Welcome to the world according to Cosmos. I am your host, John (Jake) Cosmos Aller, aka Cosmos. I have been blogging for about 10 years since I retired from the US Foreign Service back in 2016. During my service, I worked in 10 countries (Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts, St. Lucia, St Vincent, South Korea, India, Spain) and DC, and visited 45 countries. I have been to all States, DC and PR. I have been living in South Korea with an annual visit to the States -Oregon, Northern California, and Washington, DC since then. I have lived in five different cities in the U.S. -Berkeley, Stockton, Seattle, Alexandria, and DC,
The purpose of this blog is to provide a place for me to show my fiction, poetry, and political rants. I have decided, though to forgo any hot political topics for now as I don’t want to get into trouble with the man or invite cyber bullying, which unfortunately is happening all too often in the blogosphere.
Politically, I lean left but distrust hard-core ideologues on the left and on the right. I am a never trumper democrat, and a Bernie bro, and a big supporter of the LGBTQ community as I have LGBTQ and trans friends. Religion-wise, I am an agnostic sort of a new age neo Buddhist or dudist. My favorite movie is “The Big Lebrowski”. I am a big K-drama fiend. I am a big blues and funk fanatic. My favorite band is Tower of Power. My poetry is outlaw poetry style, neo-beatnik flavor. My fiction tends to be sci-fi political thrillers.
I grew up in Berkeley in a political family. My father taught at Cal State SF. I have 18 nationalities swirling in my family background. From my father, I am part Basque, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Jewish, Laplander, Mongolian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Ukrainian. From my mother, English, Cherokee, Irish, Italian, Nigerian, Scottish, and Welsh. Because my mother was from the lost tribe of the Cherokee nation -descended from indians who ran away into the Ozarks to avoid the Trail of Tears, I may also be part Chowtah, Creek, and Seminole Indian as the lost tribe members intermarried with other fleeing Indians, white settlers, and escaped slaves. The DNA test only shows native ancestry, not broken down by tribe.
My pen name, Cosmos, comes from my middle name, Cosmos. The name Cosmos came about because my great-grandfather wanted an English translation of our German family name aller to use as a middle name for his son, my grandfather. He looked up Aller and found Cosmos or Universe. I am the third and last Cosmos Aller. The name has nothing to do with me being born in Berkeley, although no one believes that, as the name is so “Berkeley”. Universe would have been even more of a Berkeley vibe, I think.
I appreciate my readers and any comments you may have. Please keep your comments civil. It is important that we all get along and remember that, despite our differences, we are all God’s children. I am not your enemy, and you are not my enemy.
Thank you, and please enjoy my fiction, musings, rants, and poetry.
Jake Cosmos Aller aka Cosmos
About This Blog
Poems and Rants from the Cosmos
Welcome to The World According to Cosmos. I’m your host, John (Jake) Cosmos Aller — better known simply as Cosmos. I’ve been blogging for about ten years, ever since I retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2016. During my career, I served in ten countries (Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, South Korea, India, and Spain) as well as Washington, D.C., and I’ve visited forty‑five countries. I’ve also traveled to every U.S. state, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Since retiring, I’ve been living in South Korea, with annual visits back to the States — usually Oregon, Northern California, and Washington, D.C. Over the years, I’ve lived in five U.S. cities: Berkeley, Stockton, Seattle, Alexandria, and Washington, D.C.
This blog is my space to share fiction, poetry, and the occasional political rant. For now, I’m steering clear of the hottest political topics. I have no desire to attract trouble from the powers that be or to invite cyberbullying, which has become far too common in the online world.
Politically, I lean left, but I distrust hard‑core ideologues on both sides. I’m a Never‑Trumper Democrat, a Bernie Bro, and a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community — many of my friends are LGBTQ or trans. Spiritually, I’m an agnostic with a New Age, neo‑Buddhist, “Dudist” streak. My favorite movie is The Big Lebowski. I’m a devoted K‑drama fan, a blues and funk enthusiast, and a lifelong admirer of Tower of Power. My poetry leans toward outlaw and neo‑Beatnik styles, while my fiction tends to be sci‑fi political thrillers.
I grew up in Berkeley in a very political family. My father taught at Cal State San Francisco. My ancestry is a swirl of eighteen nationalities. On my father’s side: Basque, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Jewish, Laplander, Mongolian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Ukrainian. On my mother’s side: English, Cherokee, Irish, Italian, Nigerian, Scottish, and Welsh. Because my mother descended from the “lost tribe” of the Cherokee Nation — families who fled into the Ozarks to avoid the Trail of Tears — I may also have Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole ancestry. DNA tests only show Native ancestry, not tribal breakdowns.
My pen name, Cosmos, comes from my middle name. My great‑grandfather wanted an English translation of our German family name, Aller, to use as a middle name for his son, my grandfather. He looked it up and found “Cosmos” or “Universe.” I am the third and last Cosmos Aller. The name has nothing to do with being born in Berkeley, though no one ever believes that — it sounds so quintessentially “Berkeley.” Honestly, “Universe” would have been even more so.
I appreciate every reader who stops by. Comments are welcome — just keep them civil. Despite our differences, we’re all God’s children. I am not your enemy, and you are not mine.
Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy my fiction, musings, rants, and poetry. — Jake Cosmos Aller (aka Cosmos)
Welcome to the world according to Cosmos. I am your host, John (Jake) Cosmos Aller, aka Cosmos. I have been blogging for about 10 years since I retired from the US Foreign Service back in 2016. During my service, I worked in 10 countries (Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts, St. Lucia, St Vincent, South Korea, India, Spain) and DC, and visited 45 countries. I have been to all States, DC and PR. I have been living in South Korea with an annual visit to the States -Oregon, Northern California, and Washington, DC since then. I have lived in five different cities in the U.S. -Berkeley, Stockton, Seattle, Alexandria, and DC,
The purpose of this blog is to provide a place for me to show my fiction, poetry, and political rants. I have decided, though to forgo any hot political topics for now as I don’t want to get into trouble with the man or invite cyber bullying, which unfortunately is happening all too often in the blogosphere.
Politically, I lean left but distrust hard-core ideologues on the left and on the right. I am a never trumper democrat, and a Bernie bro, and a big supporter of the LGBTQ community as I have LGBTQ and trans friends. Religion-wise, I am an agnostic sort of a new age neo Buddhist or dudist. My favorite movie is “The Big Lebrowski”. I am a big K-drama fiend. I am a big blues and funk fanatic. My favorite band is Tower of Power. My poetry is outlaw poetry style, neo-beatnik flavor. My fiction tends to be sci-fi political thrillers.
I grew up in Berkeley in a political family. My father taught at Cal State SF. I have 18 nationalities swirling in my family background. From my father, I am part Basque, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Jewish, Laplander, Mongolian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Ukrainian. From my mother, English, Cherokee, Irish, Italian, Nigerian, Scottish, and Welsh. Because my mother was from the lost tribe of the Cherokee nation -descended from indians who ran away into the Ozarks to avoid the Trail of Tears, I may also be part Chowtah, Creek, and Seminole Indian as the lost tribe members intermarried with other fleeing Indians, white settlers, and escaped slaves. The DNA test only shows native ancestry, not broken down by tribe.
My pen name, Cosmos, comes from my middle name, Cosmos. The name Cosmos came about because my great-grandfather wanted an English translation of our German family name aller to use as a middle name for his son, my grandfather. He looked up Aller and found Cosmos or Universe. I am the third and last Cosmos Aller. The name has nothing to do with me being born in Berkeley, although no one believes that, as the name is so “Berkeley”. Universe would have been even more of a Berkeley vibe, I think.
I appreciate my readers and any comments you may have. Please keep your comments civil. It is important that we all get along and remember that, despite our differences, we are all God’s children. I am not your enemy, and you are not my enemy.
Thank you, and please enjoy my fiction, musings, rants, and poetry.
Jake Cosmos Aller aka Cosmos
About This Blog
Poems and Rants from the Cosmos
Welcome to The World According to Cosmos. I’m your host, John (Jake) Cosmos Aller — better known simply as Cosmos. I’ve been blogging for about ten years, ever since I retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2016. During my career, I served in ten countries (Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, South Korea, India, and Spain) as well as Washington, D.C., and I’ve visited forty‑five countries. I’ve also traveled to every U.S. state, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Since retiring, I’ve been living in South Korea, with annual visits back to the States — usually Oregon, Northern California, and Washington, D.C. Over the years, I’ve lived in five U.S. cities: Berkeley, Stockton, Seattle, Alexandria, and Washington, D.C.
This blog is my space to share fiction, poetry, and the occasional political rant. For now, I’m steering clear of the hottest political topics. I have no desire to attract trouble from the powers that be or to invite cyberbullying, which has become far too common in the online world.
Politically, I lean left, but I distrust hard‑core ideologues on both sides. I’m a Never‑Trumper Democrat, a Bernie Bro, and a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community — many of my friends are LGBTQ or trans. Spiritually, I’m an agnostic with a New Age, neo‑Buddhist, “Dudist” streak. My favorite movie is The Big Lebowski. I’m a devoted K‑drama fan, a blues and funk enthusiast, and a lifelong admirer of Tower of Power. My poetry leans toward outlaw and neo‑Beatnik styles, while my fiction tends to be sci‑fi political thrillers.
I grew up in Berkeley in a very political family. My father taught at Cal State San Francisco. My ancestry is a swirl of eighteen nationalities. On my father’s side: Basque, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Jewish, Laplander, Mongolian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Ukrainian. On my mother’s side: English, Cherokee, Irish, Italian, Nigerian, Scottish, and Welsh. Because my mother descended from the “lost tribe” of the Cherokee Nation — families who fled into the Ozarks to avoid the Trail of Tears — I may also have Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole ancestry. DNA tests only show Native ancestry, not tribal breakdowns.
My pen name, Cosmos, comes from my middle name. My great‑grandfather wanted an English translation of our German family name, Aller, to use as a middle name for his son, my grandfather. He looked it up and found “Cosmos” or “Universe.” I am the third and last Cosmos Aller. The name has nothing to do with being born in Berkeley, though no one ever believes that — it sounds so quintessentially “Berkeley.” Honestly, “Universe” would have been even more so.
I appreciate every reader who stops by. Comments are welcome — just keep them civil. Despite our differences, we’re all God’s children. I am not your enemy, and you are not mine.
Thank you for being here. I hope you enjoy my fiction, musings, rants, and poetry. — Jake Cosmos Aller (aka Cosmos)
Five Poems by Jake Cosmos Aller
Snarling Cup of Coffee
I like to start my day with a hot cup of coffee
I pound down the coffee
First thing I do every day as the dawning sun
Lights up my lonesome room
Yeah, but not just a simple cup of java Joe, but a God damn snarling sarcastic smarmy cup of coffee
I mean, – we are talking about an alcoholic, all speed ahead, always hot, always fresh, always there when I need it, angry, attitude talk to the hand Ztude, bad, bad assed, beats breaking, beatnik, bluesy, bitter, bitchy, bombs away, capitalistic, caffeinated up the ass, cinematic, communistic, Colombian grown, Costa Rican inspired, Cowabunga to the max, crazy assed, devilishly angelic, divine, divinely inspired, dyslexic, epic, extreme vetting, evil eye, expensive, erotic vision inducing, Ethiopian coffee house brewed, euphoric, freaky, freazoid, foxy, Frenched kissed, French brewed, funkified, foxy lady, graphic, GOD in my coffee, with Allah, Ganesh, Jesus, Kali, Buddha, Christians, Durga, Hindus, Mohamed, Jesus and Mo and their friend, the cosmic bar maid, Sai Babai, Shiva, Taoists, Zoroastrians, drinking my god damned coffee in Hell; growling, gnarly, happy, hard as ice, Hawaian blessed, high as a kite, hippie, hip, hipster, hip hoppy, hot as hell yet strangely sweet as heaven, jazzy, jealous, Kerouac approved, kick ass, kick my god damn ass to Tuesday, kick down the doors and take no prisoners, grown in the Vietnam highlands by ex-Vietcong, Guatemalan grown, kiss ass, illegal in every state, imported from all over the god damn world, insane, lovely, loony, lonely, lonesome, malodorous mean old rotten, motherfucking, nasty, narcotic, never whatever, never meh, never cold, not approved by the CIA, not approved by DHS, not approved for human consumption by the FDA, not your daddy’s sissified corporate cup of coffee, NOT DECAFE coffee, not your Denny’s truck driver weak as brown water cup of fake coffee, not your establishment friendly cup of coffee, Not your FBI coffee, Not FAKE Herbal coffee substitute, but a real cup of coffee, not your farmer brothers dinner crap, not made in America for Americans, not safe for work, not your Starbucks average expensive overpriced crappy corporate chain cup of coffee, Not pretentious, Not White House approved, not State Department safe, nuclear, Not Patriotic, operatic, Peets’s coffee approved, paranoid, pornographic, psychotic, pontific, politically aware, rapping, rhyming, right here, right now in River city, rock and roll up the Yazoo, sad, sadistic, sarcastic, sassy, satanic, schizoid, shitting, silly, sexy, smarmy, smelly, smooth, snarky, snarling, stupid, stinking, sweet as honey, sweat inducing, symphonic, Trump can’t handle this coffee, vengeful, Wagnerian, wicked, with nutmeg and cinnamon swirls, with a hint of stevia, with a hint of vanilla, with a hint of rum, with a hint of whisky, with a hint of cherry, with a hint of fruit overtones, with a hint of drugs spicing up the coffee, spendific, speeding, splendid, superior accept no substitutes, survived the Vietnam war, the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the first and Second Korean war, World War 11, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on black people, the sexual revolution, Soulful as a summer’s night in MOTOWN- James Brown approved, TOP approved, Berkeley approved, the coffee that Jimmy Hendrix drank before he died, the coffee that Elvis drank on his last breakfast, the coffee that Barry White crooned as he drank his cup of coffee – and the coffee that made the white boy play stand up and play that funky music, the coffee that made Jonny B Goode play his guitar, and made Jonny bet the devil his soul after he drank his morning cup of righteous coffee and the coffee that make the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll, the coffee your mother warned you against drinking, the coffee that Napoleon drank when he became the Emperor of all Europe, the Coffee that Beethoven drank when he wrote the Ninth symphony, the coffee that Mozart drank as he wrote his last symphony, the coffee that Lincoln drank before he was killed, the Hemingway drank before he killed himself, the coffee that started the 60’s, and ended the 20th century, the coffee that Lenin drank as he plotted revolution, the coffee that Hitler and Stalin drank with FDR as they divided up the world after World War 11, the cup that JFK drank before he was blown away, the coffee Jerry drinks while driving in cars with random celebrities and political figures, the coffee that Jon Stewart drinks before he goes on an epic take down of some foolish politico, the cup of Arabic coffee that Sadaam drank the day he was executed, the coffee that GW and Cheney drank when they bombed Baghdad, the Indian cup of coffee that Bid Laden drank before 9-11 and just before the seals blew his ass to hell, the cup of coffee that Tiger Woods drank with his mistresses while playing a 3, 000 dollar round of golf at Sandy Lane golf course in Barbados, the last legal drug that does what drugs should do, the cup of coffee that Obama drank when he became President, Vietnamese, Vienna brew, wacky, whimsical, Whisky Tango Foxtrot, wild, weird, wonderful, WOW, Yabba dabba doo! Yada Yada yada Zappa’s favorite cup of cosmic coffee, and Zorro’s last cup of coffee, Good to the last drop rolled into one simple cup of hot coffee
As I pound down that first cup of coffee
And fire up my synaptic nerve endings with endless supplies
Of caffeine induced neuron enhancing chemicals
I face the dawning day with trepidation and mind-numbing fear
I turn on the TV and watch the smarmy newscasters in their perfect hair
Lying through their teeth about the great success the government is having Following the great leader’s latest pronouncements
I want to scream and shoot the TV and run out side Shouting “Stop the world.
I want to get off this fucking crazy planet”
The earth does not care a whit about my attitude
It merely shrugs and moves around the Sun
In its appointed daily run
And I sit down
The madness dissipating a bit
And enjoy my second cup
Of heaven and hell
In my morning cup of Joe
Unhinged Lunatic Howling at the Full Moon
On the night of the blood red super full moon
I sat in an evil, depraved godforsaken bar
Drinking drams of demented, fermented dream dew
Washed down by endless rounds of whiskey
rum, tequila, vodka, soju and of course beer
drinking with my buddies the Jack Daniels Gang
Drinking my way to Hell and beyond
Just as fast as I could
twenty damn drinks too sober
Just an unhinged lunatic
Dreaming of howling at the full moon
Watching the world walk by
Looking at all the fine-looking babes
Walking by the street
Thinking wild, erotic thoughts
Of endless wild libertine passions
When into the bar
That din of cosmic depravity
Walked the most beautiful women
In the Universe
So wild, so free
So wonderfully alive
I did not know what to do
As this vision of delight
Sauntered through the bar
In a skin-tight leather pant
Looked so fine
That my eyeballs hurt
And finally, I had to say something
So, I gathered up my manly courage
And walked up to her
And she looked at me
And instantly bewitched my soul
With a devilish grin
I lost all reason
And became a raving lunatic
Unhinged lunatic
Howling at the blood red full moon
Foaming at the mouth
A wild, free werewolf
Howling at the lunatic light
Of the blood red blue full Moon
April 30 In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales
When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn
I hitchhiked across the USA
Started in Salt Lake City
Where my greyhound bus pass
Was stolen
The station manager
Could have helped me
But refused to do so
Threaten to call the cops
When I grabbed my bags Without the stolen tags
I said
Go ahead
But I am so out of here
Wondered about Salt Lake City
Went to a bar
Found I had to buy my booze
Next door
And they would mix it for me
Had to order food too
After a bloody Mary
And a burger
I walked about town
Saw the Mormon Temple
Finally about 3 pm
It was time to hit the road
Did not look back
Ended up in Cody Wyoming
Got a room shower
Steak beer
Using my rapidly depleted cash Spent 25 dollars
Money really went far
Back in those days
A band of professional
Communist agitators
Gave me a ride
To Des Moines
Lots of weed, booze
And politics later
Got off the road
Slept outside
Next day
A beautiful woman
Drove me to near Chicago
In a red mustang
Might have been
The girl in the song
Took it easy
Digging her vibe
She invited home
But was not sure
If her estranged husband
Would welcome me
So, I am being foolish
And inexperienced with women
Did not go to her place
And always regretted
That I had lost
My chance that day
Then on to Chicago
Several rides later
Visited friends
Hit the road again
A series of uneventful rides
With truckers
And others
And a week later
I ended in New York City
Slept along the way
In cars
In truck stops
In high way rest stops
Always moving
Always going
Non stop talking
And lots of free weed
And beer
And conversation
One more memorable ride
Occurred outside Albany
On my return to Chicago
A middle age creepy looking man
Picked me up
In a brand-new Cadillac
He was he said a dynamite deliverer
For the Mafia
Went to various places
To blow up shit
He hated a lot of people
Particularly hippies from California
And Jewish people
Looking at me to confirm
That I was both
I told him that I lived in New York
And had never been to California
And although I might have looked Jewish
As I what was called back in the day
A “Jewfro”
I was not Jewish
Many years later I discovered
That I am indeed part Jewish
But then I did not know
And I felt a bit of strategic information
Might keep me alive
Then I realized that he was just jiving with me
And we relaxed
And he pulled out some weed
And beer
And we mellowed out
But I believe that he really was with the mob
Perhaps not a dynamite dealer
A real made Italian made mafia member
By Chicago
I had enough
I called my Dad
Told him what had happened
Wanted a ticket home
And he sent me a ticket
And 500 dollars
And I went home
I told him I would tell him
My tales some day
But never did
I learned so much
About my fellow Americans
And the strange vibe
That was 1975
And now it is too late
But I wanted to finally
Tell the world
Of my hitchhiking tales
In search of America 1975
When Will this Darkness End
As the darkness settles down on the land
All are consumed with evil
Foul deeds and endless darkness
I wonder if it will ever go away
Yes I wonder
If our great nightmare will ever end
Are we doomed
To live out the decline of America?
This is what I pray for 2018
The end of the darkness
The unleashed hatred
that consumes our land
the Bus – Travels Through America’s Underbelly
I am a bus rider
That makes me unusual
For a white male
From an upper middle class family
Our people are not bus riders
Though some are subway riders
Bus riders are other people
The poor, minorities, immigrants
People who don’t drive
Because they are blind
Or have a DUI
And in my case
I don’t drive
Because I have bad vision
And bad coordination
Just never got the hang
Of the whole driving thing
Fortunately for me
My wife does the driving
But I still take the bus
From time to time
I rode the AC buses in Berkeley
As a child
Line 67, line 51, line 43 F bus
Rode them long before BART came along
And afterwards as well
As an adult seldom rode the bus
But when I did so
I was always impressed
By the sheer diversity
Of the bus riding property
Hundreds of languages
All sorts of sexual orientation
Some were white
Most were not
Most of my fellow passengers
Were nice enough
Some were friendly
And some were lost
In their own thoughts
And a few
Were scary looking dudes
With the look
Of someone who had done time
And were capable of more violence
I also rode the bus
In Seattle as a graduate student
A lot of fellow UW students
And the usual immigrants
Minorities etc
And some white people
Commuting
And in DC
Over the years
I rode a lot of buses
Mostly to and from the metro
But I got to know
And love the DC buses as well
I also took the greyhound bus
Across the country
Several times over the years
All over the U.S.
From Bay Area to Stockton
From Bay Area to Clear Lake
From Bay area to NYC
NYC to DC
All over the USA
Taking the Greyhound
Was always an an adventure
Met a lot of interesting people
As people on long distant bus rides
Tend to open up and talk
To pass the time away
Overseas I took the bus
All over
In India, in Barbados
In Spain and in Korea
The Korean buses
For many years
Were difficult for foreign visitors
As the signs were all in Korean
Most have signs
Now in English, Chinese and Korean
And are much more foreigner friendly
Riding the bus
In America
Allows one access
To the underbelly of American society
The poor, the marginalized
The immigrant communities
That many middle class white people
Just never see
And for that reason
I am glad
That I am a bus rider