"I Followed The Hippie Trail..."
By Anthony Roberts
I followed the hippie trail
when the route wasn’t black
when we had briefed our CONOP
received our convoy clearance
when we had a minimum of three vehicles
with an RCP ahead and EOD somewhere in back
The last remnant of the flower children
were the routes named after colors of the rainbow
flower power was long gone
as people struggled to find flour
to feed their young
I projected power
from the turret of a MATV
the Ma Deuce and 240
made me bilingual
so I could be understood
in Pashto or Dari
The hippie trail
once intersected with the Ring Road
the idealists of the past
in search of enlightenment
or cheap weed and hash
or maybe both
those dreams now ash
that filled the bags of trash
along with IEDs
and EFPs (courtesy of the IGRC)
that lined the path from Herat to Kabul
Kabul
where our forefathers went to find freedom or maybe just to get high
Kabul
that saw all from Alexander to us arrive and recede
we were no match for Warlord’s greed
and the all powerful poppy seed
Kabul
I still see you in my mind now the place where freedom goes to die
Anthony Roberts is a veteran of Baltimore and Afghanistan. He currently lives in New Jersey in a home with beautiful views and interlocking fields of fire.
He is the author of Pigtown and The Clearing Barrel.
You can follow him here.
Folks - the Parlor is back!
Starting this Saturday night, downtown Cornwall is once again the place to see great theater with Joshua Harmon’s 2018 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle award winning dramady Admissions. Drinks, dessert, a hilarious live performance, professional actors, an intimate unforgettable space, pay-what-you-can tickets…it simply does not get better than this.
I’m not going to lie, we’re poking the bear a little with Admissions. It’s not a traditional comedy. It’s a provocative yet even-handed look at the college admissions process and the hypocrisies, gaffes, primal screams, and noble intentions behind race-based admissions. Issues of race, class, and privilege are confronted head-on with Joshua Harmon’s straightforward, unsparing, blunt dialogue. It’s a night of satire, drama and social commentary that will leave you questioning, laughing, and shaking your head.
As always, you’re welcome to show up and hope for a cancellation. But if you really want to see the show, why not book now and save yourself the uncertainty?
This week on the Savage Wonder podcast…
Matt Rendar is an Army combat veteran, current NYPD officer and wildly popular artist. His Etsy shop BattleTribe features evocative, colorful, playful, memorable images that pay homage to both his military past and his pop culture influences.