Joan E. Bauer
At a Zine Fest in East LA
I just met Mr. Eggplant, punk musician,
editor & anarchist born in Pinole, California
the year I taught eighth grade there,
blocks from the last Jack-in-the-Box
on 80 North, before you hit Vallejo.
Mr. Eggplant has raccoon eyes.
We’re surrounded by beaded, bearded,
tattooed kids & a few old hippies.
I’m sure some can quote Albert Camus,
Emma Goldman, even Noam Chomsky.
I think back to teaching
folk songs & left-skewed history.
Did I get co-opted?
Teacher, corporate wife, then
landlord & before all that, daughter
of a Military-Industrialist who designed
the long-range missiles
that could still destroy the world.