They Play Games with the Poets

Orpheus Resurfaces

Why does it take so many years

To close a wound

Which was opened in a day?

Must there be fresh wounds?

Must I always be suffering,

Hurting to heal,

Never really healing?

I did it all wrong…

But I did it for the right reasons.

This is who I am now.

There is no turning back.

Time to sing my song.

***** * *****

They Play Games with the Poets

They play games with the poets

And lose, every time,

Cuz they don’t understand

The mystery of rhyme:

How it can be BROKEN,

Reassembled,

Unaffected,

Yet ready to burst

With inviolate meaning,

Like a pouncing tiger

Or a sudden storm,

A bolt of lightning

That shatters the norm.

***** * *****

“I told you once, you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been!”

-The Charlie Daniels Band, The Devil Went Down to Georgia

***** * *****

Rommentary:

When I was a travelling sound technician, I had the good fortune of running monitors for The Charlie Daniels Band several times. They were a staple of the fair and festival circuits as well as playing with the biggest names in country and country rock on the biggest stages.

To the man, they seemed wonderful people. I could have been at a family barbecue, they were so damn nice, and artists like that were always a welcome departure from the prima donnas and self-important attention-seekers.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia is one of my favorite songs. I love stories about deals with the devil, from Faust to folk tales, and this modern American take is reminiscent of an Irish tradition where the protagonist gives the devil the slip and maybe even a piece of his or her mind.

As to what the song has to do with the poems above, I leave that to each reader as a point for meditation and contemplation, if they so choose; but if you just like a good song, a good turn of phrase, or a funny Claymation chicken, that’s okay too.

Here's a cool live version of Charlie and company performing the original: