My business awhile is with different trees,

big fun, sunburns, pizza parties, and quality times.
harvest, maple, and my niece cash.
three terrific reasons to demonstrate
appreciative reverence.
a.k.a.:
gratitude.
that's what's up.
don't expect to be handed the hottness, ya'll.
because nobody owes you a damn thing.
which means a lot of hard work, for very little credit.
keeping it real doesn't mean gettin' props for representin' that realness.
that doesn't mean you shouldn't be real,
just that fairness, and jedi balance in the force
usually don't show up while the fight for furious feverish flavor is in flagrante delicto.
SO,
when your friends and/or family are there for you,
when decent folks drop decent deeds your way,
and when events fall into place to make the barbarian bonfires burn a bit brighter,
show some gratitude.
and i mean being grateful for really real,
not because you feel guilty or obligated to display some theatrical thankfulness.
represent the style of being dope wherein you say 'thank you',
just the once,
and really mean it.

dear secret universal plan,
today,
i'm grateful.
thank you.
love,
albie.


we saw two twin herons, flying over the Biltmore, in downtown Providence.
you all already know how i feel about the symbolic symbiotic synthesis surrounding us.
this one was spotted on the gutter grate in front of my ma's house.
it may be plastic, but it may also be dope.


pizza.
i swear, ya'll.
we tuned up so many slices of serious hot fire, friday night,
AND again on sunday night.
foxon park soda was on tap.
birch beer, the east coast kind.
clear, sweet, and vaguely minty.
tomato pies, son.
so delish.

this was one of mine.
i sing out my savage declaration,
in the face of acidic esophageal agony,
to the digestive devastation and unholy heartburn promises each and every
chopped onion and crushed red pepper flake made to my bellyhole,
'i fight back.'
i'm just sayin';
the furnaces of mt. doom melted the one ring,
do you really think i'd bring the weak-sauce when it comes around to MY time
to tune up some epic sicilian circles?
hot fire, ya'll.

colon catastrophes were narrowly averted.


it's nice to see that after well over a decade, the peonies i planted in hamden
are looking verrry pleased with themselves.
in reference to my earlier point,
i like to think that perfect blooms are peonies way of showing gratitude to the ants who bite the buds and help them open,
and those ants hand out their appreciation in bite sized bits in exchange for the sweet sweet sugar the buds bleed out.
symbolic symbiotic synthesis.

hey ya'll,
on the real,
thank you.