2025 – RIP
Sonny Curtis – 1937 Dust bowl dugout born“That’ll Be the Day” guitarWhen Buddy Holly’s wings were tornSonny could have been a star But he did not seek the spotlightSaw the danger of being “it”Writing is what he got rightAnd he wrote a hundred hits Fifteen minutes was all it took“I fought the law and the […]
Brian Wilson 1942-2025
Brian Wilson 1942-2025 My love lived in Liverpool Mercy found in Mersey sounds A former flame, now uncool What the fuck? Pet Sounds? I had my fling, the surfing thing Where emptiness abounds Then Rubber Soul redemption Answered with…really? Pet Sounds? It was like a former lover Pretending they’re not blue Oh that album cover […]
Sly Stone 1943-2025
MJ to Prince to everyone now They all strut in Sly’s platform shoes Eccentric, ethnocentric, loud and allowed Proud, unbowed espoused the Good News I saw him Ames, Iowa in 1971 He was already bearing the weight Of the fame of Higher and so much Fun And of course, he was late I regret I […]
2024 – RIP
2024 RIP Things fall apart; the centre cannot holdDystopia slouches ever closerAnd overnight my heart, suddenly oldAnd with 2024, seeking closure What we have lost, too early to tellBut minor chords will be majorYet let us once more go to the wellThere are days and nights to savor Take this moment to breathe the […]
2024 — RIP
The following is a collection of short poems; homages to a few of the many who passed this year. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been looking back through obituaries in The New York Times and have been inspired by the lives of a variety of amazing people. It’s probably not surprising the musicians account […]
RIP – 2022
Happy New Year! For the past several years, I’ve been writing homages to a wide range of people who have passed this year. The verses are in no particular order and some of them are well-known and many were unknown to me, but all of them led fascinating lives. These verses are not meant to […]
There Is No Baby
Else Blangsted 1920-2020 “There is no baby. The baby is dead.” How does anyone go on from there? Yet she finds a way, daily led From night too heavy to bear An infant who took no breath. Life within her, hidden, ashamed But a mother prefers her own death Rather then birth a child unnamed […]
Little Richard 1932-2020
Little Richard Click her for slideshow The “Little” was for his youth when he first heard the call Good Golly Miss Molly sure like to ball What did we just hear? Completely absurd But the Bible is clear, In the Beginning was the Word Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom What on earth? A guy […]