Category Archives: Uncategorized

Granted

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

My friends David and Linda live in the desert north of San Luis Obispo, California, a prettier place one cannot imagine. People commute to San Luis, their drive taking them through mountain canyons down to the sea. When I’m there, … Continue reading →

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Concerto for Viola

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

Viola Liuzzo was murdered on March 25, 1965 between Selma, Alabama and Montgomery, but it was the why of her death that led to her sainthood. I was a junior at Alton High School, rehearsing for the musical Wonderful Town, … Continue reading →

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In Memoriam

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

I grew up a Methodist. Epworth Methodist Church in Belleville, Main Street in Alton, Godfrey Methodist. Joe Evers was the pastor at Epworth. I would know him for a long time, as he played a pivotal role in my life … Continue reading →

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Catbelly Heat on My Knees

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

I came across this song lyric from 1883, in a file marked “Blind Bobbybaby Jax.” Indeed, records show an old black man living in Macoupin County, an itinerant laborer, fruit picker and two-finger banjo plucker. “I done scratched away my … Continue reading →

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Alton Anthem (F# major)

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

We named a street after Martin Luther King so you can Shut up! We’re renovating the Grand Theatre—all are welcome not like when it opened Shut up! We hired blacks in our factories okay the Feds made us but Shut … Continue reading →

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Boy Uninterrupted

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

They walk into the diner, mother and father in their late forties, and towheaded Junior, maybe ten. They sit at a round table, Junior across from Dad and Mom at Junior’s left arm. Junior takes out an I-Pad, inserts earphones, … Continue reading →

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Genehouse Movie Review: “The Rider”

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

Genehouse Movie Review “The Rider” “The Rider” is one of the most beautiful and moving films I have ever seen, uplifting, gorgeous (the canvas is the Badlands in South Dakota), haunting. “After a riding accident leaves him unable to compete … Continue reading →

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In the Forsythia Ballroom

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

In the Forsythia Ballroom drab in winter but colored bird song sparrows sin and sing scat swinging cardinals dance the Bounce The balcony section, Honeysuckle, upside down, man, with nuthatches powdered snow confetti raining down   In the Forsythia Ballroom, … Continue reading →

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A Christmas Story

Posted on December 23, 2018 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

Last night, I got up to pee. I walked into the bathroom in the dark, and released Gene Creek into the Great Basin, in the dark, when I looked down and saw a moving shadow in the bowl. Remembering that … Continue reading →

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Read My Lips

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Eugene Jones Baldwin

For several minutes, Senator Bob Dole, wheelchair bound, sat in silence before the body of President Bush. His jaws clenched repeatedly; he might have been chewing gum. He watched unblinking, thinking, no doubt, of his old friend, of war. And … Continue reading →

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