Revelations

I dreamt of Bill Hicks last night, a rarity these days.

When he first past in 1992, he visited frequently, now not so much.

He was on stage in a black hat, and all I remember was the word…REVELATIONS.

I woke up agitated, unable to go back to sleep.

He once embarked on what he called his Revelations Tour, you can now watch on video.

That said.

I was very upset before I had gone to bed because they imposed a curfew on New York City from 8 P.M. till 5 A.M. for one week, making me feel more rent of my Civil Liberties than ever.

I’m getting rather miffed at being told what I can and cannot do, and if that sounds haughty, so be it.

I realize this unprecedented looting in my neighborhood has to stop. I’m stunned by it quite frankly, that the death of a man his family and friends describe as a gentle giant, is being used to steal and terrorize.

Who are these heathens traveling from state to state anyway?

I’m also thrown by the twisted tactics being tossed around.

Peaceful protesting is very American.

Think of the March on Washington in 1963, with over 200,000 people ending up at the Lincoln Memorial whose purpose was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans.

I get emotional when I think of them standing in front of Lincoln who, even in marbled effigy, still inspires.

It was when Martin Luther King gave his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech, a plaque marking the spot. 

Of course, 18 days later, at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a bomb exploded killing 4 little girls.

What’s my point?

Not sure, except I’ll say again, history repeats itself.

There’s good and evil duking it out…then…now.

What do we do?

Some say call out the National Guard, but then Kent State rears its ugly head where, in 1970, 67 rounds were fired in 13 seconds killing 4 students.

After almost 3 months in semi seclusion, these gatherings, peaceful or otherwise, may ignite Covid-19 all over again, undoing all the good, sheltering in place, has done.

It’s no wonder Governor Cuomo is upset.

What should we do?

Stop hurting one another whether it’s by gun or virus?

Sounds too easy, because the man who killed George Floyd, in my opinion, snapped, making racism the only cause, just a bit too simple for me.

We need to corral our upset, recognize it, keep it in check.

We’re like tuning forks at too high a pitch.

If the violence and indifference doesn’t stop, the Book of Revelations may have a new printing.

Maybe that’s what Hicks was trying to convey.

 SB