Antonio's Song is a tribute and memoriam about a man I would call a friend. I walked alongside Antonio in his journey with homelessness, mental health, brain injury and substance use. Over the 10 years that I walked with him he told me most of his story. We worked hard at reducing and eliminating his use of alcohol and crack. We had huge successes and fromidable struggles. Antonio passed away shortly after I retired from a contaminated supply of cocaine laced with fentanyl. I carry his memories with me always.
In The Park is a tribute to good friends,
past and present. It is about reminiscing over
meaningful times, how our lives change and about
reconnection.
American Dream is a critique of the American Dream; of the western dream and myth of success. It is about the war on drugs; how that war has indoctrinated us to support a system that intentionally oppresses certain people. It suggests that the “american dream” is part of the root of the substance use health issues we are facing today. It is calling out those responsible; namely all of us who complicitly or otherwise continue to support the barbaric objectification of people who use substances and those who suffer from the health impacts that can occur. Written shortly after the George Floyd incident and always relevant as we continue to crush those who really just need to be recognized as human beings and sometimes in need of compassion and support.
Another Unexpected Ending: One of the ways I would process loss of people I walked with in my counselling journeys was to write songs. I wrote a lot about losing beautiful people to the contaminated unregulated illicit supply of substances on the streets. When I retired, the deaths did not stop of course. They continue today at a rate of over 20 people at day in Canada. I was contacted by a former colleague about yet another loss of someone I had walked closely with on their journey. It remembers a number of people who passed after I retired. How can we keep on getting this so wrong?