Beyond the Stars and Stage

I want to go where the real musicians are, the ones who practice day and night, without concert, without smoke and light, without trend and fan, where east meets west, classical sitar and flamenco guitar, staccato rhythmic clapping and Spanish. The musician travels inward, their sound travels outward, travels inward and my mind expands beyond this realm. The physics of it all is baffling. All of these elements moving in different directions as one cohesive experience. Both here and not here. This must be the secret of the universe, forever expanding and contracting, beginning and ending, the music our ever-changing vehicle, the musician our interstellar Uber driver.

This Day Is Not Tangible So Quit Speaking As If It Is (a tanka)

Day is not a day.

Instead a distance travelled 

to come full circle, 

stand face to face with myself 

and laugh at expectation.

So What (a triolet)

So what

I’ll follow wherever your song takes you

along swinging riffs and solo blue

So what

if we get lost and never come back around

as long as you keep blowing that magic sound

So what

I’ll follow wherever your song takes you

“I can’t leave her there all alone surrounded by stone walls.”

I can’t leave her there all alone 

surrounded by stone walls

One could argue she’s not really alone

in her mausoleum

So I’ll think of her fondly

in her tomb apartment building

NaPoWriMo Prompt: https://theswampscribes.wordpress.com/2016/04/02/april-2nd/ — in the form of modern sijo

A Family Portrait

We’re just a bunch, and I mean a bunch

of people swirling and swirling

at different speeds in different directions

and sometimes we get swept up 

in each other’s current, for awhile, we connect on that level 

over coffee under smoke-filled ceilings

and I wonder if they’ll take offense if I crack the window

for a breath of fresh air

or will the sudden change in pressure sweep us all out and alongside the rest of humanity.

NaPoWriMo Prompt: http://www.napowrimo.net/day-two-3/

A Lune

Eighteenth Century
Vienna
My soul for a wig

NaPoWriMo Prompt: http://www.napowrimo.net/were-off-to-the-races/

Easter and things that don't belong

Sometimes the sadness of the absence
of what you know is possible
is like Ballads and Blues
and a photo of a wheat field
on a golden day

One Small Gesture

Strum: DownDownUp UpDownUp

C Am C Am
G G7 Am Am
Dm C E Am
G G7 C C

Bridge:
B7 B7 Em Em
B7 B7 Em Em
E7 E7 Am Am
E7 E7 Am G7...

What if I was standing next to you
And my eyes were sad and my heart was blue
Would you lend me your ear and open up your arms to me

Just one small gesture
Can make the world smaller
And that's the world I want to live in til I die

What if I was 93
And all my friends had passed ahead of me
Would you call me up on the phone sometime

Just one small gesture
Can make the world smaller
And that's the world I want to live in til I die

Bridge:
The world came into focus
In this dream within a dream
Your loss became my loss
And all the rest was so fleeting

There really is no difference
Between you and me
Today's the day we wake up and see
We're all on the same journey...

What if we all dared to care
And knew we had more love to share
Would we ever look back at the way things used to be

Just one small gesture
Can make the world smaller
And that's the world I want to live in til I die

Just one small gesture
Can make the world smaller
And that's the world I want to live in til I die

Just Love

Wrote a song for Matt for his birthday back in August.  First chord is Amaj7, then some stuff, then some D, A, A7, repeat. Still a beginner.

Love
Just love
Love
Just love
That's all we really have
Is love

And when
We grow old
And I'm sitting by your side
Holding your hand

That's when we'll
Look back in time
To this day
And say

Love
Just love
Love
Just love
That's all we really had
That's all we really had
Was love

Darling I'll love you
Darling I'll love you
All of our days

On a train to god knows where

Working on a song (and a title) and a tune for acoustic guitar. And I can't get Bright Eyes' Bowl of Oranges tune out of my head when I sing this. Going to set it aside and come back to rework it later, fresh.

[verse I]

I dreamed I bought a ticket

for a train to god knows where

Packed no bags just took a seat

my mind was light as air

As we pulled out of the station

I noticed strangers everywhere

Their faces looked so heavy

from the thoughts they could not bear

[chorus-y type part]

And I wondered...

What is it that you share

For whom do you care

Are they no longer there

And we felt so all alone...

[verse II]

The landscape out the window

began to blur

And to my right I heard the sigh

of a fellow passenger

Their breath was strained and I felt the pain

for which there is no cure

I said I understand, reached out my hand

with intentions quite pure

[chorus-y type part]

Their eyes they said...

Are you sure

Mine said, We're in this together

It was like looking in a mirror

And everyone raised their eyes...

[bridge-y part? more speaking than singing]

And I could tell this was a dream...

When I looked down at my ticket

and did not question

No time of arrival

no destination

This was a beautiful dream...

Where we all woke up and recognized

we're all on the same journey

[verse III]

After some time the speed let up

the train released its steam

The world came into focus

in this dream within a dream

Your loss became my loss

and all the rest was so fleeting

There really is no difference

between you and me

[chorus-y type part]

And the truth of it all...

The ungraspable

The intangible

Is that we're in separable

And this is how we live on...