From the Beginning

Artist: Claudia Schoenfeld , Used with Permission

 

I once made love to these keys
Caressing each one, stretching
For octaves beyond my reach

My heart beating in staccato
As you spoke to me in theory
Allegro, crescendo, larghetto

Marble bust of Beethoven glared
And I cared…not

 

An attempt at a sevenling for the 2nd day of celebration at dVerse Poets Pub. Victoria has interviewed one of our co-founders, Claudia Schoenfeld who has lent us some of her fabulous artwork for inspiration. You can find more of her art and poetry at painterindahouse and Jaywalkingthemoon.

Sarnia Blues

 

Sittin’ here with a couple of beers
Wishing we were there
We miss the smoke stacks
Believe it or not
And the train just came to a stop

“Bluewater City” is the place for us
We met a seagull
His name was Gus
We’re not walkin’ in the same ol’ shoes
But we both got the Sar-ni-a blues

You can go to Flin Flon
Fly up to the Yukon
You can cross the border
But we’ll stay here
With our Sarnia blues
We’ll sit here pickin’
On our Sarnia blues

The Canterbury Inn is the place to be
The band is playin’ and it’s row-dy
You go down Eureka
I’ll follow Confed.
And we’ll  get those boys outta bed

You can go to Flin Flon
Fly up to the Yukon
You can cross the border
But we’ll stay here
With our Sarnia blues
We’ll sit here pickin’
On our Sarnia blues

© Michelle Beauchamp

~

 

I actually wrote this 35 years ago with a high school friend about my college town. I accompany it with an acoustic guitar. The lyrics are obviously not too sophisticated but when my friend’s band played it at their university pub one night, apparently it was a hit.

I’m tending bar today over at dVerse Poets Pub and we are writing our own songs! It’s a bit noisy, but we’d love to have you join us.  Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Alphabet

 

This week’s challenge brought me back to memories of Vegas and a show called “Recycled Percussion”. Four talented musicians take junk rock to the next level.

Audience participation

Boundless energy

Clever and creative

The ABC’s of good entertainment.

 

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/alphabet/

When You’re Down in Memphis

Let’s go down to Memphis

Listen to some old time blues

That might be news to me

Feel the joy in the melancholy

As wailing guitars push out notes

Like potbellied tears

And tiny little diamonds

We’ll dance by the stage

With that sweet ol’ man with the cap

How do you say no

To a sweet ol’ man with a cap?

We will marvel

At the Beale Street Blues Boy

His portrait on the wall

The reason for it all

We’ll try those deep fried pickles

Savor the sweet tang of the ribs

Lip smackin’, hip packin’

As we sway to the rhythm

Of the house band

Let’s take a walk

Beside the muddy Mississippi

The sound of the sax

Rising softly at our backs

We’ll ride the horse drawn carraige

Lit up like Christmas

Because that is what you do

When you’re down in Memphis

~

Rest in Peace, Mr. B.B. King

(September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015)

~

Dedicated to my friend, Ann and a road trip I will never forget.

Three Guitars

 

The great escape

From the black and white keys

Was my Fender

Shiny and smooth

Never been used

Fingers on frets

Calloused and tender

Took flight to the strings

Imprinting my skin

Tuning from ear

Playing by heart

Ascending my dreams

To my Takamine

Crystal clear

In sound and conviction

Lyrics of soul

Leaving lips

Not kissed

Love not lost

Hope only tossed

To dogma days

And sultry ways

Of my Ovation

Acoustic nirvana

Standing up tall

And I had the gall

To write, to sing

Create the flow

Of beat and sweet

Surrendering all

That I am

~

 

 

 Anthony gave us the opportunity to share our love of music today at dVerse.

My guitars of past and present are pieces of my life.

I would be lost without music.

Unraveled

Diaries and tiny keys

Opened doors

To thoughts unspoken

Indigo blurred

By rainy blue eyes

My full heart emptied

To fill blank pages

             

Lyrics and chords

Strumming tales

Of the deep and the dark

Words and voice

United in song

My full heart aching

To fill open spaces

Pain and torment

Tapping keys

In a candle lit corner

Creative crescendo

Boundless and beautiful

My healing heart open

To infinite places

 

http://dversepoets.com/2014/03/04/poetics-poetically-evolving/

Chorus of Consciousness

In the wakefulness of now

Listen and you will hear

Hearts beating

To the sound of original grace

Souls strumming on strings

Of merciful melodies

Faintly tapping out the truth

Orchestrating the score

Of the conductor, the Creator

Heed to this rhapsody of love

Humming softly through the clatter

Drumming gently without fail

Steady as time, resistant to mind

Find harmony within

Where good intentions lie dormant

Under clogged and corrupted arteries

Like a child, improvise

Sing this song of life

Strength Where There is Nothing Else (50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#12)

#12. “You are much stronger than you think. You just have to tap into it.”

There is an abyss that exists in my mind.

I have been there.

It is a place of darkness, unimaginable hopelessness , shock, denial, fear…but most of all, it is empty.

It is nothingness with the relentless power to end you as you know you and your life as you know it.

You try to move…..you can’t.

Cold reality has its grip on you so tight, it is easier to succumb to it, than it is to fight.

The ground you walked on crumbles under you and the only way to go is down.

You bounce around in the tunnel of blackness, empty headed.

There is no mercy here. You surrender to the unidentified force that surrounds you.

Nothing else means a thing. This place is center stage and you are the audience tied to your seat.

Nothing moves. Nothing cares.

You are still.

Sometimes there is more strength in stillness, in silence.

Sometimes what we don’t do is stronger than what we do.

Sometimes our strength is not about our stamina, courage or our energy.

Sometimes……it comes from the faintest whisper in our mind, the weakest part of our sanity……the dimmest light.

Sometimes we can only find enough strength to extend one tired and desperate  hand

……and hold on.