Bob Marley and waiting...

My roommate in college at SIU was a Jamaican by the name of Carl McPherson. Since that time, long ago, he has become an MD, (and is so to this day). Carl instilled in me a love of his Nation, his race and his intellect. (You get to exchange much in a dorm room over a year's time). Dr. McPherson was, and remains a pivotal force in my life, even now! This song is a poorly made tribute to the man, his race and his kindness.. 'Carl, thank the forces of Nature that you got stuck with me as a roomie)!

Hey! Please watch the (2) scenes and contemplate places you haven't been.

Now, let's let the story go on...

When I arrived at Carbondale on my inaugural trip there, I was shaky, fearful and missing a girl I'd left behind. My paper, mailed to me from the college, told me I was assigned to Allen III, a three story dorm in a complex adjacent to Trueblood Hall. After driving for hours, I was tired and was trying to figure out a way out of the whole mess I'd found myself in.

I remember that the day I arrived on campus, it was God awful hot and so, with tears still in my eyes, I decided to at least get up to my dorm room. Lugging my suitcase to the front door, I was informed that my doom was on the third floor! Fuck! OK. So, up some steps, dragging a case, that was all that remained of my previous life was about all that was left in me. I arrived at my room praying and hoping that my roommate would at least be someone I could relate to. After no little effort, I finally made it to my room.  Looking around, I saw a really small space with two beds, a window between them and a very small chest of drawers on either side...

Exhausted from driving. Heartsick and incredulous at such primitive digs, I broke down and sat on the bed on the left. Now, my plans to escape this prison were foremost in my mind. The ONLY thing that prevented me from bolting that day was the shame of going home. So, I unpacked a few items and prayed for a white man to be my roommate... Of course, I got the blackest young man I'd ever seen... He appeared in the doorway and, guess what? My life got one hell of a lot better... It just so turned out that Carl, was not only black, but also an exchange student and an emerging track star! A very wonderful man that also happened to be a chick magnet - go figure... my life got much much better after that day... [Please forgive any errors here, just too tired to fix them].

Long after my youth's eager transgressions!
Views of times, now long forgotten.
Aged eyes, still with a spark of how,
Looking back, and not knowing how... the fuck I ever survived, to be writing this shit!!