Play It Again, Sam

Once, a while back, when I was in a particularly dark funk, a friend asked me whether or not I had any heroes. I thought for a long moment before saying that I only saw heroism in those who grew beyond themselves and their egos. Those rare souls saw themselves as connected to something larger, and, often took some action to remedy social ills. They found joy in service. One of those diamonds was Sam Hamill -- a voice, a poet of pain, a witness to the glowing heartbreak of of love and politics. Here was the remedy to a toxic masculinity, an ex-Marine who learned the vocabulary of emotion, an ex-inmate healing the trauma of rape, a heroin addict who swapped his need for a fix for a love of words, a teacher who asked his students to open forbidden doors by living as example. His essay, "The Necessity to Speak," became a kind of manifesto for my writing life. The only kind of writing that interested me was writing that rose above technical prowess into a dangerous truth that most people did not want to hear. Speaking this kind of truth to power can get you killed in many places on the planet, but it is what needs to be done, is waiting there in the wings for someone brave and committed enough to say it. I am still working on that. Today is sad. I am grateful, though, for the words that remain. Adios, Sam. I'm still listening.