I've Been Left Free By The River

                                       Written By: Pierce Gates

            I’m looking out at the river. And I’m looking at a scenic backdrop which seems to be dropping back away from me. But my thoughts aren’t in a constant time zone. They’re being bent forward and backward, or upward or downward depending upon one’s view of them; that is, it depends upon how one views them both physically with one’s eyes, and philosophically with one’s beliefs.  

            And sometimes today those thoughts have been about the past and people I knew there. And I’ve remembered both their closeness and remoteness. But time - time you keep removing the time from our lives. Time – don’t let me forget the good times and the good people!

            But, other times today my thoughts have strayed to the struggling stupidity of current marchers and protesters. And then those thoughts have concentrated upon the people of threats – the people who cause damage to buildings, punch people in the face, and warn that they may bomb national landmarks.

            And those are the impressions concerning time and its passage about which I’m certain today. But here’s an observation. I’ve always imagined that although in this nation’s past many people lived under harsher conditions than do many who are alive here today, those Americans of the past seemed to cope better with the problems of their era than do the Americans of this current time. And thus, today when I see all the trouble generated by certain Americans simply because a non-Democrat was elected president, I’m really concerned about the future of this nation. And what will happen here someday when a Democrat is once more elected to that office? Will Republicans and conservatives then take to the streets as Democrats, liberals and radicals have recently?

            Well, in truth I suppose it wouldn’t really matter that much to me. And besides my thoughts concerning the subjects I’ve already enunciated, today my mind is likewise remembering these words of observation spoken to me by a friend several years ago:  “Pierce,” he said, “usually things will work out for the best, even though it may not seem that way just now.” And I think he was correct in regard to me personally. I’m no longer a member of the fray, or of the rat race. I’ve found a new way to live. But sometimes I wonder if he was right in regard to the U.S.A.

            I used to live in San Francisco. But then one day I received a mysterious phone call. A man named Ralph Hawk rang me up and told me he’d been researching my life as I’d lived it up until then. And then he explained something to me which was unbelievable, but which I’ve come to know as true since I’ve accepted his invitation and now live in a more or less communal setting here in this city which is basically controlled by forces from realms unknown to most mortals.

            And I’ve flourished here. And, like all the others who live here in this new development of homes, apartments and duplexes on the north shore of this city’s river, I’m an artist of sorts. But that’s all I’ll tell you about myself. I might be a writer. I might be a musician. I might be an actor - or a painter – or any number of other things which are involved with creative communication; but it’s not really necessary for me to tell you exactly what I do.

            What is necessary however, is that I inform you of the political peril I believe the forces of left wing ideology have foisted upon this nation. Luckily, in the recent presidential election enough level headed Americans chose a new leader who’s vowed to face down this leftist threat. Nonetheless, as can be seen even just now as I’m writing this, a number of malcontents and losers are making spectacles of themselves by disrupting the normal flow of life in a number of large American cities.

            And the fact that what I just described in the last paragraph is actually occurring just now should, I believe, make the general populace of the United States take a good long look at what’s really occurring in this nation’s Democratic Party, as well as in a number of other apparently radical and/or freedom hating groups and cabals. Simply put, it’s time for honest freedom loving Americans to say “no” to these left wing suppressers of individuality.

            And I believe the great masses of America will be able to do it; although you’ll probably not see them congregating on city streets and acting like fools. And, by writing this I’m attempting to help them in that goal, although personally I’ve now entered upon a lifestyle which will no longer permit me to either directly act upon, or be directly acted upon by any other mortal no matter what that mortal’s political views may be. And how fortunate I was to have been invited here where fake news, the hatred of liberals, and the phony accusations of both legal and illegal immigrants can no longer phase me.

            For many years I struggled as a commoner in what I believed was a common land, until one day I learned that because my viewpoints weren’t leftist enough, and because my skin wasn’t dark enough, and because for all my life up until then I’d tried to only take care of myself and my responsibilities, some wealthy haters of the conservative lifestyle had branded me as an enemy of what they believe are America’s true patriots (that is, those who wish to live within the borders of America while they confiscate the hard earned wages of the great American silent majority). But that’s when I was afforded an opportunity to leave all that negativity and blame behind, and join an enclave of individuals who truly are free – and who’ll remain free! And yes, let me say that once more to those of you who write fake news stories, and who complain about elected officials at awards ceremonies where you strut your wealth, fancy clothes, and arrogance before the American people while you tell them how concerned you are about the “little people”:  MY PEOPLE ARE FREE, AND FREE THEY’LL REMAIN!

            But of course the great carers of America have really been showing us who they really care about lately. My God! Not long ago one of the main figures involved in one of this nation’s most brutal murderous rampages needed to be hospitalized! What if he would have died? He’s only been incarcerated, and living off the American taxpayers since the early 1970’s!

            I’ve come to believe that the mass killers of recent times have found some degree of influence in what’s today termed “entertainment.” And a few years ago, before Ralph Hawk invited me to live with his people here in this city of divisions, I knew a good-looking woman named Susan. And, yes, the thought of her as a life’s partner did cross my mind. But then, one day when I couldn’t reach her via telephone, I decided to call her parent’s house. Her mother answered the phone and said “Susan can’t go out with you anymore. She belongs to the great timeless light now. Two days ago she was at the store paying for her groceries when a maniac who apparently needed money for drugs shot her during a robbery.”

            Well, as I’ve already said, I know I’m not well liked. And no, society’s supposed “good guys and gals” don’t like people such as myself who, at first glance might be considered survivors of past lifestyles, but who really, I guess, are the people of tomorrow. And go ahead and chastise me for being boastful if you wish. That won’t change what I believe are certain inevitabilities. That won’t change a change which may soon occur in the relationship between America and Russia; nor will it  thwart what in a few years will likely become America’s second installment of The Roaring Twenties (minus Prohibition of course).

            And yet, with all “hard-core truthfulness” set aside, I know that everything I did before I came to this city was of negligible importance. And everything seemed so much more difficult then. But now, here, in this city, my new friends and leader protect me.

            And sometimes, before I came here, I used to wonder why I was alive amidst so many apparently unanswerable questions. And, oh no, I could never find a synthesis among all those seemingly contradictory beliefs, influences, trends, and evidently random acts and occurrences which must happen only more or less as a result of time’s passage and the changes that passage of time causes and necessitates. Still, I knew then that if mortals believed in an afterlife, then they knew they must follow the dictates of their God in this current existence.

Thus, I was a troubled man before I came to this city. But I guess my greatest problem then was simply that I wasn’t liberal enough. I guess I should have helped organize some protests and marches then. And I guess I should have disrespected the freedoms that many Americans before me fought and died to attain and maintain. Yeah, and I guess I should have done some public cursing and filthy talking then. And, oh yes, I should also have ridiculed innocent children, especially if they were the offspring of national leaders.