I don't usually post a poem (or whatever this is) right as I write it, but this time I decided I would. Our youngest son, F., was taking a nap, but E. and I were supposed to watch our nieces and nephews this afternoon, so E. and L. went on over and I stayed here to let F. sleep. I decided to listen to a few records and relax. I chose
Hometowns by The Rural Alberta Advantage. The songs on this album are mostly love songs--non-typical love songs--and the album is a continuing narrative. It was a great way to spend an hour of a Saturday afternoon. It made me think about my wife and my family and how being alone, even for a short time, and missing the ones you love can be a helpful experience. The last song on side B of the album is called "In the Summertime". It is a wonderful song. I got up and replayed it several times. As it ended for the last time, F. woke up and called for me to help him out of bed. The poem came to me at the first pop of dust during track one, but it didn't fully emerge until F.'s cry.
----
Call & Answer
A bit of dust just made the record pop,
a bit of back beat, just behind the bang
& crash.
Edging the volume
one more notch to hear the clicks
& taps, the sweet impurity of hiss,
careful not to wake the sleeper,
hopeful that the spin stays true--
one more song & back for you.
----
and when we're middle aged,
you tell me i loved you like a renegade
----
The gift of an empty room
& longed-for sounds:
windows for light,
drums for heart,
coupled voices
cut the quiet
like breeze
through
heat.
----
----
At that last song's last beat,
the organ's wail or whine dies.
There's one final click & the sound
of the automatic arm's robotic swing & drop...
The gift of loneliness goes,
no other song will do its service.
But the rising song of a waking son:
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,...
That call is an answer,
and my answer is of course.
----
You know, you're pretty good at this spontaneous poetry thing, too! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy favorites:
"Edging the volume
one more notch to hear the clicks
& taps, the sweet impurity of hiss,"
and
"The gift of an empty room
& longed-for sounds"
Awesome.
I've been known to listen to that song for an hour at a time myself. It's interesting to see it in this context; I always hear it as two people who've missed the opportunity to be together. Your take--using it to illustrate small separations--is lovely.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite, for all of its implications:
"hopeful that the spin stays true--
one more song & back for you."
To me, when Amy's voice comes in at the end it suggests that the separation is only temporary. That said, there are versions that don't include Amy at the end... those are the haunting versions. Here, in the studio version, the end is redemptive, I think.
ReplyDeleteSee the Daytrotter Session for the less redemptive, starker version:
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/rural-alberta-advantage-mad-men-live-and-live-and-live-through-death-concert/20030949-3738030.html