I was inspired to write a poem this morning. By posting it here I can no longer submit it to any lit magazines, but I like it so much I still wanted to share it. If you enjoy the poem, please consider sharing it with someone who enjoys poetry, too.
“To the young girl dancing alone in the street waiting for a parade to start”
As a child of the 80’s and a music fan, I know the wonder and addiction of a great one-hit wonder.
A-ha, “Take On Me”
Tommy Tutone, “867-5309 / Jenny”
Big Country, “In a Big Country”
To name just a few. I can give you the first few bars of a one-hit wonder and you would be able to identify it… “We can dance if we want to / We can leave your friends behind.” I know you started to sing this outloud.
As a poet, I could live with having a one-hit wonder poem. I have about 300 poems published in books, unknown amount of original poems submitted for the weekly #BornBattleReady poetry challenge. And the scraps of paper, notebooks, that contain rough drafts and poems that just haven’t found a home and I can confidently say I have over a 1000 poems.
The world of poetry is vast, and many poets, like Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Henry David Thoreau, just to name a few, became famous after they passed away. I would rather have a one-hit wonder than become famous after death.
No one can predicate a one-hit wonder (or any success for that matter). But if I could choose one poem to be my one-hit wonder I would choose one of my earlier poems, “Air Jordans and Big Gulps.”
“Air Jordans and Big Gulps”
i wear
AIR JORDANS
when I work
the graveyard shift
at 7-11
(24 hour convenience store)
They do not match the Smock
(a dull pepper green)
Or my name tag
(red stickered first name)
“i I.D. it’s my job”
i wear
AIR JORDANS
when I work
cleaning the nacho cheese
and chili dispenser
(free for your chips or dogs)
They do not match the bottles
(40oz. and up)
or the cans
(lined like a library)
“please have I.D. ready”
i wear
AIR JORDANS
when I work
counting cigarette cartons
and filling the shelves
(Camels are on special)
They do not match the coffee
(freshly made every hour)
Or the Styrofoam cups
(one lid fits all sizes)
“Must be 21 or older to purchase alcohol”
I think this poem reflects my style the best. There is a form to the poem, but yet stretches the theme creatively through that form. I do use everyday life as a theme to highlight the depth of living, which this poem does. And it is autobiographical. I still have the first draft of this poem on the inside of a cigarette carton I used to write it on during my graveyard shift.
I have better written poems. I have more heart wrenching poems. I have poems about my family, my children. Poems about fate. Poems written in poetic forms from the 14th century.
But one-hit wonders are powerful, unique, and addictive to listen to… to read in this instant. And I could die happy if this poem was my one-hit wonder.
So, one of the biggest issues I had in choosing the 5 albums I can’t live without is selecting an album that was never officially released. When I was considering the idea way back in December, I thought of this album right away. Then I thought about you, the reader / listener. Would it be fair to include an album you would not be able to listen to if you wanted. I decided it was not fair, but, this is my blog series, so I get to have a bonus entry and give the album its props!
Hell Isn’t Even That Funny was supposed to be Chris Glover’s debut release, but the record company shelved the record, even though they released the single, “Stand On Your Seat” in 2005. I was hooked the first time I heard the song, but couldn’t find the album until I went to eBay and found an advance CD for sale. At that time, I just assumed the album was coming out later that year. I almost passed on buying the CD. I didn’t know at that time the back story. I am so glad I didn’t.
Chris Glover is now known as Penguin Prison, and is making awesome music. But this album is genre shattering. It mixes electronic music with hints of rap and pop sensibility. Chris’s lyrics make you think, are bluntly honest, and uplifting.
If you ever get the chance to hear this album (I found two copies available by private sellers) check out the songs, “Never So Far Away”, “Nothing’s Ever Gonna Change”, and “Something You Already Knew.”
If I was on a desert island, I would grab this album… well at least one of the burned copies I made of it, because it is truly one of a kind.
P.S. Below is the interview I got to conduct with Chris Glover for The Creative Moment podcast.
I know some of you are wondering, no album from Prince? Well, the wait is over. There are two rules that made this choice so difficult. One album per artist. Prince released over 40 studio albums. Because of the rule I only get to choose one. ONE!
After hours of debating with myself I got it down to two albums. Again the rules I set for myself helped. Even as a fan, there are songs I will skip on an album. Especially if I am in a particular mood, so that rule helped a lot.
Then the last rule that allowed me to finally choose the album. No soundtracks with various artists. Now, that rule eliminated some great sound tracks. But I thought the rule was fair because there are soundtracks by single artists, like The Jazz Singer by Neil Diamond, that are powerful albums.
So, that brings me to my fifth album I can’t live without… no it is not Purple Rain. It is Parade.
Everyone knows the song “Kiss” but as a whole album Parade encompasses Prince’s personality the best at that time of his life. Meaning, artists grow as people and their art reflects that. As fans I think we forget that sometimes and want them to produce the same kind of art they did when we became fans. Anyway, back to the album.
The opening track, “Christopher Tracy’s Parade,” sets a wonderful, joyful tone, while touching on some of the themes to come in the other songs / movie.
“I Wonder U” switches things up with a slowed down musical trip. In its own way, it is a cool love song.
“Under the Cherry Moon” continues with the slower vibe. Prince ponders life and love through the lyrics. The song feels like a walk at night, under a full moon.
The sixth track never fails to make me move or lift my spirits. “Life Can Be So Nice” picks up the tempo and has lyrics that hit you with their clever examples that you can’t help but sing along with.
As Prince is known to do, the next track seems to come out of nowhere. It makes you stop and just feel. “Venus De Milo” is a wonderful instrumental piece. It is on a number of my playlists.
“Mountains” was released as a single. It reached number 23 on the charts. It is one of my favorite songs of all time by Prince. “Mountains” delves into the idea of the power of love and how it can be a force in life.
And maybe the saddest song ever, “Sometimes It Snows in April.” Of course it connects to the story line of the movie, but listeners can easily follow the plot line and get lost in the theme of the song. The song touches on our shared hurt and questioning of why bad things happen, especially when we lose someone we love.
So, here are my 5 albums I can’t live without… or is it????
One of the fun aspects of writing this series is the chance to listen to albums again. There are so many great albums. Honestly, this series has actually been in the works for over 6 months. I got to thinking about it after I read the answer from Mike Jones of the band Jesus Jones. A favorite band of mine who’s Doubt album was in the running for this series.
Kind of the last filter I used for selecting the albums was the desert island question. If I had five albums only, what would I want to listen to? So, there are albums that I love that are not part of this series, but the fourth album may be the one that most defines me. Ten by Pearl Jam.
For those readers who know me in real life, you know that my college years were a turbulent time. And if you are into music like I am, you understand how a song, an artist, an album can affect your life. Plus, I saw them perform at The Ranch Bowl in Omaha just as they were breaking through as a band!
“Once” may be the coolest intro song I know. There is a melodic fade in, then a driving guitar and Eddie Vedder extending the word “I” and off we go.
“Alive” and “Why Go” are two songs that connected with me. I don’t want to go into the personal stuff, but both songs are powerful stories about youth and dealing with big questions. Questions about family, truth, and life. “Alive” ends with the question about who answers the question about the narrator being alive.
“Why Go” was number 10 of my all time top 100 songs. It tells the story of a girl in a mental hospital. Part of the story line is about staying an individual while also questioning if it is worth going back home. The energy of the music and the depth of the theme combine for one of the most emotionally elevating songs I know.
“Jeremy” continues the sad exploration of the damage parents can have on a child. The song was inspired by a true event, that just emphasizes one of the harshest aspects of this life. Now, as a father, these stories break my heart.
I’m going to jump to the last track “Release”. The tracks in between do not shy away from questioning life, “I don’t question our existence / I just question our modern needs, “ from “Garden”.
I’ve heard it said that we connect to music (and even poetry) because the artist found a way to say what we feel better than we could. “Release” is that song for me. Eddie Vedder says this song is about learning the truth about his father and step-father. For my faithful readers you know through my writing about my issues with my own father, so I think you can connect the dots for the importance of this song.
Ten is an intense listening experience. In fact there is a few seconds of silence after “Release” before the listeners are taken back to the melodic music from the beginning. This time the music stays on that vibe while you hear mumbled vocals as the vibe continues to wash over you. Kind of like an emotional cleansing as it fades out… but I usually want to start the album over.
People don’t really believe me when I say I have a wide range of musical genres that I like. They don’t believe that I listen to Jazz, Rap, or Barry Manilow. This is the case regarding the artist for album three, Kirk Whalum and his album, In This Life.
Now I know this album has guest singers, but Kirk has his moments in every song, his saxophone playing elevates the voices in those songs. This album is an emotional experience. I used to play it during study time in my classroom when I first started teaching, and even had a few students who became fans of Kirk Whalum. That says something that teenagers loved this album, too.
The opening title track, “In This Life” is a powerful reflection on love. The kind of love that we hope for, the kind that stands strong through the hardships and wrongs we have received or done in life.
Now love is a theme for this album, and I am a sucker for any type of love song, but track two is a unique but truthful look at our desire to find love. The cover of “‘Til I Get It Right” is sung by the known jazz and soul singer, Vaneese Thomas. She is perfect for this song. You feel the hopeful hurt when she sings, “So I’ll just keep on fallin’ in love ’til I get it right.”
Not every song on this album has vocals. “Peaceful Hideaway” is the first instrumental piece and it does carry the listener away from the world and softens the hurt or worries they might have.
“Living For The City” is a wonderful instrumental piece, it brings up the energy of the album. It is joyful in its expressions and you can’t help but nod your head a little to it.
Heartbreak is hard to deal with, even with time. “When The Night Rolls In” is a truthful look at how time doesn’t always heal our hearts. It is so real in its theme, I just sing along, remembering the times I felt like this.
After 28 years of marriage, I understand the song, “The Way I Need You Now,” on a different level. “No, the way I need you now / Is gonna take our faith, it’s gonna take our honesty / There’s so much waiting for us” is a powerful aspect of a relationship as it changes, as it grows. This song hits so much harder for me now.
I have a number of albums of Kirk Whalum’s, but In This Life, hits my soft spot for love songs but is also a wonderful listening experience as I get lost in his saxophone.
The rule that I could only choose one album per artist makes for a unique challenge for me. Many of my favorite bands have a number of albums I love. But the idea, too, that I couldn’t live without it helps, especially with the artist for album 2; Tears For Fears and their album The Seeds of Love.
This selection is also an example of connecting to an album the more you listen to it. How an album can age well, like wine. I remember not being blown away by the album in 1989, but I was a senior in high school, getting ready for college, all that stuff. Honestly, I didn’t really get into the album until after college. And I think part of the reason is because of the depth of themes of the songs, as a teenager I didn’t really connect to them like I could after growing up some and experiencing life.
The album starts with what I feel is one of the saddest songs of all time, “Women in Chains.” Because this post is about the music, I’m going to let the song speak for itself.
The second song on the album is “Badman’s Song” and I love when it comes on my playlist while I’m walking. The backstory is that during the tour for The Hurting, Roland Orzabal overheard some of the band members talking bad about him. The third line seems to indicate the hotel room they were in, “Well here’s to the boys back in 628.”
But I love the musical trip the song takes me on, and the underlying idea of hope for the badman. The references of faith and life lift my heart.
Many of the songs on the album run over five minutes, yet the songs don’t drag. “Swords and Knives” runs just over 6 minutes and is heavy with instrumental movements that create the perfect accompaniment to the theme of the song about violence in the world. And it transitions into one of my favorite songs of all time, “Year of the Knife.”
The track is high energy, and for me, poetic. I love the lines, “They say his famous final words / Came from the heart of man.” Plus the symbolism of love as a knife, played against the “young gun” is cool.
I’ve written about the final track, “Famous Last Words” in the post “Thank You, Tears For Fears” during the COVID pandemic. The track is a perfect ending to a great album. I love the thread of love throughout the album and the depth of the songs. This is an example of how music can grow with us, if we keep listening.
Spin magazine does a cool “5 Albums I Can’t Live Without” series. And for my faithful readers you know I love writing music based blog posts. I will be honest, I have been thinking about my 5 albums for almost a month now. Trying to figure out if I should include soundtracks, greatest hit collections, and what makes a great album for me. Also, do I only choose one album per artist? (Yeah, I could pick a number of Prince albums.)
So, here are my guidelines for the 5 albums I can’t live without. One album per artist. No soundtracks with various artists. No greatest hits collections. And I have to like the whole album, meaning no song would ever be skipped. So here we go… and in no particular order.
Album number one is Blind to Reason by Grayson Hugh.
The song “Talk it Over” was on heavy rotation for VH1 in 1988. But his second release from the album, “Bring It All Back” hooked me and I traveled to Casper to buy the CD and I have been listening to his music ever since.
The first song on the album, “Romantic Heart” is easy to sing along too, but the lyrics hit with just the right mix of positivity and dreamer ideology. Perfect for my heart.
“Bring It All Back” is a great love song. Grayson’s song writing is fused with some great descriptions, many times with nature at the center. The second verse in this song is a perfect example of his skills,
When the falling leaves are filled with rain
Oh, you heart it calls to me
Say when will I see you again
And the wind will answer me
But not all his songs are centered on romantic relationships. “Finally Found a Friend” is a hidden gem on this album. Grayson hits a deep nerve of our loneliness that can only be tempered by friendship. And by the end of the song, your soul is singing and reeling in thoughts of people you love.
The final song, “Empty As the Wind,” is on my writing playlist. This song highlights Grayson’s depth of subject and use of nature to highlight the theme of the song. I turn to this song at times when I am feeling blue.
Grayson Hugh’s Blind to Reason is a wonderful journey musically and lyrically. Even when he is singing about the troubles of love or life, my soul is lifted by his songs.
My stereo system, from 1991, finally just stopped working about a year ago. I had a dual deck cassette player, CD player, receiver, and six speaker set-up that was in my corner library. I did not have a record player. In fact, I have never owned a record player. Until this Christmas.
As a Christmas gift my wife gave me a Victrola 6-in-1 Bluetooth Record Player & Multimedia Center. I can listen to my CDs, tapes, and now, for the first time, listen to records.
During Christmas break I visited our new used record store downtown to buy a LP. I was hoping for a Prince record, but they didn’t have anything at that time. I ended up buying Poco’s Legend album, which has one of my all-time favorite songs, “Heart of the Night”.
When I got home, I immediately put the record on (Side two though because that side started with “Heart of the Night”). I’ll be honest, I was excited. I dropped the needle down, heard that hollow crinkling sound and smiled. Then the first notes of “Heart of the Night” started to play… and I was hooked.
My record collection is at five albums, and yes one is Prince’s “Around the World in a Day”. Many of the times I am just chilling on the bed when I listen to any of the albums. Those moments remind me of doing the same in my teenage years. Most of the time with my best friend at his house listening to cassettes. I remember the trips to Casper to buy music.
The other day as I was flipping over an album to the other side, I thought about the change in our culture around music.
Like many kids, my children listen to music as they do homework, headphones on, YouTube or Spotify playing their playlists. All my children have CD players in their room. Their music collection isn’t vast, but they ask for music as gifts. We definitely listen to music in the car, I mean we spend a lot of time traveling and we have some fun playlist we listen to.
But, what is missing in their life is the personal cost of time and care it took when I was a teenager, and now revealed in what it takes to listen to an album.
Here is what I mean, to listen to an album I must take it out of the sleeve. Place it on the player, physically move the needle and when the side is done, I have to flip the record over. To listen to a record I know I have to invest time and care even to enjoy the music.
There is so much missing from the musical experience today. It was hard to find hard facts, but for streaming revenue a song only has to be played between 30 and 50 percent of the length. Another stat I came across was that listeners only complete 50% to 80% of a song when it is on a playlist. Completion rates were higher for album plays (GEARNEWS).
Music doesn’t mean the same to my children that it does for me. And part of the reason is that they have not invested anything in listening to music. Like anything in life, when we invest our time, our energy, our hearts, it means more to us.
Every physical form of music, LP, CD, cassette, and even 8-track cartridge, has a physical, emotional, and time cost associated with it. Each form is unique in those costs; fastforward / rewind for tapes, dropping the needle down, switching tracks if we want to hear a certain song.
But I think the most interesting factor is the commitment to listening. Every form can be background music, every form can be heard while just chilling in the room, but the physical forms will have a stopping cue, a moment that you have to physically change the format. Even CDs will end. But the deeper aspect is the anticipation of that favorite song coming on, even if we are using the music as a backdrop, we know that a particular song will be next, so we may choose to stop washing dishes to dance or sing along with the song.
The full experience of listening to music in physical form adds a depth to the moment that digital music usually misses or fails to create for us. And in that depth, we can remember other moments, feel a range of emotions, and share, like best friends chilling on the floor waiting for THAT song to play, a rich and wonderful time with someone.
I like digital music. Again, we have travel playlists we listen to in the car, but we don’t skip songs. We sing and, yes, dance to our favorite songs. But, my new Victrola has Bluetooth capabilities that I have not used. I would rather put a record on…
I am going to just warn you now, this post will ramble but try to connect the dots at the end.
I just finished my walk about 20 minutes ago. And I thought about a lot of things, had a lot of dots on the paper of my mind. But let’s start in the middle of my walk.
There is a small cemetery, Sunset Memorial Gardens, that I walk past on one of my routes through my neighborhood. Sometimes, I stop to sit and reflect. Today was one of those days. As I sat down on a bench the “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire” started to play in my earbuds. St. Elmo’s Fire is one of my favorite movies, so it got me thinking.
I took a couple of pictures to share on social media. I tend to take unique pictures on my walk just to share. While I was taking the photos I noticed that there were two fresh mounds of dirt. One of the grave sites did not have a date on the tombstone, but the second one did.
This is when the dots filled my head.
Here I was standing by her grave on January 4, 2026. Janice was just days away from the New Year when she passed away.
I, we all do to a degree, take time for granted. I have a specific pair of shoes I use for my walks. I am in the middle of logging the steps I take on my walks in these shoes for a blog post when I get new shoes.
I am assuming I will be here in 6 months. That I will be able to walk, to listen to music, to think, and write poetry.
As I continued on my walk I was deep in thought about life. A poetic line came to mind, “There will come a time…” (I’ll share the poem later in the blog).
Thinking about the poem led me to something that has been heavy on my heart lately… about how much I have failed in accomplishing my big dreams. I let myself down all the time. I have books I want to write. I want to learn to play the piano (or at least write this song I have). I want to help people write better (this is an idea in the works).
But instead… I fail.
Like all of us, life tricks us into believing there is time. And the trick is that there is time… until there isn’t. And we don’t know when that time will end.
On the home stretch of my walk, I spotted an older couple walking their dogs on the golf course, at times holding hands waiting for their second dog to catch up.
It was a beautiful site and reminded me that no one knows how much time they will have. But we are all given a life. And we do get to decide on how we live it. Failing at dreams, walking on a 60 degree January day, or making it home to be a dad…when I got home my second daughter needed help getting her boomerang (she got for Christmas) down from the roof of the house.
Some dreams are so big they have to be accomplished everyday.
Ohhh, yeah, I wrote this poem while walking too. This is the draft from my notes. The final poem will be worked on later.
“There will come a time”
There will come a time
Because of a dead watch
When I will stop moving
My hands across my face
To check how well I shaved
To start a new day
There will come a time
Because of the sunset
That I will be encased in darkness
Like Orion
Dreams stuck in position
Of a constellation of the past
There will come a time
Because of the last page
That I will no longer
Be able to write
A single word of a poem
Or love letter for her to read
There will come a time
Because of the rules of LIFE
I will reach the end
Have no more turns to spin the wheel
Get an action card
Have a pet
Or fill my little green car
With people I love
One last thing, here is the song that played as I came home.
It is all Connected 