new world man: for Neil Peart
mid-80s, knees wedged against
the vinyl bus seat
avoiding my fellow students
with a Sony Walkman
I had to bend the headphone cord
just so to listen in stereo
I still have good hearing today
despite blasting Signals
over & over at the limit
of those cheap headphones
later: band trip to Virginia, John & Scott
in the back of the bus
boombox across their laps, John on
air drums, Scott on bass
memorizing every note of
Moving Pictures
(put sticks in John’s hands &
he could really play that stuff;
our hometown Neil)
later still: at the War Memorial
in the era of the rotating drum set
we heard the harp glissando
cheered ourselves hoarse as Neil
roared like the god of thunder
row after row of awkward teens
beating the air in unison
’91, Japan: borrowed room, borrowed CD player
Roll The Bones on repeat
till Shoko banged on the wall, yelled — in the
Japanese I was just learning —
to turn it down (memories of my parents
buying me a stereo my mom
would never let me turn up)
this morning: false spring, older now
than he was then
out for my morning walk blasting
Signals, Grace Under Pressure
water in my eyes but not from the rain
drums carrying the weight of years
all the memories wrapped up in those sounds
seems to me it’s chemistry
/ / /
Jason Crane
11 January 2020
State College PA
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