The extended Bonus Feature edition of a poem from House of Words.
The River
November 5, 2011 by at 3:49 am
A nod to Kierkegaard and Walker Percy: existentialist tomfoolery, political satire, literary homage, word mongering, a year-round summer reading club, Dylanesque music bits, apocalyptic marianism, poetry, fiction, meta-porn, a prisoner work-release program.
JOB
Conflicted in early life between his desire to be a weatherman for local community access cable stations and a man who wears pants in July, JOB took the middle road and now writes poems between every waking moment. [Read More …]
Southern Expat
All you need to know is that I'm a lady, understand?
Behave yourselves accordingly. [Read More …]
Well, hello there, Mr. Hopkins. Seriously, this was grand. Slackwater, indeed.
Audiobook?
It may take a bit of getting used to.
I agree, Church.
Can we run that through the Anglo-EU translator?
Hi Jonathan
This poem is utterly beautiful, and I mean it utterly. I hope that I get what you intended. Did you hit the transcendent key on the keyboard when you wrote it? My Lord! Since I work in the Matrix and Agents are after me all the time, natural imagery gives me respite. I need the river too big time, just like that man needs a drink at the end of the day. I need the river ghosts to whisper in my ear too. Each day it becomes more difficult to participate in our bullshit, fake, soul murdering, contrivance of a culture. I hate it. It is a prison. There is no river in this prison. We all need the river.
This poem is so opposite the false materialist reality. It is one of the most real things I’ve ever heard. It’s a prayer. It’s a great prayer! It is a very holy and sacred piece of work. God was speaking through you when you wrote it, or perhaps he was speaking to me when I heard it. All I know is God was involved. I promise it WILL be read by my children, and with the same reverence as all the other great works they have read and will read.
Thanks for listening, writing, and sharing.
Thanks Cube. Thank you so much.
True story: My copy of ‘House of Words’ arrived in the mail on Friday, so to me, this actually does feel like an ‘extended Bonus Feature edition’ of a poem from the book. Thanks for sharing the performance, sir.
And speaking of performances, how was ‘Spokane Words’?
God bless you, Angelico. Thanks for shelling out your hard-earned cash for a copy of the book. Sales are now in the double digits!
Spokane Words was really swell. Good turn-out, cool venue, an interesting mix of poetic personae, wine and beer flowing like a river, and me reciting this here poem to a politely listening audience of fine folks.
What a relief to hear there was a good turnout at the recitation! Could you estimate the age distribution of the crowd — a rough greybeard-to-youngblood ratio?
No thanks are due to me for paying the worker his wage. Thank you for setting down your (hard-earned?) words and finding a way to share them.
A good mix of ages in the audience, 50/50 young vs. old maybe. My daughters, ages 4 and 7, were by far the youngest.
Thanks again for that. I need to read Dappled Things when I have a bit of time and am feeling better.
[Did the mousse score?]