Friday, July 23, 2010

My Song for the Asking...

I have a photograph in my mind
of another time  and I wonder how
I got here -

here in my kitchen with a cup
of coffee -still using cream (no sugar)
after all these years -
when with a tap on my shoulder
Simon and Garfunkel being wording - I have a photograph
they showed me - a preserved memory
as their voices begin to softly
guide me back  through the years, talking
me back to my dreams of organdy and
memories clothed in crinoline -

back, back  when I first walked off
to look for America
leaving my Emily Dickinson, my Robert Frost, to
sit in a railway station in Chicago
trying  to ignore the whores on 7th ave
and hiding in the comfort of my lonely room,
and wishing I was home again, back
in my little town, but

instead  they showed me
when I got a ticket
east thinking my poetry would
protect me - knowing  homeward bound was
not an option - I feared stagnation,  its dangling
conversations - its couplets out of rhyme
and I was driven to move further from its
hazy shades of winter -

when in a car on the Pennsylvania turnpike
I met a Mrs.Robinson she said, she too was
looking for America, but had to
hide it from the kids... lost I turned off
the radio and found myself seeking only the
the sounds of silence - and then all alone, walking among
leaves of brown, snow on the ground
I turned the music back on
loaded my car
and hit the road west -

spanning America this time, meeting a boxer
reciting Dylan in a coffee shop, he was not really
mak'in it, I realized he or was it me
just  fak'in it...until finally
reaching
land of  El Condor I met others
like me who would rather be
hammers than nails, and began
building a life with them --

and sending for my Emily and
Robert - those old friends I finally
placed them in bookends
where today they still
remain my bridge over
troubled waters
as I sit with my coffee
writing -
my song for the asking
sipping on
sounds of silence


bkmackenzie
copyrighted  2010

My entry for Poets United Think Tank Thursday #7 (Sounds) --you can read more by clicking...bkm

20 comments:

  1. I can just hear my kids now, "Simon and who?" So sad. Great poem.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wonderful use of the song titles to tell the tale...all these tunes kept running through my head...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your quick comments...music is only one element that molds us into who we are ---these songs are like old friends....blessings..bkm

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just wonderful. All of those songs are dear to my heart, and you've woven them so well into your own poem.

    sings:

    Ohh, let your honesty shine shine shine

    do de la do de la do, like it shines on me

    the only livin girl in New York....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks so much Fireblossom...I am sure you can relate to everyone - who headed out to look for America at the time - every song they sang was a hit and a new adventure to experience....blessings...bkm

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nicely woven poem and boy do you bring back memories for me!
    Pamela

    ReplyDelete
  7. Excellent post! I'm an avid listener of Simon and Garfunkel. Very much an enjoyable read!

    -Weasel

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is the first time i hearing music from Simon and Garfunkel and it is fantastic, I love the flow of the music :D and thank for sharing such a wonderful poem :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Terrific poem. You use words like a seamstress. Your words are like embroidery in a big tapestry. Thanks for sharing.

    Anne-Marie

    ReplyDelete
  10. thank you riika, and A 2 Z - thank you for such a wonderful analogy...you made my day with your comments...blessings to you both..bkm

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very creative and original. I love how you used the Simon and Garfunkel words for your poem. Funny, when I wrote my poem I reflected on their "Sound of Silence."

    ReplyDelete
  12. That was totally cool. I'm a huge fan myself, and could like Brian said, hear them as I was reading along. Very clever.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I enjoyed this in the memories it brought back. But it challenged me as to how much the poem is owned by you or driven by the words of Paul Simon. I think what I'm trying to say is that there are some very good lines and images written by you that are perhaps being lost by the length forced on the poem by including so many song titles and lyrics. There is a very good secondary poem by you within this poem.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gordon, the piece is my personal journey and how it was effected by the music of the time....here the music of Simon and Garfunkel...the journey is authentic the words of the singers...helped define who I am - and the journey - the piece expresses now the sounds - of music..brought me where I am today...I could make it shorter I suppose, but the voices would not be present...and for me music is forever present in my life....thank you for your words -it is always good to see how others honestly see a piece and I thank you for that...bkm

    ReplyDelete
  15. Jingle, this is one hell of a poem. one of the best poem i have ever read on the blog sphere. fantastic. wonderful story.

    with all respect,

    Mory

    ReplyDelete
  16. So nice - the songs started to hum in my mind...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Brilliantly done...such an awesome idea! I love it! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. SUCH a gorgeous poem!!! I'm nominating you for the Pink award for your wonderful blog. Check my site in about an hour when I'll have the post up.
    http://tracyhsays.com/

    ReplyDelete
  19. http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/awards-from-the-blogging-universe/one-lovely-blog-award/

    this lets you know that I accept ed your award,
    and thanks!

    ReplyDelete