(May 2023. Driving Alice the red bus from Austin back to San Francisco for Josh’s big meeting. Stopped in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, where my good friends Nelson and Crystal were staying in their bus by a hot spring. It was cool to show my friends from my blue bus nomad life the red bus & tell them about my awesome new job. T or C is a cool town.)
truth or consequences
the mountains are true and the valley
this place where hot water springs
along the banks of the rio grande
from artesian wells & people create
is more valuable than the empty desert—
to be more beautiful is to be more true
believing in truth is hard when another
and their scarred truth can bruise me so
how can i feel safe in a world not shared
but to reach out to convince you of reality
will only push against a wall of fear
pushing back stronger because mammals
evolved not for truth but for survival,
and our biggest threat is not the facts
of the rocks and the rattlesnakes, but
the feelings of our fellow apex predators
what dies or lives
lives in a world of or,
but i believe in god
is only and all truth
and consequences
Beatin' Paths ~~~ The journey to the Great American Novel 