.
GRILLING
The first stage is ready. The grill is fire hot from the coconut or cherry wood coals. Place the roll of Shanghai cabbage on the backside of the grill. After five minutes brush the grill with peanut oil and place the catfish skewers on the grill. Cover the grill. Turn them after five minutes. Turn again and cook for another five minutes. So, that’s fifteen minutes cook time for the first course.
Unroll the baby bock choy and divide between four plates. Place two catfish skewers on each plate. Pour the juice from the boy choy over the food. Garnish with lemon and cilantro.
For the salmon brush the grill with corn oil. The heat should be a bit calmer by this time. You will grill the fish five minutes per side, turning three times. Be careful when you turn the fish over as they may stick, so use a flat metal spatula to loosen them off of the grill rails. Place pineapple on the grill at the same time as the salmon, but only turn the pineapple triangles two times. This is also fifteen minutes cook time for the second course of your meal. The squash only needs about ten minutes. Corn will need about fifteen minutes. The hickory flavor of the smoke should be plenty enough seasoning for the vegetables. If that is not enough then sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little bit of chopped fresh garlic.
When they have cooked remove the salmon from the grill and pull out the backbone. Then pull out the rosemary sticks. Brush the fish with the honey wasabi mayonnaise and set on plates. Arrange pineapple and vegetable around your centerpiece of salmon. Sprinkle chopped macadamia nuts or cashews mixed with chopped parsley and rosemary over it all. Garnish with lime and red bell pepper.
FROZEN BERRIES
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
1 bunch green seedless grapes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pick the grapes off the stems. Arrange the fruits on a freezer proof plate. Sprinkle with the sugar. Freeze. When it’s time to eat just place the plate on the table and munch along as the sun goes down on your perfect Georgia day with friends by the grill. And that, all together, is the way to live to eat.
GRILLING MY LIFE AWAY
Sometimes a warm summer night is all we need
To see how beloved this Southern life can be,
For me it’s how I cherish, how I care and prepare,
For others it’s just the way the day crawls by,
How we sit and chat and watch the flowers in the breeze,
And any way you slice it there’s no other way to live
Than passing the time on a porch in Georgia in late August.
Donnie And Sanni Chambers, Married 4.17.10 A Beautiful Day
ATHENS, GEORGIA, RIVERHILL ROAD APRIL 17 2010
It was a constellation rich night in the early heat of summer.
Me and a pack of poets and musicians gathered together
For a big feast, in a big backyard, with big stories to tell,
And there’s all the time in the world to tell them,
Yeah, and there’s even more time to listen to them.
Georgia’s sweet that way, we talk, we talk a lot.
I want to talk about Donnie, and about this woman he loves.
The man, he’s so beautiful when he’s in love, his voice
Not quite so torn and his eyes not baggy, almost clear.
And it was this woman, this svelte gorgeous mystery, Sanni,
She arose at the just the right moment,
We all started singing famous hayride songs,
He started writing about dawn and dances,
About Halleluiah and victories in a kiss.
It’s like that, Sanni arrived. I swear I saw him smile.
That snap of the seconds when we all thought
He had had his last date with silver linings.
We saw the azaleas and wisteria start blooming.
This looming man for whom happiness was once a taunt.
He was happy. Donnie, singing rock and roll.
Was he ready to set sail up the brown Oconee River?
Was he ready to follow catfish and perch
To the Bear Creek Reservoir?
Not yet. No. He was not ready.
This guys playing an electric guitar.
It was just like that, right now, when Sanni arrived.
She looked at him and smiled and I swear
I heard rainbows shooting down his Vaudeville days.
And today it is just like this, in a day famous for it’s luster,
On an afternoon more full with joy than mosquitoes and mist,
Yep, today it is just like this, Sanni and Donnie have arrived.
H Lamar Thomas' Blog 