A note to the future…

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-21-2026, 07:51 AM

Dear Future: My music is composed in the moment, as performed, pushed out with a mix of sadness, dread and the anger I am feeling with the spreading madness of war. I cannot accept these instincts to kill before being killed, this so-called peace through war, yet plainly this is one of humanity's keystones. Future archeologists, if there are any, you will see what we did. Should this note find you well, I hope it helps you understand how at least some of us felt as it happened.

Very Truly, guitarist Mark Kleinhaut
Dreams From Blood and Sand
March 21, 2026
(43°04?59?N 73°47?04?W)

with gracious help of
visual art by Glenn Thompson
luthier Tom Ribbecke

**Aiq** · 03-21-2026, 10:33 AM

Don’t wear all black at night in TX.

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-21-2026, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Aiq

Don’t wear all black at night in TX.

Sundown towns….

**emanresu** · 03-21-2026, 12:52 PM

What's the real history of Earth?

Compared to that, human history is quite civil. Awful, but more civil than what has been going on since it started. The history.

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-21-2026, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by emanresu

What's the real history of Earth?

Compared to that, human history is quite civil. Awful, but more civil than what has been going on since it started. The history.

Sure it’s a brutal planet. 99% of all species of life that ever existed here are now extinct. But, we humans are sentient. We have art and music. We could be so much more. We should be…

**Stringswinger** · 03-21-2026, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by emanresu

What's the real history of Earth?

Compared to that, human history is quite civil. Awful, but more civil than what has been going on since it started. The history.

Bob Dylan once wrote in a song "The world is ruled by violence, but that is better left unsaid". There is a lot of truth there.

As an old guy (I am 68), I try to avoid getting overly bothered by things that I cannot control, as anger and stress can shorten our lives. And I am hoping to make it to 90, wars or no wars.

**emanresu** · 03-21-2026, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut

Sure it’s a brutal planet. 99% of all species of life that ever existed here are now extinct. But, we humans are sentient. We have art and music. We could be so much more. We should be…

We, the human kind, have a small window to make it worrk. If it fails, i guess the octopussies will be next in line to try to prevail.

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-21-2026, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

Bob Dylan once wrote in a song "The world is ruled by violence, but that is better left unsaid". There is a lot of truth there.

As an old guy (I am 68), I try to avoid getting overly bothered by things that I cannot control, as anger and stress can shorten our lives. And I am hoping to make it to 90, wars or no wars.

Im 68 too and my only outlet for the anger and stress is to make music as I choose to do it. And you know what, it really works. I’m totally planning for another 30 years of this!

**darkwaters** · 03-21-2026, 01:31 PM

When I was a kid, I saw the famous picture in the paper of the young Vietnamese girl who had just been napalmed, screaming as she ran towards the camera. She appeared to be about my age. I decided at that moment that adults couldn’t be trusted. I’m still of that opinion.

**emanresu** · 03-21-2026, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by darkwaters

When I was a kid, I saw the famous picture in the paper of the young Vietnamese girl who had just been napalmed, screaming as she ran towards the camera. She appeared to be about my age. I decided at that moment that adults couldn’t be trusted. I’m still of that opinion.

Our human history is exactly that and worse. It is horrible.

**Stringswinger** · 03-21-2026, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by darkwaters

When I was a kid, I saw the famous picture in the paper of the young Vietnamese girl who had just been napalmed, screaming as she ran towards the camera. She appeared to be about my age. I decided at that moment that adults couldn’t be trusted. I’m still of that opinion.

I remember as a child, I witnessed two boys having a fist fight with a circle of smiling children, both boys and girls, chanting "harder, harder, hit him again". I don't trust humans of any age.

**Aiq** · 03-21-2026, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Mark Kleinhaut

Sundown towns….

Prairieland.

**Rob MacKillop** · 03-21-2026, 04:22 PM

This is The Future calling! Send us another video, Mark!

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-21-2026, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop

This is The Future calling! Send us another video, Mark!

Take me with you!!!

**Rob MacKillop** · 03-21-2026, 06:23 PM

Don’t worry, the future is only a moment away…

**QsDuesBlues** · 03-21-2026, 09:22 PM

Thank you, Mark -

I'm reminded of a musical take on the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem 'Ozymandias' - check out on YouTube this 'B' side by a wonderful British rock band the world ignored for most of their 20-odd year existence, and still do. Not every track was pure gold - but most of them were !

'There Is No Enemy' - by the Comsat Angels

If liked, try the similar sentiments on 'Our Secret' - from their classic 1981 LP 'Sleep No More' .

No, it's not jazz - but they created some real gems, nevertheless......... p.s. for best results, high volume is indicated........

**Mark Kleinhaut** · 03-22-2026, 09:53 AM

Originally Posted by QsDuesBlues

Thank you, Mark -

I'm reminded of a musical take on the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem 'Ozymandias' - check out on YouTube this 'B' side by a wonderful British rock band the world ignored for most of their 20-odd year existence, and still do. Not every track was pure gold - but most of them were !

'There Is No Enemy' - by the Comsat Angels

If liked, try the similar sentiments on 'Our Secret' - from their classic 1981 LP 'Sleep No More' .

No, it's not jazz - but they created some real gems, nevertheless......... p.s. for best results, high volume is indicated........

I think I’ve heard that song back in the day but probably mistook it for The Cure. Never heard of those guys- good stuff! That sonet though, man! ————————————————� �-

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

**benhatchins** · 04-16-2026, 04:55 PM

Notes like that leave a lot open to interpretation. Sometimes that’s intentional. It gives people space to think about it in their own way. Not everything needs to be fully explained. Those are often the most memorable ideas. It’s kind of like meaningful beauty reviews—different perspectives depending on the person.

**AKA** · 04-19-2026, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

………..As an old guy (I am 68), I try to avoid getting overly bothered by things that I cannot control, as anger and stress can shorten our lives. And I am hoping to make it to 90, wars or no wars.

I think this is called “The old guys creed.”

Other versions I heard growing up in the Deep South:

- Son, I’m too old to get caught up in that mess.

- Hey, I did my part. Let some of these young’uns handle it.

- People have been trying to fix this since before I was a kid.

- I’m old, I’m tired, and I just wanna play my guitar.

At age 71, I’ve used them all.

LSE - MEGA
(Let Somebody Else Make Earth Great Again)

Beautiful piece Mark!