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Joseph E Bird

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ninety-nine miles

cropped-mountains-for-web.jpg

Not quite dawn.
Early morning drive
to get to where i’m going.
Which is where?
Doesn’t matter.
Just another destination

The gray skies start to lighten.
No dramatic sunrise.
Just light, and a little more.
Ninety nine miles down the road.
Around the bend.
Down the valley.
Up the hill.

Then the golden streaks
shining on the brilliant greens.
Bright highlights and deep shadows
and fog nestled
in the forest.
For a moment
maybe two.
.
A meeting.
Just business.
Keep the project moving.
What city?
Doesn’t matter.
Just another job.

They go their way.
I go mine.
Looking for lunch.
Walking the streets.
A pawn shop.
Liquor store.
Check cashing.

The next block is different.
A coffee shop.
A Mediterranean restaurant.
Great food and friendly server.
It doesn’t get any better.
For a moment.
Maybe two.
.
Day is dimming.
The tires are humming.
Got to get back home.
Where?
Doesn’t matter.
Home is home.

The radio is droning.
Two hours of talk
numbs the mind.
Even the music
that always brings relief
has been playing
much too long.

Then Scott sings.
Salina,
I’m as nowhere as I can be.
The most beautiful music.
And all is well.
For a moment.
Maybe two.

copyright 2017, joseph e bird

1

North Wind

fog for web

talk to me now like you are my friend
talk to me now let the stories begin

we walked through the storm till we saw the bright sunshine
kicked sand in our shoes and we danced on the coastline
we talked of our dreams and slept under white pines
took a train to the city and sang songs to the skyline

but the cold north wind, it came in like a thief
blew away all my trust and broke my belief
and i don’t care
i don’t care
i can’t care
anymore

.

talk to me now like you were my friend
talk to me now let the lying begin

it’s not what it seems, what you see it ain’t true
you said give it a chance, but I knew we were through
the things that you did i just couldn’t construe
then you tossed me aside like a ragged old shoe

and the cold north wind, it came in like a thief
and chilled my old bones and left me in grief
and i don’t care
i don’t care
i can’t care
anymore

.

talk to me now i said to my friend
talk to me now i can trust you again

i’m older and wiser and now i am strong
we try to do right but we know we’ll be wrong
whatever we have it won’t be for long
and love only lasts when it’s sung in a song

and the cold north wind, it came in like a thief
but i bundled up warm, cause you’re my relief
and i don’t care
i don’t care
i can’t care
but i do

copyright 2017, joseph e bird

Note: Again, not autobiographical. Just another somebody done somebody wrong song.

1

Do you know this guy?

You should. Well, if you care anything about music beyond the Top 40, you should.

Chris Thile (pronounced Theely). Mandolin virtuoso.

Started playing when he was 5. Formed Nickel Creek (not Nickelback) with Sean and Sara Watkins when he was 8. Signed a record deal when he was 12. One of his projects, Punch Brothers, is a real genre bender. He is now the host of A Prarie Home Companion.

A couple of videos won’t do him justice. Unbelievable player and genuine nice guy.

Enjoy.

Here’s one when he was much younger playing at Floydfest.

And for the more sophisticated out there, how about some Bach.

You’re welcome.

3

Acoustic Jimi Hendrix

I’ve never been a hardcore Jimi Hendrix fan, but when I was a kid, somehow I came to possess a copy of the album of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, featuring the music of Hendrix and Otis Redding. Like all the records I had back then, I wore the grooves thin. Those were two cool dudes. Here’s a relaxed Hendrix playing some 12-string blues.

2

Crazy cats, man.

No, not kittens. Crazy cool cats. So cool they don’t care that they look like a bunch of accountants. Not that’s there’s anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are accountants. But they’re so square they’re cool. And they play that jazz, baby. They probably really talked liked that. They probably invented talk like that.

Take Five.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet.

3

Rhapsody

Save this for last. Go ahead and read your other blogs. Get the latest news from your trusted sites. Check your emails. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Ready to do some work? A little music in the background?

If so, click the video below.

It starts with the cry of the clarinet. Trombones provide counterpoint. Then the horns (once referred to as French horns in the US). Then the muted trumpet. On and on it goes. In modern music presentation, the music and the musicians take a back seat to creating a mode or delivering a message. This video is a bit of a throwback to when it was all about the music.

And what great music it is. See where it takes you on your Monday morning (or evening, depending on where you are).

0

the free spirit.

GCB-sailor edited

This hip chick is my mother.

The photo was taken around the time she began her career as a stay-at-home mom.

If my father was a left-brain analytical, my mother personified the right-brain free spirit.

My mother had artistic ambitions. She was good with sketches, and I think I remember her working with pastels. But she was raising a family and it was hard to stick with it.

She was also a musician. She played the clarinet in the high school band (or faked it, as she would say, a skill I managed to master when I was in the band), and she was an excellent piano player. But she was raising a family and it was hard to stick with it.

She loved to write and was a master of the funny story. She wanted to be the next Erma Bombeck (a popular humorist of her day) and probably had the skills to pull it off. But she was raising a family and it was hard to stick with it.

Did I mention poetry? No, not the soul-searching free verse that is popular today, but poems that actually rhymed. And again, many were humorous. But she was raising a family it was hard to stick with it.

She also sewed and made clothes for the family. I consider sewing an art form, but for my mother, it was a necessary skill, one that she was able to stick with, because she was raising a family.

Like most right-brain thinkers, my mother had dreams of making it big, but they never panned out. Even so, at every stage of her life she was able to find contentment in the work that she did. Yes, she found happiness in her art, her music, her writing, her poetry. But she knew what was really important. It wasn’t a sacrifice for her to let her dreams take a back seat, it was her act of love for her family. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

Times have changed. With more options available, many mothers are able to work outside the home, fulfill their obligations as a mother, and still find time to pursue other interests. Roles are changing, too. Stay-at-home dads are much more common and give women even more choices.

But my mother’s world was different. Still, one truth remains.

Our time is short and our work is ephemeral.

Know what really matters and make the most of it.

12

A young woman lies on the cobblestone.

A young woman
lies on the cobblestone.
Her body is twisted.
She is bleeding.
She has left us.

A young woman
is supposed to live.
And laugh.
And love.
No, not this.

Such a young woman.
What?
Why?
Who?
Such a young woman.

Others have gone too soon.
A cousin.
A brother.
A son.
A mother.

A young woman
lies on the cobblestone.
Yesterday I saw her.
Today she is here.
She has left us.

copyright 2017, joseph e bird

A word of explanation.  The other day, I was listening to Dvorak’s Requiem while I was working at the office.  I was listening via YouTube, and whoever posted the video used the painting of the late nineteenth century German painter, Jakub Schikaneder as the sole image in the video.  It inspired this fourth poem in my Young Woman series.  The painting is called Murder in the House.  Yes, it’s disturbing.  Life is fragile.

0

This is no good at all.

Ever say that about your work? Consider this:

Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.

Steven Pressfield

1

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