Train Whistle

It has lived in me for years
Wielding unparalleled force
This simple sound

A sound so prominent, unmistakable
Carried on the wind, or piercing
Through the still of night

It dutifully serves as a reminder
A reminder of days long past
The way things used to be

An enduring, lonely yearning, hunkering low
There in that wail
We know love

I Would Have Fallen

If it were even remotely possible, I would have fallen in love with Lydia Loveless.

Lydia Loveless, on vocals and guitar, was backed by a stand-up bass and drums when she took the "stage" at Gene's Beer Garden in Morgantown, WV, on June 17.

To look at her you'd have seen a short-skirted, tall-heeled lil' bit o' nuthin'.  But even as tiny as she is, there's no doubt about it...this lil' girl is all woman.  Lydia lured the crowd with her sultry, countrified vocals, and kept us all rockin' with her fancy guitar work.  She captivated us with coy looks flashed from behind thick bangs, and seduced us with a loose-collared shirt that frequently and conveniently fell from her slender shoulder, glorifying a kind of mildly slutty playfulness.

We were treated to songs of hard times, fast livin' and love gone wrong.  One of the tunes that stood out to me was "The Only Man".  In this one Lydia brings the common done-her-wrong/done-him-wrong theme full circle with a story of the temptation of revenge, and the destruction that can come from it.

"Highlife" was another tune of Lydia's that stuck with me.  In this hard-luck anthem, Lydia muses, "If Miller Highlife is the champagne of beers, why do I still feel like shit?"  The bottle is a common theme within Loveless' repertoire, which is also clearly noted in a song I think is titled, "Jesus Was A Wino Too".

It was absolutely amazing to see this talented and entertaining young woman perform at such an intimate venue as Gene's.  If you want my advice, catch Lydia Loveless anywhere you can, but if you get the chance to see her play in a low-class, hole-in-the-wall bar, where the spirit of her work truly belongs, do not let the opportunity pass you by!

Country

I realized today why I am drawn to many things "country".  When I got in my car this morning to head to work my radio was tuned, as usual, to the local country station.  I don't even remember now what song was on, but that's when it hit me...everything country brings me comfort, a sense of warmth and safety - a sense of home.

Country, bluegrass, string and old-time music; big ol' trucks & tractors; beat-up baseball caps and well-worn jeans, peanuts in a Coke; cowboy hats, boots & belt buckles; whiskey; hayrides; sweet southern drawls; porch swings and rocking chairs; firefly-lighted hay fields; farm houses and old barns; far away train-whistle blows; incoming storm breezes rollin' through the trees; sweet iced tea, biscuits, black-eyed peas, collard greens and southern-fried everything; catchin' catfish on moonlit ponds; pistols and shotguns; good ol' huntin' dogs; honky-tonk bars; heat lightning in a summer sky; Sunday afternoon picnics; cut-off jeans, simple cotton sundresses & big, floppy hats; pigtails & braids; chivalry of southern gentlemen; warm evening berry pickin'; starry-skied lakeside truck-bed cuddling; lil' cabins in the woods; county fair livestock shows; window-sill cooled fresh peach pie; rain on a tin roof; great big family reunions. These are all things I love to think of, to have, and to know. These are all things I love.

The strangest part of all of this is that not all of these things are things that I grew up with, yet they are still soothing, romantic and familiar to me.  Even for all of the aspects of my personality and life that can't be so easily and deeply identified with that of a down-home country girl, I know that at my core I am at least a little bit country and always will be.

The Chase

I chase you.
You chase her.
She giggles and runs, and
Always a length away,
Absorbs all thrill of being sought.

She speeds, chides, burns.
You hesitate, discouraged.
I catch up, and
For a moment,
Am relieved and contented.

You are again roused.
She grants an illusive gap.
Heavy-hearted,
Yet unshaken,
I chase.

Hesitance And Fear Be Damned

Though I've been making idle internal threats to start a blog for many years, I'm finally doing it now...hesitance and fear be damned!  I have published things in manners similar to that of a blog, long ago and infrequently, but have never really jumped right in.  Now it seems to be time to do it.

I imagine that this blog will focus largely on me, and I'd like to be apologetic about that, but I just can't.  If you grow tired of that sort of thing, stop reading my blog - I won't mind at all.

I'm starting to collect a body of works that I think I ought to share.  This poem (beware, I am no poet) is one of them.  It's about me, but was inspired by my interactions with someone close to me - I'm glad they helped me see this.

Across The Reach

Letting go

holding back

retreating to the warmth

solace of the freely afforded

I bathe in memories

of smouldering encounters

transparent exchanges

between two open hearts

two trusting minds

Through such appreciably brief

yet moving connections

desire

curiosity

they linger and swell

But this thing is not whole

though connected

a void lies

between affinity and passion

Do the two form a vessel

fit for collecting

drops of enchantment

that may coalesce

and fall like morning dew

preserving the catch

until full enough

to be drunk?

Or is their form

more akin to a sieve

never holding more

than cold emptiness

even in a deluge

of romantic fervor?

Will residual love

complete and solidify

the bond between

camaraderie and carnality?

Will the flow

erode and destroy

the connection

until all is washed away?

Across the reach

there's a chasm

hollow, deep, dry and brittle

longing to be

filled

quenched

I yearn to sip

the sweet elixir

and never fear

its depletion