POEM: listening to Tom Waits’ Small Change
Posted 29 January, 2012 in Music, My poems, Poetry
listening to Tom Waits’ Small Change
you’re sleeping close to me
holding one of my hands
in both of yours
there’s a candle on the dresser
another on the night table
a third behind the two Buddhas
on my map, our rivers
don’t meet anywhere
which just goes to show
it’s worth getting out
to see for yourself
the mapmakers can get it wrong
there could be just one big river
right off the edge of the page
POEM: sweet violence
Posted 13 January, 2012 in My poems, Poetry, Politics & Activism
sweet violence
can come with an open hand
or at the tip of a sharp tongue
it covers up the salty taste of tears
you call me “sweetheart” afterward
I can’t think of anything to say during dinner
that won’t sound like a lie
later, in bed, you lace your fingers in mine
I hold my breath like a condemned prisoner
my hair is turning gray on this diet of ashes
my tongue lies heavy in my mouth
I’m betraying the fading light beneath my skin
/ / /
It’s been a while since I finished a poem. I wrote this one at the Museum of Modern Art in New York today after seeing the “Sweet Violence” exhibit for the second time. Please go see it if you can.
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WHO?
Jason Crane is the host of the The Jazz Session, the online jazz interview show. His first collection of poems, Unexpected Sunlight (FootHills Publishing, 2010) is now available. Named by the LA Times as one of 25 arts & culture people to follow on Twitter. (Read the full bio.)
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