August 2026 - Vol. 23, Issue 4

Nowhere and Nothing sure are huge places to be,

Like being in outer space

I suppose,

Or faraway on a distant sea,

If not somewhere in the middle of a desert.

I feel the same way when I’m inside a hundred acre

Data center ran by robots

When I need a job,

You know?

Its tiring and mighty boring

Rambling around here in Nowhere

And Nothing,

Searching for Something;

Maybe a new start

While trying to live an ever diminishing life long dream,

In the middle of a population in denial of this reality,

I truly believe.

The pied pipers claim there really is Something

In Nowhere and Nothing.

He always points at the wind,

Saying “look!”,

Or way up on a distant mountain top,

Telling me

“A dazzling opportunity awaits

Just around the very next bend!”

Yet

When I finally make it there

I see only another empty dusty stone staircase

With an iron gate and a rusting block chain,

Another rather expansive gully I must jump,

After I hand three pounds of pure gold to this well armed

Suspicious gate keeper;

I’m telling you

The story is always the same.

I sure have trodden a long way

In Nowhere and Nothing,

I’ve gone from yaupon leaves

And golden sand,

To Moonlight Beach and shining sea,

I’ve seen the Queen of Heaven’s deified effigy

And heard her huge cathedral bell

Knell;

I know this tale may be difficult to believe,

But I’ve covered all of her endless roads

In my tracks very well.

I’ve spent my entire life roaming around in

Nowhere and Nothing,

Yet I’ve been able to do so much,

From trapping furs and farming tobacco,

To walking steel, teaching school,

And such.

I’ve been married twice going on five times,

I’ve lived in at least a hundred places,

Far and wide,

I’ve camped in woods filled with sunshine,

Look at the good times I’ve had and the money I’ve spent!

I’ve owned houses, RV trailer homes, and tents.

As my mortal end looms just ahead,

Maybe somehow I’ll finally hold Something

In my clutch