Walk with Rhythm
The kids just kept on coming
The kids who came to die
Machines just kept on drumming
Their poison filled the sky
The doors were crammed completely
With living and the dead
As a system lined up neatly
Passing corpses overhead
One more lifeless body out
One more gyrator in
One more to dance and shout
Until the line could move again
The thing is they were smiling
Every empty twisted face
As the bodies kept compiling
Every foot tapped in its place
How many would they get
Before we could shut this down?
This wicked DJ set
This massacring sound
Of course, we cut the power
From whence we thought it came
But that was days and hours
From this point in the game
Of course, we brought in soldiers
And closed down all the schools
But all we had was might and older
Facing what young thought was cool
And they just kept emerging
Like a plague or rabid ants
We’d stop a hundred surging
And 300 more advanced
They came as in a trance
As if by chance or happenstance
All consumed with the romance
That they would give their lives… to dance
And so, they did, one by one
Pair by pair and more by more
As if the rhythm were a gun
And the bullet was the floor
They danced until they couldn’t move
They moved until they died
They twitched and still they felt the groove
Until they closed their eyes
Some died of dehydration
Some were smothered by the crowd
If any screamed for their salvation
The music was too loud
I know that you must wonder
‘Bout the magic of this sound
It was sugar mixed with thunder
It was everything around
Michael Jackson meets the Beatles
Mixed with California Love
Just a snippet of the Eagles
And that show you just thought of
It made you feel so hype
It made you feel so smart
That’s everybody’s type
And has been from the start
You may think I’m wrong
But to use just one example
How’d you feel on that last song
To recognize the Marley sample?
Flattery and catchy music
Is something quite sublime
Until a monster knows to use it
We were running out of time
The sound truck, we’d forgotten
All it gave us now was shade
Our attempts with it were rotten
We stood no chance with what we played
I never saw the little guy
Until I felt him first
He fell like manna from the sky
When things felt at their worst
He started off so softly
He slipped into my thoughts
The melody just caught me
And left me feeling lost
Adrift with a clarinet
Above our ghastly scene
Before we’d even met
He took me to a dream
And then the beat awoke me
I spun around to find
The music spell that broke me
Drawing more encaptured minds
One by one and pair by pair
They circled ‘round the sound
The fight made finally fair
By two turntables on the ground
Hour after hour
Our hero inched the scales
Did he even know his power?
Did he know that he could fail?
His hoodie seemed to swallow him
He looked about fourteen
When they began to follow him
The tide began to lean
We finally had our shot
A crack formed in the crush
It was not a lot
Just enough for us to rush
It took so long to find it
A sliver, just, of hope
When it left, I didn’t mind it
No, I could hardly cope
Through all the days of Hell
I was angry at the strife
But when our hero fell
I was angrier at life
The worm is on TV again. This was never about the music. This was never about young people.
This was about giving a bunch of lonely people an excuse to come together so they could be destroyed in one place. Voluntary Mass Hysteria
Michael is asleep. That’s our hero. He’s sixteen, actually. He loves Fatboy Slim. And the only reason he came was to try and help. He worked himself past the point of exhaustion. And we still didn’t win. Would it be so bad if life was fair?
I decide not to rip down the television. But I want to. I heard once that the Buddha had a metaphor about how holding onto anger was like picking up a hot stone that you aim to throw at someone else and only burning your own hand. I think a lot of people take that to mean that we shouldn’t get angry but I don’t take it that way at all. I think it just means that we either have to throw our stone quickly or to put it down. At this moment, I don’t know precisely were I need to throw at, so, I make myself place my stone down while I try to figure it out.
“Who’s the worm?
“Oh, hey, man, are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. I don’t hear the music. Were you able to stop it?”
“No… It’s still loud right outside. You’re in a recovery area.”
Mike exhaled and intook the information for a moment.
“You said a lot of curse words about ‘The Worm’. Who is that?”
I nod up to the television. He tilts his head quizzically. I sit down on the edge of his bead.
“Ok, so, I really like Slim too and, at the clubs that I used to go to with my girls, there were a bunch of times that me and Shannon were the only black people there, which, if you haven’t experienced that yet, just be ready for it. So, I used to joke with Shannon that we’d be fine if we just ‘walk without rhythm…’ “
“And you won’t attract the worm.”
“Right. Which is really just acknowledging that worms like to attack you if you demonstrate anything that makes them too uncomfortable or aware about their own insecurity. Like, you can be there and be black, and be a woman, and be unique in whatever way as long as it doesn’t draw too much attention or make the worms feel that they’re not in control. Worms hate feeling out of control and if they feel a little bit insecure, like you’re too black or too cool or standing out, then they attack in the most cowardly way, which is only with superior numbers. Sooo, that dude up there is the wormiest worm in the world and… I get to ask a question now… Why did you push yourself so hard out there that you wound up in here?”
“I just thought we had a chance to save people.”
“Well, we did, and you did an incredible job but… I don’t even know right now… like, at some point we’re gonna win this battle but what about the next one, or the big worm, or the other worms? What if we’re just playing whack-a-mole the whole time and a good kid like you has to nearly kill himself to save a bunch of people who aren’t even trying to save themselves?”
He thinks before he responds.
“Well, if the worms keep popping up then we just have to keep swinging and hope that more people pop up to swing with us, right? And we’ll save some good ones along with the bad ones and eventually we turn some worms around… or, at least, some of the moles. The worms bay be a lost cause.”
He smiles because he makes me smile: “And, anyways, I’m feeling good, so when are going back out?”
And that’s all I needed
Then I feel it
It’s rising up in me
I really feel like we can win
By sheer force of good
I follow Michael’s eyes
To his turntables folded against the wall
He’s got his weapon of choice
Right Here
Right Now
And I’ve got mine
Let’s end this
The turning of their shoulders
It ripples through the crowd
Momentum turning over
Like a snowball rolling down
Rolling, rolling, rising
Gaining speed and gaining mass
Michael hypnotizing
Michael teaching class
They toss upon the ground
Inhibition, conscious will
For unexpected sounds
Mixed with elegance and skill
They bounce against each other
The cram before his feet
The building, losing cover
Is soon to taste defeat
We shove on through to find the truth
I bound on up the stairs
And when I find the DJ booth
There is no one there
Just a laptop all alone
Causing all the pain
I pick up my hot stone
Until only bits remain
Out the window is the music
Only now I feel this free
I walk on over to it
And look at victory
Somewhere in that circus
A single figure makes them dance
Man, Michael you deserve this
You gave them all a chance
This may only be a respite
Or the first of many hacks
But if it is, I know we won’t quit
Now’s the time for fighting back
‘Cause now the sun is fading
On what is a winning day
And for the worms we will be waiting
Like some ready birds some of prey
I drop my stone
And all alone
I dance with my new friend