We’re listening to Ani DiFranco as I wash the dishes following another of Christian’s amazing meals. Talking about the heady days of the early ’90s when we drove from town to town in the northeast following Ani and Andy the way others followed Jerry and Bob. In church basements and college halls and small-town theaters that used to be vaudeville houses we joined in with ever growing groups of fellow misfits, trying to figure out where the hell we belonged. I think of how young Ani was then — the same age as us, just a few years older than my kids are now — and how wise and powerful she seemed. Not seemed, was. Black tape on her fingers, slamming against the strings. Head shaved except for one wild lock of hair. I was probably the squarest person in all of those rooms but that guitar and those lyrics and that voice and those drums started to sand down the corners of my box. Now it’s thirty years later and all that’s left of the box are the occasional lines I draw for myself. The music, sadly, is still as relevant as ever.
Thursday night in Ithaca
dozens of us on a concrete floor
not even noticing
/ / /
17 August 2022
Greensboro Bend VT
Category: Music
a couple swims to their sailboat
transparent sail like a dragonfly’s wing
in my headphones “Dark Star” plays
/ / /
17 August 2022
Caspian Lake
Greensboro VT
3.7 billion years ago: a single cell
present day: Schumann
knits them back into one
/ / /
15 August 2022
Highland Center for the Arts
Greensboro VT
salsa music at lunchtime
years & miles &
miles & years
/ / /
20 July 2022
Albany NY
Tanglewood Evening
on the lawn our attention
drawn to one woman coughing
as the pianist plays
***
four low voices slip
across the manicured grass
a warbler enters from the trees
***
air heavy with citronella
the pop of a cork
during the applause
***
a lone student’s violent end
transformed into melody
all breaths are held
///
Bastille Day
14 July 2022
Ozawa Hall lawn
Tanglewood
Lenox MA
my senior year
comes rushing back
grocery store music
/ / /
10 July 2022
Pittsfield MA
at the end of this line, a saxophone!
/ / /
18 June 2022
Lowell MA
(written in front of
Jack Kerouac’s birthplace)
It’s true! After a year away, I’m taking over the hosting duties of The Jazz Session again. Listen to the handover episode for the details.
2 CommentsIt’s been 108 years since Sun Ra arrived from Saturn. Not sure where to start with his massive discography? Try this one:
pooping at
Price Chopper to
Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love”
/ / /
21 May 2022
Pittsfield MA
at certain times in my life
all the books and songs
were written for me
/ / /
11 May 2022
Pittsfield MA
dust on my Doctor’s hat brim
Dead on the screens behind him
knowledge of self
/ / /
3 May 2022
Pittsfield MA
On my birthday in 2012 I was in Montreal as part of my Jazz Or Bust tour. I crashed for the night in the apartment of Sarah MK, a singer whom I’d never met. We had an acquaintance in common. I spent my birthday wandering the city and then took a boat ride on the St. Lawrence. I didn’t realize she knew it was my birthday, but when I got back she had a cake waiting. Anyway she dropped a new record this week and you should hear it because it’s good.
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Waiting For The Orchestra
I’m in the gallery, as high up in the concert hall
as it’s possible to go without wings.
High enough and steep enough
to just slightly trigger my fear of heights.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned
over this long comedy of errors,
it’s that music saves me when all else fails.
A trumpeter in khaki shorts is warming up.
A harpist is tuning to the piano.
I came early for the pre-concert talk,
beating everyone except four elderly folks in their box.
The room is majestic even without the music.
It reminds me to be awed.
That’s important, in these days of scarcity.
/ / /
24 April 2022
Troy, NY
(NaPoWriMo Day 24)
Leave a CommentOde To The A Space And/In Time Memorial
It’s a tall flagpole
in a well-kept field; no flags.
On each side of the base, a plaque:
a peace sign, the infinity symbol,
others I don’t recognize.
I posed there thinking
I was on the site of Woodstock,
flashing the V in a monochrome selfie.
I was off by 3 miles,
but in planetary terms
that’s still pretty close.
“Yes to more peace in the world,”
texted a friend.
And better signage.
/ / /
19 April 2022
Pittsfield MA
(NaPoWriMo Day 19)
(photo)
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