Unexpected incongruities keep me smiling
I was at an anarchist bookstore fundraiser
Expecting the music to match the stereotypes
Black leathers and body piercings
Plaid flannel workshirts that never quite cover all of the tattoos
Or the hair, spilling out or down or over
Anarchists, my kind of crowd
Enthusiastic counter-culture rebels
Whose fashion sense lies somewhere between goth and steampunk
So when the show opened with bluegrass banjo
It felt discordant
But the crowd enthused and stomped along
And when the next chanteuse launched into Dixieland
And rolled up river to sing the blues like Lady Day
I had to smile as the loud girls behind me roared their applause
For gentle ballads of gracious peace
And I realized my assumptions were just that
Stereotypes are always incomplete
My expectation of the night’s music had been punked
Smiling, I roared my applause
David Trudel © 2013
