Songs To Listen To

...This next piece is inspired by brother Joshua’s persistent call for submissions of S2L2A&A: songs to listen to again and again. Thank you Josh.  Here is a sampling from the three of us.

Andrew

The state of Massachusetts by Drop Kick Murphy     

Back aginst the wall by Cage the Elephant    

Horchata by Vampire weekend

Little lion man by Mumford and Sons  

Fool on the hill by The Beatles  

For what its worth by buffolo Springfield  

Pumped up kids by Fosters the People

Baby you can drive my car by The   Beatles

Kids by MGMT

We dont need no education by Pink Floyd   

If your going to be dumb you got to be tough by Smut Peddler

I will walk 500 miles by The Proclaimers

We are young by Fun.

Kirsten

RISE

Beck - Morning

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings, op. 11

Radiohead - Faust Arp

Yann Tiersen (Amelie) - Comptine d'un autre été

Beyoncé - Haunted

ZENITH

Lana Del Rey - Money Power Glory

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk

Xtreme - Te Extraño

Die Antwoord - Ugly Boy

Lana Del Rey - F***ed My Way Up To the Top

SET

TLC - No Scrubs

Arctic Monkeys - Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?

Juanes - Fotografía

Destiny’s Child - Say My Name

Beck - Turn Away

Jon

WE WILL DRAW NEAR

1. Adiemus, by YCTC

2. Forever Young, by Bob Dylan

3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I-V, by Pink Floyd

4. Tintinabulum, by YCTC

 

WALKING SONG

5. Modern Man, by Arcade Fire

6. Have a Talk With God, by Stevie Wonder

7. Modern Love, by David Bowie

8. Rococo, by Arcade Fire

 

STARRY NIGHT

9. Widow’s Grove, by Tom Waits

10. Vincent, by Don McLean

11. Pictures of You, by The Cure

12. Take It With Me, by Tom Waits

North Side Story

Compare: the rich fools and the poor losers,
happiness and misery, as if the surface was their story
through and through, as if the smiles upon their faces
ran as deep as the scowl on yours.

And more: you dream big dreams constructed of envy,
green as grass, born in shadows,
from which the mansions in your mind stretch higher,
around which the bitter grass grows greener.


Despair: it is not fair, the way they never finished high
school, how they cheated everyone to get ahead, leaving you
looking through fences, cursing the gods of sides,
of giving and taking.

But what for? Your misery wins you nothing,
your curses even less, the vacuous disapproval
of your neighbors shaking their heads, tut-tutting
and casting down their eyes on your poverty.

Week 6: Roman Sans Clef

No more than a short-month twelfth of my poems are hopelessly romantic, but this is the month to share them, and this week, without a key, reflects the beginning of the journey.

Moleskin 1.5: The Serenity Prayer

Serenity: now there's a prayer! A wish and a word: I might as well fly to the top of the world or trudge across vast deserts.  I could just as easily become one with this big river.  "Calm down," says the ferryman.  Yeah, sure, easier said than done.  If peace were as easy as pausing I would stop everything and let this water flow.  To know serenity, santi, salaam, shalom, I should not trouble you, or myself, with these opening chapters or the easier pages of this story.  Let me skip right to the faith and love and healing; let me sit down, close my eyes and surrender.  A wish and a word, to accept the things around me just as they are, to not be afraid of the world I'm in, to find my perch a few miles out of town.  A prayer, even before I confess my faith, before I know what to believe. Here, at the beginning of my story: serenity!

Starry Night, Revisited

Co-opting the Tune and Refrain of Widow's Grove, 
by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan

The sky above, the earth below
The city stirs, the river flows.
We walk at night that we may see
The stars and know we’re not alone,

That we may breathe a different air
And walk along a quiet shore,
Stand silent where the river laps
Up to our feet (wondering where 
We were before),

   I followed you to the river
   That washes out to the sea.
   Between city lights and stars at night,
   That's where I'll be.

---

The earth is black, the sky is blue.
The river bends a mirrored view
Of the evening glow of lights familiar,
Heaven down and shore to shore.

We meet the night. We take the time
To be together, you and I,
Across the river, in between
The city and a giant sky.

   I followed you to the river
   That washes out to the sea.
   Between city lights and stars at night,
   That's where I'll be.

---

We breathe the sky and feel the earth
And find our place beneath the stars,
Your arm in mine and mine in yours.
The world is right and the night is ours.

   I followed you to the river
   That washes out to the sea.
   Between city lights and stars at night,
   That's where I'll be.

   Between city lights and stars at night,
   That's where I'll be.

Liner Notes To A Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous Starry Night painting shows a wild sky with swirling, pyrotechnic stars that cast a blue-gray glow on the town below it. It must be late at night, as there are no house lights and no people. This is the Starry, Starry Night of Don McLean’s song Vincent, reflecting how the artist “suffered for [his] sanity.” 


It is a powerful moment, but I prefer Van Gogh’s earlier astral painting: Starry Night over the Rhone.  The night is calmer, the stars are more balanced and the city is still awake with its own lights; a river flows across the canvas and there are exactly two people on the riverside, standing together and inviting us to take it all in.

Years ago, when I was one of two people, we bought a copy of this painting for our living room. My other is no longer with me; she is somewhere else, suffering for her own sanity now, and my days with her are forever in the past, but I still like keeping that painting on my wall...

Song To M

To the tune of Pictures of You, by The Cure

M, you are a name,
You are a quiet invitation,
Briefest braille for the blind
Start of a simple conversation,

Title on the cover page
Without any explanation,
For now, for the moment
You’re the whole presentation.

I want to remember you:
I want to remember you.


From the first frame of the trailer
For unexpected chapters,
Uncharted adventures,
Untold ever afters,

From the first note of the measure
Of music I don’t know
But want to hear more of,
La canto da capo,

You’re a language that’s new to me
From the beginning,
A song to repeat
For its gradual meaning,

And somewhere in the melody
I want to learn you
And find in you more than
A tune that I turn to.

I want to remember you:
I want to remember you


From the first word,
I want to memorize you,
Learn every line of you,
Look into your eyes

And discover you.  M,
You are a name so far,
But I’ve only started
To see who you are,

And I want to see more,
I want to speak you and sing you
And know you by heart,
You and everything in you.

Somewhere in this fantasy
We’ll sing our songs together
And hope that the harmony
Plays on forever,

And if you’ll indulge me
I promise you this,
I’ll keep every secret
And hold every kiss

Between us, and even if
Things never change
And we remain strangers
You’ll always be more than a name

I want to remember you
And know you are more than name.
I want to remember you
And know you, know you are more than a name.

Just say the word, and
I’ll stay here as long
As you keep on singing
And there is a song

Between us, and even if
Things start to change
And we become strangers
I’ll always remember your name.

Co-Opted

...This next piece is inspired by brother Josh’s persistent call for submissions of S2L2A&A: songs to listen to again and again.  Josh would have everyone in the family compile and circulate annual CD-length lists of our favorite songs, and what a beautiful way of showing and sharing a part of what makes us tick, of celebrating our variety and expanding the awareness of our collective souls. Josh also encourages us, by making this an annual project, to keep adding to our life-list of favorite songs and to think year-round of what might go on our next year’s list.  So, one song at a time, I came up with the following twelve...

I am calling this collection “Co-opted,” as it is centered around several of my own poems that I have set to other people’s music.  Consider these co-opted works my P2S2A&A:  poems to sing again and again.

Ellipses

This is my dream, my satisfaction:
the only truth I can control, the only way I can survive the lonely nights, the distant silence:
I dream my song into the darkness: forever listening, waiting, forever calling, wondering; I live by sending and receiving. ....

This is my song, my record keeping: the only way I can hold you. I send my song into the darkness and quietly wait for your reply And in the pause I feel the distance as lonely as the midnight trees But with my song I break the silence and I can feel you close to me.

Week 5: Starry Night Over The Rhone

Starry Night Over The Rhone, a simple prayer poem about a favorite painting, is also from my “co-opted” collection of poems that have found their ways into favorite songs: a convergence of tributaries.

Moleskin 1.4: As I Write This...

As I write this I am sitting on the edge of a river.  I have found myself here many times, perched pretentiously where the Fisher King wept, where Siddhartha attained peace, where many before me have waited and drawn pictures in the sand.  There is a river in every big city, it seems, and streams across every page of history, throughout the world and even into the realms of mythology and legend.  I like a big river, an important river that connects with all others, a river with a famous name and a powerful flow.  Give me Mark Twain's river, but let me find it as Huck did, a few miles out of town; let me sit along its rich banks with nothing but time, away from instructions and factories, unconcerned with obligations and inheritances.  Let this be my Stillwater, full of life and purpose, with destiny beneath its gentle surface, and tomorrow I may weep and seek and wait along these banks, but for today, let me know this river's simple serenity.

Pitch

—I don’t want no characters. I’m not going to have any. 

—What do you mean? You’ve got to have characters. 

—No I don’t. I don’t want any. I want to be alone. 

—What are you going to do then? You can’t just sit there. 

—Yes I can. Why can’t I? 

—You’ve got to have a plot. You need action. 

—No. Who’s writing this thing anyway? 

—What about a title? 

—What about it? 

—Nothing. Forget it. 

—Exactly. I’m not going to have a setting either. And no diction and no conflict and no theme. 

—What about an audience? You’re not going to have an audience either. 

—Yes. Yes I will. 

—No, no you’re not. You know, with no plot you never could call this, this whatever it is, a story. And now if you say there’s no theme, then you can’t really call it anything. 

—I don’t want to call it anything. You’re the one trying to call it something. 

—Okay, never mind. But the point is, who’s going to care? Who’s going to give a shit? If it won’t have any substance why should anyone bother. 

—I don’t want substance. I especially don’t want the shit. 

—Right. But you want an audience. You just said that you even expect one. 

—That’s right. But let me tell you something. Maybe this will make you see. Last Tuesday I was taking a walk through the park. It was noon and I saw this old bum curled up on the edge of the sidewalk, eyes closed, not doing anything. And I stared at him for a little while. He didn’t move. Flies landed on him and he didn’t brush them away. He might have been dead. 

—Maybe he was. 

—I don’t know. But I stood there and stared at him for I don’t know how long and he never did move. He was positioned in such a way that I couldn’t tell whether he was breathing or not. I think he was alive though. I’m pretty sure he had some sort of soul. 

—But what’s the point? 

—Maybe there is none. 

—So what are you trying to say? 

—I’m not trying to say anything. I’m just saying it, there was a bum in the park and I happened to notice him and I think he had a soul. 

—And for that you think you’ll have an audience. 

—Hey look. Someone will notice this some day and maybe even several people will stop and stare and eventually someone will tell somebody else, like I just told you. They’ll even come up with the standard speculations: he looks dead, but I think he’s alive. He’s just a bum, but what was he yesterday and what will he be tomorrow? Who knows? Who cares? Maybe it’s a mental illness, or maybe it’s a statement of choice ...or maybe he really is dead. He’s motionless, but he’s got a soul. People will wonder, I promise. Wait and see. 

—Is that your story? Kind of depressing. And you can’t just end it like that. 

—Settle down. That’s not my ending. It’s not even my story. 

—Whatever. 

—Right. 

—So will you bring your readers to any conclusion? 

—No. No one ever does, really. 

—Now that’s arguable. Platitudinous even. 

—Of course it is. Everything is.

          ...

—So that’s your story. 

—I told you, call it what you will. 

—But it is a story you know. Whether you pretend it’s something else or not. 

—That’s your conclusion. But it sounds like you changed your position. 

—Sure. You’ve got everything in it that you said you wouldn’t have. 

—What are you saying? 

—There’s theme, there’s conflict of characters, style, even a plot of sorts... 

—All incidental, I tell you. 

—...and you’ve got lots of thought. 

—All incidental. 

—What do you mean, incidental? It’s there, isn’t it? And you said it wouldn’t be. 

—But there’s no one here. 

—Sure there is. Me and you. And an audience, maybe. 

—No, there’s no audience. Not now. The audience hasn’t come by yet. They will, later, but not now. 

—And I suppose we’re two bum characters on the edge of the sidewalk. 

—No. There are no characters. 

—What are we? 

—We’re the writer of course. 

—But we’re fighting. There’s conflict, so we must be characters. 

—No, we’re just the writer. We’re just words.

Simorgh

Only after completing the first draft of my first book of poems and giving the book a title did I discover that "Thirty Birds" was a legendary bird-king from 12th century Persia. 

The story was told 800 years ago in a 4500 line poem called Bird Parliament by Farid ud-Din Attar. Briefly, all the birds go on a quest to find their king. The journey is difficult, and only thirty birds make it up the final mountain, where they find their king, Simorgh, or "Thirty Birds," is nothing but a reflection of themselves....

The Source

from Walled Gardens

God takes earth and forms our body,

   takes wind and forms our speech

gives reason to our minds,

inspiration to our hearts,

invitation to our souls,

cause to our creation.

God gives theme to every generation

and truth to every corruption;

God is the source from which everything comes,

the place to which everything returns:

Good proceeds from God and evil departs from God,

as God created the spirit of each,

good and evil in every soul,

as God authors the soul,

originates the mind,

makes each of us something out of nothing

and exalts us, gives us life out of the void.

Melodia

I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free For His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me. — Civilla D. Martin

Lowly sparrow, you in your stubble field Are God’s example and encouragement To stand behind a thinly-feathered shield With nothing more as an accouterment Than simple faith in what tomorrow brings: All things are set before you, every seed And sunray comes delivered without strings; God will provide you everything you need But gives you more, the time and voice to sing!
Sing boldly, bird, across the stubble field, Show us your color and your gilded wing, Your air of confidence, that all may yield And pause, to catch the truth within the fable Of fearlessness and food at every table. The sparrow chirps, “But who am I to be The center of attention? I believe Your story: God is good, even to me, And daily God provides, and I receive Abundantly beyond what I deserve, But that’s the point. You call on me to sing For all I’m worth; you’re telling me to serve In song as if my voice made everything Acceptable, but take a look at me: My feathers are the shades of sand and dirt, My wings are short and my ability To fly will never take me far from earth, And now you’re asking me to join the choir Of angels, as if song could take me higher?” Yes, little sparrow, by your very word You are acceptable; indeed, you were before The first note of your song was ever heard, But you will please your maker even more If you will sing. Sing loud for all you’re worth, But louder still for all that you’ve been given: From seed and stubble of your mother earth, To air and sunshine sent to you from heaven, For every camouflage and coloring Designed to keep you safely unrevealed, For all the intricacies of your wing Designed to let you navigate the field. O sparrow, sparrow, know that you are gifted And by your song the whole world is uplifted.

Preaching To The Choir

I have a song to sing.
Actually, it's a poem I wrote.
You probably didn't know I wrote poems,
because I haven't shared this with many people,
but I suppose it's about time.

We all have songs to share.
Some will put music to words,
others stand up and share in different ways;
some sing from the sidelines
as coaches, cheerleaders, teachers.

Some of you sing beautiful songs
with what you do with your hands, 
your thoughtfulness, your time.

It isn't always easy to share our songs,
but it becomes easier when we believe
that God smiles on us when we sing
and when we remember that what we give
is nothing more than what we are given:
the ability, the opportunity, the time.

And best of all, it is nice to hear 
how our songs all come together 
in a beautiful symphony

And God is revealed...

Trailer

—Last Tuesday I was taking a walk through the park. It was noon and I saw this old bum curled up on the edge of the sidewalk, eyes closed, not doing anything. And I stared at him for a little while. He didn’t move. Flies landed on him and he didn’t brush them away. He might have been dead. 

—Maybe he was. 

—I don’t know. But I stood there and stared at him for I don’t know how long and he never did move. He was positioned in such a way that I couldn’t tell whether he was breathing or not. I think he was alive though. I’m pretty sure he had some sort of soul. 

—But what’s the point? 

—Maybe there is none. 

—So what are you trying to say? 

—I’m not trying to say anything. I’m just saying it, there was a bum in the park and I happened to notice him and I think he had a soul. 

—And for that you think you’ll have an audience. 

—Hey look. Someone will notice this some day and maybe even several people will stop and stare and eventually someone will tell somebody else, like I just told you. They’ll even come up with the standard speculations: he looks dead, but I think he’s alive. He’s just a bum, but what was he yesterday and what will he be tomorrow? Who knows? Who cares? Maybe it’s a mental illness, or maybe it’s a statement of choice ...or maybe he really is dead. He’s motionless, but he’s got a soul. People will wonder, I promise. Wait and see. 

Week 4: Melodia

Melodia, from my Thirty Birds collection, is one of eight variously sourced poems that I keep memorized; these are also the bases for the eight simple prayers shared in Week 1.

Moleskin 1.3: Acknowledgements

My story is your story, too: you, to whom I turn, are in these pages, every one of you.  Sister Anne, who prompted me this past summer with a passing what if.  Brother Dan, who has inspired and reinspired the ink to flow.  Brother Josh, who shows beyond scribbling down how good it is to live. Son Andrew and daughter Kirsten, my flesh and blood, my dreams and hopes, wonderfully determined to be more than a reflection.  Mother Marilyn, and father Joe too, whose own faces I sometimes see in the mirror, and there you are in my smile.  And more of you: friends, associates, neighbors, fellow congregants.  Ghosts from the past, strangers I have yet to know, and many more whose names I'll never learn: thank you all the same, for being the faces I see before me and within me, the very mirrors to my soul.

Carrying It Forward

     I

Paine wrote it,
Washington read it,
Obama retold it
in the depth of winter:
“Let it be retold...”
and “Let it be said
by our children’s children...”
...that when we faced
our coldest cold,
our hardest hardship,
when it seemed nothing
but hope and virtue
could survive,
city and country
came forth to meet
their common danger
together, braved
the icy currents
and coming storms
and safely delivered
that great gift
of hope and virtue
to their future
generations.
And now we mark
the day again
and remember when
we carried forth
God’s grace upon us
and wouldn’t let
our journey end.

     II

Seward proposed it,
Lincoln pronounced it,
Obama proclaimed it
with the resonance
of fighting words:
...stretching out
from battlefields
and patriot graves,
the mystic chords
of memory played
from Concord to
Gettysburg
and Normandy
to now: This time,
our time, has come
to choose our
better history,
to summon the
better angels
of our nature,
to remember
who we are, how
far we’ve come.
This is our moment.
This is our time
to be renewed
and reconciled.
This is our
day to take
responsibility
and seize our duties
gladly.

     III

John Locke asserted it,
Jefferson declared it,
Obama offered it
as old and true:
“We hold these truths...:
and carry them forward;
Paul said this too:
we set aside
the things of youth
and see at last
what must abide:
our faith, our hope,
our charity,
and equally,
intrinsically,
our rights to life
and liberty
and free pursuit
of happiness:
These things are old.
These things are true.
And now we return
and rejoice in the truth,
that precious gift,
that noble idea,
the God-given promise
that all are equal
all are free, and
all deserve a
chance to pursue
the fullest measure. 

     IV

Carry it forward,
Thomas, George,
that we may bear
the winter winds
and see the spring.
Carry it forward,
William, Abe,
that we may hear
and learn to sing
the battle hymns
that came before us.
Carry it forward,
Thomas, John,
the glorious burden,
price and promise
of our birthright.
Carry on,
that we may know
the greater purpose
of our present
season. Carry
on, that we
may take
responsibility
with what we’re given,
the old and true,
the truth renewed.
You said it, too,
now carry it
and call on us
to serve with you.