Mario, the Accidental Subversive

𖥞 an absolutely true story from “The Gypsy Ashram”

Debra Robinson 9/25/26

Now, there being no gypsy caravans operating at that time of year,
I took on the task myself. I hopped a freight train, not caring where it took me...

I imagined wandering aimlessly and at will for the rest of my days, though my friend Mario had gotten into some trouble attempting this in 21st century America.

Now there was a real Gypsy!!

One morning as I was breaking camp, I caught sight of a diminutive figure scurrying past my campsite.
I felt that sudden solid thump in my insides that told me to listen up…pay attention!

I caught sight of him just as he disappeared around a corner.
I jumped up without thinking and ran after him, but somehow I lost him!
I felt oddly heart-broken for some unknown reason…
There was something magical about him!

When I gave up the chase and turned to leave, there he stood! Grinning at me!

“Good morning!” he said as he doffed his little helmet and bowed deeply.
He spoke with a mysterious accent, which I later learned was Romanian.

Not to be so easily beguiled, I demanded that he remove his oversized white
diamond-studded sunglasses and show himself to me!

When I looked into his eyes, I melted under his gaze.

Not only did he have diamonds in his eyes, but he seemed to carry all the hurt of the world inside.

There was no turning back…

I gazed back.

Something deep inside me awakened.

In the next moment, we simply threw our heads back and laughed uproariously!

Shaktipat…

⚡ 🌟 ⚡ 🌟⚡

The black tuxedo festooned with the broad red cummerbund did nothing to disguise him.

Gypsies are unmistakable!

You can feel them. And the feeling can be as upsetting as it is exhilarating.

Mario was the apparent dual reincarnation of a 16th century Benedictine monk and Charlie Chaplin, recently arrived, in fact, from 3623 Chaplin, the minor planet discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina in 1981.

He was a bit battered by the trip, as well as the effort to keep in touch with the Home Office, but he was a fairly resilient character nonetheless.

In his 44th year he had taken leave of his business, family and various other earthly concerns.
He carried only a spare tuxedo, a violin and an umbrella.
Oh yes! And a bottle of red wine...all packed in his violin case.

He was crossing America on foot...
from sea to shining sea, to ask the President of the United States a question.

For that unspeakable crime, he was subjected to nearly daily run-ins with the Homeland Security forces.

Apparently it is now forbidden to walk across America in anything but designer-label rumpled shorts and t-shirt, hiking boots and the prerequisite PR people and camera crew at your heels.

Poor Mario, the accidental subversive…

However, he was on a mission… That much they were right about.
That they were unable to comprehend their apprehendee’s mission is about what you’d expect.

Our friend lived rough, shall we say.
He slept with stars as his blanket and the earth his bed.
He lived on whatever was offered along the way.
If he ate, fine. If not, he had other ways of sustaining himself…

Mario had stumbled on the secret of his peculiar being.
That is what drew us together for the brief time we shared.

You see...Mario had learned how to live on the essence of things.
How Mario acquired this knowledge is a curious tale in itself….

“Whatever puts one in a suitable trance will do, Mixed-up Young Gypsy,” he said with a grin.

Mario had learned to live on starlight and music, the quest for Truth, laughter and love, along with a simple communion of bread and wine.
The earth restored him as he slept and the heavens revived his ebullient spirit.

He had just passed time in a town that had been deluged in the spring floods. He stayed on for a couple of weeks to help clean up the mess by day and to restore their spirits by night with his music and story-telling.

One morning he vanished, taking to the road again.

He was such a singular sight that he was often stopped and questioned by the local authorities. Answering simply each time that he was walking across America from California to Washington D.C. to ask the President a question.

You see, Mario had recently lost his beloved wife to cancer. But her death certificate declared that she had died of natural causes. Mario knew that she had died from the chemo treatments, but that was not reflected.

When he asked for her medical records, he was denied access to them. No matter what he did, he could not get the truth to be revealed or written on her death certificate.

It was 2010 and he was discovering what a stranglehold the medical establishment had on things.

Mario was walking across America in part to deal with his grief and to ask the President why this travesty was permitted to happen.

For this, he was harassed and hounded across America...his adopted land...the land of the free. He had risked everything to come here.

Later that day, I saw him on the side of the highway surrounded by state and federal police. There was a threatening array of patrol cars, lights and sirens blazing, police vans and unmarked cruisers. There were plenty of weapons drawn with officers in combat and SWAT gear.

On opening his violin case, they found only a change of clothes, a violin and a bottle of wine. Nevertheless he was harshly questioned and then taken into custody. We onlookers were ordered to leave and go about our business or risk arrest ourselves.

I myself began to wonder about our America that day...

Mario remained gentle and resigned throughout his ordeals. A few hours later, I was able to find out where they had taken him. I went to the jailers and vouched for him. A few hours later he was released without charges and he took to the road and continued on his mission to speak with the President.

I never learned whether Mario made it to his final destination...

🎻🍷🎩

as always, thanks for reading. feel free to like, subscribe, share and restack…

(special thanks to chatgpt for the image and the exchange….”He shall forever arrive with a grand bow, a suspiciously excellent bottle of wine, and absolutely no explanation whatsoever. “🎻🍷

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