poems now coming!

me & head lamp at shanti guest lodge on my balcony

I.

having something on your mind
makes the drink we shared that  much

more

it was
that spark
that came so close to
when you talked about
anything that engaged

and annihilated
your every-day boredom

& depression

& i saw it
& i undestood it
unlike any other

or so i believed

II.
he plays
witness
for us

he’s read books

he’s hung out in bars, farms
and unemployment lines

he sleeps in cities

buys stuff from their walmarts

& visits their hometown center squares
when he can find them

he seeks out
what’s playing

in small corners & large corners of america

he asks to play w/them

at their local bars & coffee shops

he absorbs &
completes for consumers
albums of american

conversation & song

our shared american life

what is spoke of

& what is not spoke of

environment, love, politics, & otherwise

this being born
into american life

and his music
reflects this self-aware, shared
wisdom too.

III

a life lesson i can now claim lived through

the more you do something
the better you get at it

i belong with the dreamers
the fascinated, the goers

what
anywhere that
breaks inertia

what demands
time alone

“i’m the same as everyone
just kind of lucky .”1

what i now know is everyone
carries what they carry heavy

& the way we feel about it
is malleable.

1.  Son Volt; American Central Dust; “Cocaine and Ashes” based on interview Jay read about Keith Richards spreaking and snorting some his father’s dead ashes.