Category: Music

Miserere

In the background of this poem:
Allegri’s Miserere.
The soft singing of five voices,
turned down too low to hear clearly.

Moments ago in a book
I learned of the existence of this piece,
stolen by Mozart’s brain from the Vatican;
transcribed and given to all of us

in a courageous act of defiance,
or perhaps just a thumbing of the nose
at the cassocked voices of denial.

Now coming through a USB speaker
attached by light waves to a laptop
and, as has been previously stated,
turned down too low to appreciate.

We shrink our miracles
until they no longer scare us.

/ / /

16 June 2025
Charlottesville VA

Circle Pit

We’re packed into L’Anti Bar
while Crachat slams into their last song.
They’re wild, ferocious, loud, glorious.
A room full of hometown fans
jump and smash and sing along.
Then it’s over. During the break
two locals talk to me in English.
They want to know why I’m here
in Québec for a punk show.
They recommend bands and a cool bar
for the after-party, not knowing
I’ll be in bed as soon as the next band is done.
Stephanie and I get closer to the stage.
It’s time for Taxi Girls, the reason we added
hours of extra driving to an already long trip.
They rip into the first song,
leave claw marks on the crowd.
Stephanie weaves even closer,
phone camera as talisman.
I hold our coats, sleeves stuffed with
festival t-shirts, keffiyehs, our hats.
The band starts “The Lion’s Share.”
We belt out the words. I play air guitar
under the coats. Nerd to the core.
After the show we chat with the band,
buy records, get them signed,
walk to our rented apartment
through the frigid night,
slowing down to photograph
queer anarchist graffiti
because we’re queer anarchists.
La musique punk est
le langage universel
de la révolution.

21 February 2025
Québec

Let Me Come In And Talk To You About Dire Straits

Dan Bern said he was the Messiah.
Dire Straits said if two men say
they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong.

As far as I know, I’m not who you’re waiting for.
But come in anyway and have a cup of tea.

Life is both long and short,
and just when you’re tired as fuck of the whole thing,
you get a glimpse of the alternative
and cling to the now like a barnacle
on the hull of a ship.

I used to sail when I was a kid.
Now watching a movie set on a boat
makes me seasick. We change, at least a little.

If I ever get to London,
I’ll climb on a box at Speakers’ Corner
and proclaim myself the Lord
just to see what happens next.
Eventually somebody might be right.

Ah, there’s the kettle.

/ / /

13 February 2025
Charlottesville VA

A Hole Where A Heart Had Been

It can’t be stitched, patched or mended.
Time will not heal it.
You can see the sky through it.
And if you put your ear to it,
you can hear an ocean of tears.

/ / /

8 February 2025
Charlottesville VA

The title is a line from We Travel Econo,
a documentary about the band
The Minutemen.

Ambience

Music For Airports
fills the room like
incense smoke
as we take our pills,
perform our ablutions,
try to coax the cat into bed,
commiserate about the world,
then let sleep take us.

/ / /

7 February 2025
Charlottesville VA

Listening To Live Rust On Sunday Morning

Voice like an angel
slowly drowning
in the shallow end.

Bright 12-string
shimmering
above the sing-along.

Canadians
are the best at being
Americans.

/ / /

2 February 2025
Charlottesville VA

Heaven In The Record Store

Nineteen, browsing the bins
at the lone record store in Potsdam, NY.
I walked out with three CDs:
The Berkley Concert by Lenny Bruce,
The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello,
and Culture At Work by Culture.
Lenny because I’d found an album
in the stacks at my college radio station.
Elvis because I’d just heard
“Everday I Write The Book.”
Culture for reasons I can’t remember.
What context did I have for this music?
I grew up in a place with no record store,
the nearest one at the mall 30 minutes away.
Now here I was in a college town,
meeting new people who knew
way more music than I did,
with a well-stocked record store
and a tiny bit of money I’d saved up.
Heaven is a place where they have all the bands.

/ / /

22 January 2025
Charlottesville VA