"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses, for art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment." - John F. Kennedy

Thanks for finding me. This is a fairly random sampling of my poetic rumblings beginning in the mid-70s to present day. Not definitive or complete, just things that struck me again for one reason or another on revisiting. There are a couple of previously published collections here which might be good places to start if you are diving in blind from the precipice.

Try the collections MEET THE BEATS or GLIMMERING RAY DUET (both archived in June 2008 in the menu below right) for starters if you are so inclined...

As of 2016, I will be publishing my song lyrics on a seperate page from the more poetic scribblings here. Pieces that first appeared here and then later were arranged for music will remain here in their original form but may appear edited on the lyric page. Check out the links section for the original song blog.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

JESSICA ELIZABETH

 
We met over pasta when you were 18
And I was more than a tad older.
You waited on me
And while I waited on you
We spoke of my ever-present reading material
Something on meditation and desire.
You spoke of your mother
And how she was the spiritual type
Sounded like a hippie sort to me
Just friendly and wise
And obviously sexy like you.
I didn’t know that she was gone.
But I knew that you were here
Now
In the present moment
The most alive creature I had ever known
All tangled between innocence and loss
Experience and discovery
And I yearned for more.

Your smile
Radiant and electric
From the moment our eyes met
And not just that practiced
“Please tip me, sir”
smile of a waitress dressed up
alluring and serving
just enough to entice
a few extra percentage points from my wallet.
This smile said, “Teach me.
I’m ready for more.
What can you tell me of life
That will make all this pain
Go away
All of these questions
Make sense.”
The smile that began answering
those same questions for me.

~ for Ms. Mitchell

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i LOVE READING THIS !!!! xo J