All of the poems in before poetry there was music have been influenced by music: songs, radio programs, old vinyl records, lyrics, musicians. There are references to rock, jazz, folk, classical. Van Morrison, Joni, Tom Rush, Jerry Jeff Walker, Beatles, Satie and many others make appearances in these poems. So do many memories, which music so often evokes in the listener.
before poetry there was music is the fourth collection of Daily Spontaneous Poems that I started writing in 2014 and posting on Facebook. The first three books, wild voices come when they will, there is only this moment and you were released in 2015, 2017 and 2018 respectively. These poems are written in the moment and are never revised. The writing of these has become a daily practice that I continue to this day.
From the book:
as temperature plummets outside
I’m inside, near woodstove
listening to mid-sixties folk music
Ochs, Paxton, Rush
Judy, Joni
Donovan, Buffy
I’m back on Goodyear Street
a half century ago
upstairs attic bedroom
portable record player
lps, 45 singles
radio, WKBW
Jefferson Kaye’s “Inside Out”
weekly folk music show
these songs, my poetry
before Frost, Jeffers, Snyder
Universal Soldier
Both Sides Now
I Can’t Help But Wonder
No Regrets
Circle Game
I Ain’t Marching Anymore
Catch the Wind
I listen now on laptop
new technology
same words, same meanings
still resonating inside
like they did in attic room
in house that no longer exits
