Lexington Listen Up

Just got back from Lexington. Went to hear Nikky Finney read
at Morris Book Shop. I have heard her read before--about 8
yrs ago, here. Now, she's the National Book Award for poetry
winner, and it is exciting to see how her work has progressed,
how humble she remains and excited about poetry, how surprised
she was by the numbers of people who came to hear her read.

To make the drive go by faster, I listened to the CDs my friend,
Josh, gave me for Christmas. And the Tom Waits my son gave
me. Going to have to post some Black Keys first. Fell in love
with them. My youngest son has been listening to them for some
time, but I had not listened to them until this weekend.

Lonely Boy, I think, will be first selection.

"I was both scattered and stymied, surrounded by unfinished songs and abandoned poems. I would go as far as I could and hit a wall, my own imagined limitations. And then I met a fellow who gave me his secret, and it was pretty simple. When you hit a wall, just kick it in." Patti Smith, from Just Kids

"I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim." Frida Kahlo

Happy Trails, Etta.

Thanks
by W. S. Merwin


Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water thanking it
smiling by the windows looking out
in our directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

From the new Tom Waits vinyl. Very good stuff. A shout out to some Raised Right Men!

In Dreams, I am never eating


Am I ever gonna get my Ferrell's burger? I am eating almonds
out of a can and dreaming of a bacon cheesebruger with Ferrell's
onions. But I have no friends to come and take me to get one.

Ahhhhhhh, but we must have our dreams.