Dash For Power

Jefferson’s America of wigged gentlemen on the Atlantic seaboard,

within a Century was Mark Twain’s, from California to New York.

• Twain, or Samuel Clemens, born in the middle of this rapidly expanding America, joked that as America’s new spokesman after Ralph Waldo Emerson, perhaps he should be introduced as Mark Waldo Twain, who followed earlier American literary giants, including Mr. Whittier, Mr Longfellow and Mr Emerson, Mr. Thoreau. But to the world beyond America’s shores, it was Mark Twain who truly came to represent the nobler aspects of humanity through his characters, Tom and Huck, on a raft in the Mississippi.They had to have a dog along, and a some times, if she was quiet, a girl named Beckie Thatcher.

• Twain, in writing his great works, “Tom Sawyer”, and “Huckleberry Finn”, spoke the best of America’s soul to an admiring world, who also became as one with those boys on that raft, and Sam Clemens Twain widened the world’s respect and new vision of America, and confirmed in millions of hearts there could exist cruel hypocracy that sounded like the fury of a cruel God, and perhaps the true meaning of Jesus was being distorted enough to die and be damned for, and this message resounded in the brains and souls of fair minded people everwhere. All through Tom and Huck. Well spoken, all.

• With these writings, Samuel Clemens caused people around the world, to see the world through the hearts of these two twelve year old boys. Tom, our narrator, at least has a home, stays with his aunt, has to go to school, some does. His best pal Huck, a runaway “river rat”, sleeps in river bank caves, moving if the mother badger reclaims it, living on the river banks of the mighty Mississippi.

• Also, boys had it beaten into them, being firmly taught to do one’s duty, serve God, and from about Hannibal all the way south to the Gulf, included in that God’s law was eternal damnation if you did not return a slave to their master. Floating on a raft, hearing slave Jim moaning for his wife and child, sold down the river, Tom and Huck decide Jim cries and bleeds like them, he must be human too. And truly fearing damnation, they choose to help Jim escape north.

• “And I decided then, if freeing Jim puts me in Hell, then to Hell I go”. In his innocence, may his dog couldn’t come to Heaven, or maybe he could, but Jim was a human and should be able to go if he was a good man, and he was a good man. Even Communists had to admit that any nation that could produce a Mark Twain could not be all bad. Compliments from the Devil.

• Then, as now, it was test and discover- coal burns higher than wood, steel can create rails to carry carriages on tracks, steam engines, telegraph lines across America, and the gold rush camp follower who first created a sensation with his story of the fixed frog race in Gold Rush country’s Calaveras County. The movie about Mark Twain’s life ends with Twain’s devoted daughter crying at his body, as his spirit lifts up and walks up the stairway into heaven with Tom and Huck holding each of his hands, chatting about some new cave in the riverbank. Sam is bending forward, more spring in his step as he says, “Yeah? Let’s go see.” There would surely have been a dog wagging it’s tail, welcoming them, warming the heart.

• Let’s imagine there are cloudlike rafts in Heaven, I would love to sit on one with those fellows, and their face licking dog. Maybe by then we can help Jim find his wife and child. Get final right things right. Tom and Huck didn’t get to see men arrive on the moon- well, maybe they did, and smiled in awe as we did. Even more when we meditate, can you imagine: Tom says he sleeps on his cloud all relaxed, stretched out, but Huck pulls his wings and his cloud all around him, snuggiest riverbank cave ever he says, dog takes turns sleeping with who hugs closest.

• Tom gets a second storey bedroom, with a porch. Huck usually wakes up around mid night, Heaven Central Time, then sneaks over to Tom’s back porch, whistles real quiet like, the dog is waiting, tail wagging. Out comes Tom, down the trellice, ten we go see Becky Thatcher, I go down to the riverbank with Huck, some food and rum for Jim and his wife, long reunited thanks to Mr. Clemens, over under that shade tree telling those children story. Listen to the hearty laughter from Jim’s raft, his wife saying Stop, her giggling. They never stop. But you, me, Tom, maybe Beckie, we all untie this knot- this is the best part- we jes float free as birds on our raft, the moon and stars above, old man river… the place in Heaven for all good boys, and any nice girl like Beckie if she don’t jiggle the raft. And who knows the secret code…the dog knows. And in today’s world, the dog would adore you for checking out natural organic meats and dog foods at apdempsey or Petplanet2U. Tom and Huck would recognize this as pure good food fit for eatin’, man or dog.

Derek Dashwood

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 10:38 am and is filed under Pet Health, Be 1 of The 3 Wise Men, Bliss In Your Life, Be The Vibrant Woman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.