A Day Late

            I’m trying to stay focused with the art. It’s not easy. I tend to need periods of rest to gather myself. I’ve been writing tunes at such a clip I can’t remember the words to them. I’ll write a song and then move on to the next one, and forget about the previous song until I have a whole bunch of songs I don’t know the words to.

            My plan is to record a song a week until I have them all on tape, or hard drive. I need to pick up the pace, at the rate I’m going I’ll be old and gray before I have it all recorded.

            When I ask myself if I should die tomorrow would I be content? My answer is no. I’d like to leave behind a finished body of work. All I have right now are a few recorded tunes and some demos that I recorded at home on GarageBand. My writing is in better shape. It’s the music that has fallen behind. Of course I have old tunes from long ago, but those don’t count. It’s the here and now I’m after. 

The Birthday Poem

            I have a goddaughter named Natalie. She’s going to be twelve. My gift to her has been to write a poem on her birthday. Her birthday is coming up so I’ve been working on the new poem. I haven’t written her a poem that I’m proud of yet, but I think they’re getting better. My first poems to her were poetic. I was trying too hard to be clever or smart. I’m not interested in that anymore. I’m more interested in the story than the poetics. It’s never easy writing a poem for somebody. It’s intimate, kind of gooey. It can leave a poet feeling vulnerable. I wonder if she appreciates it, or feels equally gooey. I should probably ask her.