Classic Water

Well, this past Saturday my lovely friend Jenny and I went to Atlanta to see The Silver Jews. I can't say enough good things about this band. The lyrics are second to none, they play great live, all around top notch. We got to meet David Berman after the show, Jenny has the picture on her camera so whenever she uploads it I'll put it on here. I also bought a book of poetry David Berman wrote titled Actual Air. It's really great and there's a poem in it that I wanted to share with you guys. It really resonated with me and, quite frankly, is basically the poem that I've always wanted to write.

Classic Water

I remember Kitty saying we shared a deep longing for
the consolation prize, laughing as we rinsed the stagecoach.

I remember the night we camped out
and I heard her whisper
"think of me as a place" from her sleeping bag
with the centaur print.

I remember being in her father's basement workshop
when we picked up an unknown man sobbing
over the shortwave radio

and the night we got so high we conviced ourselves
that the road was a hologram projected by the headlight beams.

I remember how she would always get everyone to vote
on what we should do next and the time she said
"all water is classic water" and shyly turned her face away.

At volleyball games her parents sat in the bleachers
like ambassadors from Indiana in all their midwestern schmaltz.

She was destroyed when they were busted for operating
a private judicial system within U.S. borders.



Sometimes I'm awakened in the middle of the night
by ther clatter of a room service cart and I think back on Kitty.

Those summer evenings by the government lake,
talking about the paradox of multiple Santas
or how it felt to have your heart broken.

I still get a hollow feeling on Labor day when the summer ends

and I remember how I would always refer to her boyfriends
as what's-his-face, which was wrong of me and I'd like
to apologize to those guys right now, wherever they are:

No one deserves to be called what's-his-face.

-David Berman



That poem absolutely crushed me the first time I read it.

I don't think I'll share a poem this time, that's a hard act to follow.

I'm going to go Wednesday hopefully to get my chapbooks printed. Once I have the physical copies in my possession, I will let everyone know.

The support so far has been so great. Keep reading everyone, and if you like my words and my blog, then please spread the word to your friends, buy a copy of the chapbook when it's available, get your friends to buy a copy. I've thought about doing a reading sometime, perhaps in Jackonville. We'll see, most of poems are pretty short and don't lend themselves too well to reading. I guess if enough people wanted me to do one, I'd definately try and set one up. Tell me your thoughts.