I came back from a bookshop today where they gave me a bag, it says: "Books are biscuits (or let's say cookies) for the soul". And here I find myself having apple pie with Allen Ginsberg. And I remember this specific chapter of first encounter in "Just Kids". Creators like Ginsberg are immortal; the writer is, though pretty obvious, as my father used to put it: "Wer schreibt, der bleibt".
Thank you for writing this. I had the good fortune to see you in Austin on May 7th. Wow. You don't know how meaningful that evening was for me and how happy I was to finally get to see you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and writings with the world all these years. Thank you for the acknowledgement of the Uvalde schoolchildren - our mournful puzzlement of the state of the world.
Here’s to the souls, on both sides, leading us away from the lone gunmen crimes of our time. I imagine the essence of all those, loved and gone, swirling around and doing their best to make things bearable, more artistic. Love is eternal.
So many things that fall into numb/dumb silence - I realize that we shouldn't stay silent. But what words should we use? Stop? Folks don't even obey red traffic lights much less the word stop.
Hello Mim (my inspirational mother) I thought about you on Mother's day. I imagined your smile and your sweet giggle and your glow of love for your children and your mother. 🌹
It's wonderful to hear about you touring with Jackson. It brings a big and lingering smile to my entire being. I remember the very first time I saw you on television. You were on a late night talk show. Maybe David Letterman. I remember being mesmerized by your adorable demeanor. But what really struck me was your most brilliant smile that extended beyond your being, and your generation. Smileshine warms like sunshine 🌞
✉
Charlie Parker looked like Buddha
Charlie Parker who recently died laughing at a juggler on TV
After weeks of strain and sickness
Was called the perfect musician
And his expression on his face
Was as calm, beautiful and profound
As the image of the Buddha
Represented in the East — the lidded eyes
The expression that says: all is well
This was what Charlie Parker said when he played: all is well
You had the feeling of early-in-the-morning
Like a hemit's joy
Or like the perfect cry of some wild gang at a jam session
Wail! Whap!
Charlie burst his lungs to reach
The speed of what the speedsters wanted
And what they wanted was his eternal slowdown
A great musician
And a great creator of forms
That ultimately find expression
In mores and what-have-you
Musically as important as Beethoven
Yet not regarded as such at all
A genteel conductor of string orchestras
In front of wich he stood proud and calm
Like a leader of music in the great historie Worldnight
Love the notes on Nina Simone. She was an incredible, diversified singer. I feel badly that I only got to know the majority of her work after her death. I like the photo you took of the studio entrance. An open door with a security gate and an ever present security camera. Bit ironic.
Thanks for listing those friends you care for and who influenced you in some way. It's good to share grief, which all of us are very prone to these days, as there is so much loss, of so many kinds. When AG died, as director of the Poetry Center at Long Island Unv./CW Post, I helped set up a memorial tribute for Allen and read the poem of his the New Yorker published right about then in tribute. There was a local band who performed with power and feeling, but I forget their name, as I have been gone from the Island for 18 years and yes, I'm losing some memory, but not nearly all of it so far! Thank God Allen's friend Bob Dylan is still with us, writing and performing great poems.
As I listened to this last night I watched the sky outside my window turn a spectacular sunset red which somehow seemed fitting . This morning it is sky blue and bright holding the promise of a new day ! Grateful for this and for all you share with us !
I came back from a bookshop today where they gave me a bag, it says: "Books are biscuits (or let's say cookies) for the soul". And here I find myself having apple pie with Allen Ginsberg. And I remember this specific chapter of first encounter in "Just Kids". Creators like Ginsberg are immortal; the writer is, though pretty obvious, as my father used to put it: "Wer schreibt, der bleibt".
Thanks for this one, Patti
Thank you for writing this. I had the good fortune to see you in Austin on May 7th. Wow. You don't know how meaningful that evening was for me and how happy I was to finally get to see you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and writings with the world all these years. Thank you for the acknowledgement of the Uvalde schoolchildren - our mournful puzzlement of the state of the world.
Here’s to the souls, on both sides, leading us away from the lone gunmen crimes of our time. I imagine the essence of all those, loved and gone, swirling around and doing their best to make things bearable, more artistic. Love is eternal.
So many things that fall into numb/dumb silence - I realize that we shouldn't stay silent. But what words should we use? Stop? Folks don't even obey red traffic lights much less the word stop.
Thank you for your writing. The way you do this resonates so much with me. Thank you for you.
Hello Mim (my inspirational mother) I thought about you on Mother's day. I imagined your smile and your sweet giggle and your glow of love for your children and your mother. 🌹
It's wonderful to hear about you touring with Jackson. It brings a big and lingering smile to my entire being. I remember the very first time I saw you on television. You were on a late night talk show. Maybe David Letterman. I remember being mesmerized by your adorable demeanor. But what really struck me was your most brilliant smile that extended beyond your being, and your generation. Smileshine warms like sunshine 🌞
✉
Charlie Parker looked like Buddha
Charlie Parker who recently died laughing at a juggler on TV
After weeks of strain and sickness
Was called the perfect musician
And his expression on his face
Was as calm, beautiful and profound
As the image of the Buddha
Represented in the East — the lidded eyes
The expression that says: all is well
This was what Charlie Parker said when he played: all is well
You had the feeling of early-in-the-morning
Like a hemit's joy
Or like the perfect cry of some wild gang at a jam session
Wail! Whap!
Charlie burst his lungs to reach
The speed of what the speedsters wanted
And what they wanted was his eternal slowdown
A great musician
And a great creator of forms
That ultimately find expression
In mores and what-have-you
Musically as important as Beethoven
Yet not regarded as such at all
A genteel conductor of string orchestras
In front of wich he stood proud and calm
Like a leader of music in the great historie Worldnight
And wailed his little saxophone
The alto
With piercing, clear lament
In perfect tune and shining harmony
Toot!
As listeners reacted
Without showing it
And began talking
And soon the whole joint is docking and talking
And everybody talking —
And Charlie Parker
Whistling them on to the brink of eternity
With his Irish St. Patrick Patootlestick.
And like the holy mists
We blop and we plop
In the waters of slaughter and white meat —
And die
One after one
In Time.
And how sweet a story it is
When you hear Charlie Parker tell it
Either on records or at sessions
Or at official bits in clubs
(Shots in the arm for the wallet).
Gleefully he whistled the perfect horn
Anyhow made no difference...
Charlie Parker forgive me.
Forgive me for not answering your eyes.
For not having made an indication
Of that which you can devise.
Charlie Parker pray for me.
Pray for me and everybody.
In the Nirvanas of your brain
Where you hide —
Indulgent and huge —
No longer Charlie Parker
But the secret unsayable Name
That carries with it
Merit not-to-be-measured
From here to up down east or west.
Charlie Parker
Lay the bane off me
...and everybody.
- Jack Kerouac
Patti, you have such a beautiful way with words; thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts! take good care..
Love the notes on Nina Simone. She was an incredible, diversified singer. I feel badly that I only got to know the majority of her work after her death. I like the photo you took of the studio entrance. An open door with a security gate and an ever present security camera. Bit ironic.
Momma it's not my place to bug you but guess who's front row for your Fulda Germany gig?!
Thanks for listing those friends you care for and who influenced you in some way. It's good to share grief, which all of us are very prone to these days, as there is so much loss, of so many kinds. When AG died, as director of the Poetry Center at Long Island Unv./CW Post, I helped set up a memorial tribute for Allen and read the poem of his the New Yorker published right about then in tribute. There was a local band who performed with power and feeling, but I forget their name, as I have been gone from the Island for 18 years and yes, I'm losing some memory, but not nearly all of it so far! Thank God Allen's friend Bob Dylan is still with us, writing and performing great poems.
Thank you.
Brought tears to my eyes 💜
Such a powerful entry.
'a compressed sense of time'. I feel this now. As I await my Mum's results of a biopsy, my childhood seems so close. Life framed by death.
I'm going to go listen to Nina, now...
Have great gigs, wish I was there, but grateful to have made it to the Royal Albert Hall last Oct.
As I listened to this last night I watched the sky outside my window turn a spectacular sunset red which somehow seemed fitting . This morning it is sky blue and bright holding the promise of a new day ! Grateful for this and for all you share with us !