Fast Day 168 August 20 2010 {Miller's Crossing}

 Miller's Crossing

I was born in the green of Silvermines,
I grew in the Knockinroe;
The end of the earth was the Dublin Road,
from Shallee to Kilbo' .
I will never...
ever...
return...
from here;
never to smell my sweetheart's hair !

I worked in the mines of Bellagowan
and never saw the light;
made love to a girl of my own tender age
in a cock, cut and scythe'd.
I will never...
ever...
renew...
that love;
exiled from those lands of desire !

My mother cried when I took ship to sail
to work with pick and hoe;
A lock of her hair to America,
the gowan of my soul.
I will never...
ever...
see her...
again:
yet ne'er again to see her cry.

The streets they were not paved with gold;
I worked down in the mine;
and man fought against man as Goshen old;
my table set with line.
I will never...
ever...
forget...
my dears:
Thou loved my things, as I did thine.


----------
notes

Kilbo' :   license with the name "Kilboy"
Bellagowan:  the old name for Silvermines was Beal Atha Gabhann and Bellagowan.
cock: a place to store hay
gowan: a daisy flower
Goshen: where the Hebrews lived in slavery in Egypt
table: a tombstone
line: linen
things: in the sense of whatever is conceived to exist and as an assembly, a coming together in one person of many aspects.

first draft; I found this exhausting but in a good sense... it fills me with evanescence. 

Tempo
The first 4 lines are to be read normally.
The next two are to be very slow and mournful:
"never......ever......see her.....again "   
with a slight quickening and rise on the last syllable "again" ; 
it goes long-short long-short long-short short-long, the last long syllable rising back up.


The last line is a bit slower than the first 4, and is realization: fulfillment of understanding, yet far from fulfillment of desire. 

Later: I came back and changed the form in the lines 5 through 8 to emphasize the slow and heavy punctuation.

Fast Day 148 April 3 2010 {Waiting by the Road to Cross}

Easter Week 2: Waiting by the Road to Cross

The first time I crossed Jordan Street, I saw Slim Peter, shiney and a dime!

He threw me out of Beulah Land; he said it wasn't time.

Going down to Galilee, hop the Sunshine Special!

Going down to Galilee, hop the Sunshine Special!

they came this morning with the news,

banging window and sash:

the conductor knows i got no ticket

he knows i got no cash

The second time crossing Jordan, I was Red Paul, dressed in silver;

They bade me land not on the shore; I could not cross that river.

Going down to Galilee, take the Good News plane!

Going down to Galilee, take the Good News plane!

I called the limo pick me up

with the weary-hearted:

a taxi where we'll all be changed,

as soon as we have started!

The last time I crossed the Jordan, I went marching proud and bold!

 - a prodigal son to a welcome feast -

and my feet were shod in gold!

Going to Jerusalem, the devil drove his rig!
Going to Jerusalem, the devil drive his rig!
the chrome was shiney as his hate,
the radiator wide!
as he's about to run me down,
Slim Pete pulls me to his side!

--------------
notes

Slim Peter  :               St. Peter
shiney and a dime  :   shiney as a dime;   I don't know if this particular literary device has a name, but  instead of making a simile with "as" or "like", we just set forth the two objects and the reader is supposed to make the connection. I don't think I come across it very often.
Red Paul    :               St. Paul

Fast Day 147 March 27 2010 {Easter Week 1}

Easter Week 1

I'm going to Gethsemane 'cause I'm so sad today;
gonna catch the morning train and go far away;
it wracks my ribs and break my bones,
and still I can not die;
Say, will you not pray with Him,
jus' three hours now,
or in the sweet bye and bye?

All the world's a tinderbox, and my soul is dry;
it will burn from cigarettes 'r lightning from the sky;
will burn my feet and char my hands,
and that will be my doom;
Friend, come and pray with me,
a little while now,
'fore they lay me in that tomb.

I was drunk, and so I lay down across the bed;
all the beer I had chugged had gone right to my head;
and I will wake up with a jolt,
when He asks me why?
I go to pray with Him
just three hours now
and in the sweet bye and bye.

Fast Day 146 March 18 2010 {Hard Times, Come Again No More}

O, Hard Times Come Again No more

hunger no hunger,
thirst me no thirst,
can't eat an' can't drink!
dont know which hurt worst!

been out a money,
I been out a love,
I been out a prison
as free as a dove!

but I fear for what's comin',
I weep for what's gone;
the bank took the house
we lived in so long.

fear, o, fear! ever'where,
and on every side,
an' your white brother famine
a pale horse does ride.

praise me no prayer,
and bend me no bow;
we had us no king,
but fear rules us now!

despair of heaven,
despair of God!
we shall be chastised,
and death holds the rod!

Save us from greed,
save us from lies;
save us from incest
in our siblings' eyes!

We stand in the white tent
that flaps in the dust!
revival we prayed at,
the rot, o, the rust!

speak me no sermon,
wit me no thought!
can't speak and can't think;
can't do what I ought!

Give me a pass, Lord
let me run far!
give me ten dollars
to fill up my car!

drive for the ocean,
drive for the sea;
my wife and my babes
no more will I see.

and when I am distant -
big sleep that I reach'd -
protect my loved ones
this alone I beseech!

------------
notes
Don't write poetry when you're depressed.

Again, I'm trying to get ahead this month. I could schedule them to print, but then I'd have to check, and I really won't have time as the end of the month approaches.

pix: http://deadlydragonsounds.blogspot.com/2009/12/from-archives-7-picture-sleeve.html

Fast Day 144 March 4 2010 {Broken Leg Eco-Blues}

Broken Leg Eco-Blues

whither, now, the wind?
he got up and gone,
broken leg and all,
without a doctor's say so;
and no big nurse pushin'
no wheelchair to the do'...

don't drive drunk, wide sea!
yer gonna blow point-2!
give me them car keys
you're one mean drunk, Sargass'
sucking the last water
at the bottom of your glass!

why're you here, sweets, rain forest ?!
ain't nothin' I can do.
you and that man used to be 
lovers, but he did you wrong;
he can't cut with that sharp blade
and expect your reg'lar song.

old man river pulls on his pants,
and creeps silently before
the wide levee break of dawn,
checking to see his stash ;
still in the levi pocket
with plastic and with cash.


-------
notes

a week early again.


Sargass'  -   Sargasso sea

Fast Day 140 February 5 2010 {The Crack Grows Bigger in the Windshield of my Heart}

The Crack Grows Bigger in
the Windshield of My Heart

You break my heart
like a semi throws a tile,
and hits my windshield -
it cracks a wide, mad smile:
some roads are too long, some roads are just too long.
I can't go on anymore,
I can't fix what's wrong!

You break my heart
with all your conversation,
but there was no logic
to our sweet sensation.
some roads are too long, some roads are just too long.
I can't go on anymore,
I can't fix what's wrong.

You break my heart -
pedal down and spin your wheels;
scatt'ring asphalt marbles -
a devil in high heels!
some drinks are too strong, some drinks are just too strong.
I can't drink anymore,
so I'll move along.

You break my heart
with your cig'rette beauties;
making love like gangsters
in motels with no keys!
some smokes are too strong, some smokes are just too strong.
I can't toke anymore,
It can't fix what's wrong.