Keep Art Alive :: “Warm Still Night Air” :: Art by Craig “Skibs” Barker
“Once I wanted to be the greatest,
no wind or waterfall could stall me,
and then came the rush of the flood,
stars at night turned deep to dust.“
Once
by me
All the late night conversations and red letter days
every licked envelope stamped with a dead celebrity’s smile
each of the jukebox coin-operated love songs
they all tricked us into believing
You hung me up in poetic lines deep throated across the miles
every lyric rhymed the reasons I should tie my tales to you
the strings of an unseen guitar squealed along with my echoing sighs
you had me at hello and darling and torn out pages of Kerouac
I strung you out on mix taped lines singing of one and only’s
every song defined the delights you could uncover in me
the seductions I whispered long past midnight brought you to your knees
I had you at baby please and anywhere you want and borrowed lines from Anais Nin
All the early morning resignations and grey cloud regrets
every unsent postcard and a plus sign on a store bought stick
each of the girls you tried to write me into
one day they all fell crashing to the floor
Landing in the clear skies of everyday
in the mundane grocery list disappointments
in all the small things that no one warns you about
in the cold waiting rooms and silent stares
But once we were the greatest
before the street dead-ended
before the parade came around
before you saw me for who I really was
The Greatest (live) :: Cat Power
Are you getting sick of me saying your writing is astonishingly visual and moving? I can’t help it you keep doing it!
No, I’m not. It means a lot that you say that. Thank you.
I am considering what you said not too long ago, by the way – gathering these poems/lyrics/short pieces and putting them together in something – maybe something to self-publish. Not that I know exactly how to go about that….but I am thinking about it.
An acquaintance of mine published a crappy book on amazon, so if she can do it, you can do it because your writing is actually worth reading and sharing. I think I have an ebook somewhere about tiny living but it includes information on how this woman left her day job to focus on meaningful work and writing and I believe it includes her method for making a profit off her website and writing. It’s not cheesy/scammy. It’s simple reading, short and though you can get a lot of the same stuff googling I’m sure she’s been living this way for a while so I give her some credit. Her name is Tammy Strobel if you wanna google her, her website is Rowdy Kittens and I can email you her book if you want to read it for some tips! (I sound corny)
Also please do it, you owe it to yourself and people like me want to have a collection of your writing!
The Greatest, we once wanted to be. Love the poem and the song.
Thank you. I love the song, too.
Perhaps you’d like this 😉
https://truthtearsandrocknroll.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/how-personal-is-songwriting/
Thank you.