Couple are parents, poets, anarchists
St. Charles family throws authority to the wind
 |
| Elizabeth Perry photo Michael Franklin sits in front of a partially complete mural in his living room featuring a portrait of anarchist icon Emma Goldman. |
As activists working against the constraints of a society while still trying to live within it, they have to deal with many personal contradictions. That starts with making ends meet.
"It's not a non-profit venture, it's an anti-profit venture," Michael said.Michael has published several poetry books, sells paintings and performs with his band, called Holy, Holy, Holy.
Angela also is a poet who makes handbags from reclaimed materials.
Michael said he doesn't think it's wrong to get paid for work, but thinks it is wrong see everything in life as basis for profit.
The couple has a deep distrust of authorities, but Michael said he and Angela are personally invested in building a community.
They have a lending library of books and are working on collecting bicycles to lend to people who need transportation.
Sunday nights they hold a free pot luck meal in their home, a rented duplex they have augmented with a garden and a mural in the living room.
The windows are covered with black magic marker drawings that might have been made by one of the Franklin's two children, Fair Ophelia, 4, or Whitman, 2.
Whitman is named for poet Walt Whitman.
The name Fair Ophelia comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
On Angela's arm is a tattoo of a Gustav Klimt painting entitled "The Three Ages of Women," which shows a blond-haired woman holding a baby.
Angela said she got the tattoo as a tribute to her daughter, who loved the painting.
"My daughter would always think it was me and her," Angela said.
When her son saw the tattoo, he got jealous, Angela said. So she is planning to get a train as a tribute to him.
Michael has tattoos peeking out of the neck band of his shirt. They pour down his arms in riotous color to his fingers.
There are too many to count, he said.
"The more I get the less I have," he said. "They all become one tattoo."
Michael said he would like to teach his children by creating a home-school collective with other parents. In a way, they are already starting with an adult education program for grown ups that they call "Free University." The initials are a bit cheeky. The classes are set to include art appreciation, poetry, cooking and the "History of Rebellion."
"We are contradictions and glowing examples of confused puzzles," a flier for the classes read.
The couple have hosted several lectures by luminaries in radical left circles, including poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Last week, they hosted a group of people who were sailing down the Mississippi on a homemade pontoon boat. This week, Michael said, they let a kid who lost his job and was living in his car use their shower.
"You have a lot more in common with people than you think," Michael said.
