I was the lone
talentless one
in a room of musicians.
As each took his place,
at his instrument
I turned on the cassette
recorder, determined
to capture the moment.
I collapsed onto
the couch, in
blurry eyed reverie
as the music tangled
in my brain, filled the
basement, bounced
off the ceiling tiles.
The pianist glanced
into my starry eyes
and grinned.
The others teased
between their strings,
but words fell away
in the fog of my euphoria.
His lips curled upwards
on one side
as his eyes twinkled at mine.
When he packed to go
I rewound the tape.
I heard the
mangled mess of a
damaged tape.
Devastated, I
blinked through
tearful eyes.
Everyone laughed,
but he draped an
arm around my shoulders
and guided me up the stairs.
As his ride arrived
he whispered,
“Don’t worry.
I’ll make you
more music.”
And
he
did.
.
.
.
(Is it any wonder I wrote a book about this? lol Tonight, I had a flashback. Thought I’d share.)
Shawn L. Bird 
That made me 🙂
😉
What is your favorite mixed tape ever made for you?
Please list the songs in chronological order 🙂
My tapes as a teen were all made by the boy I was crazy about, who would talk, play whatever came to mind on his piano. Later he’d send all the commercials he’d made at his radio producer job, then he was sending his latest synthesizer competition pieces. Eventually it was videos of his soundtrack compositions. (I will occasionally still get one of those in the mail).
He grew up to be a film and TV composer. He’s very talented, and has won many awards over the years. You can hear his music here: http://www.aminbhatia.com/
That’s really cool.
Most of the tapes I made were full of The Beatles, Van Morrison, and whatever pop sensation was hot at the time.
Nice poem.
It made me think of those cassette tapes 🙂
My kids even had little tape recorders and made their own mix tapes, not so long ago. I found one and have been playing it in my car (a 2000 VW Beetle that came with cassette player!) I confess to being a little alarmed at the music my kids (I think this was my son) were listening to!
Wow 🙂 sweet 🙂
😉
Now of course it’s out with the VCR/tablet/whatever, and the “operator” never sees the action or hears the music. Those were the days!!!
Yes.
Hi, I enjoy your poems, and I was wondering, how do you decide when to put one part of your sentences on a new line? Is it by feeling or are you following a given structure?
There are a few factors.
1. Slowing the reader down
2. Creating visual image
3. Emphasizing a phrase or word
4. Encapsulating a thought
Generally I go with ‘feels right’ as I’m writing, but in the edit I re-arrange to improve flow & meaning. I’ll also change up words to get the best sound (lots of focus on consonance and assonance in my work).
In this one, you’ll see that the lines are basically the same width throughout, and in most cases there’s a clause on each line that summarizes a thought/point. The end of the poem the last clause is broken into single words to emphasize a point, slowing the reader to a stop.
Is that useful?
Very useful, thank you so much :~)
so beautifully woven and evocative..i could see and feel it all.
I’m glad. Thanks, Yelena.
❤ ❤ ❤ 😀
Thanks, Lorien.
Great poem, love it.
Thank you!
sexy … the ending, open for speculation, visual interpretation … fantasy … tabla rasa for feelings (so esoteric!) … open for questions, wondering; who was it? what was the occasion? what kind of relationship did you have with that person? .. the whole piece open for individual perspective like … i wonder if anyone else thought it was sexy? maybe you were alone??? when would he come back to make music with you? was it a memory (who tapes music these days?) … lotsa good stuff for mind play … different thought paths to take (Ooooo … so esoteric, again!) thanks … i really did like it. i like poetry that tells stories … in fact …. wull … maybe later … ks
reply? … wull … not necessary. keep enjoying me … your face below my posts speak volumes. unless you really want to ….. ks
See above. Or below. Or wherever my reply ended up.
You know, almost all the answers to the questions you ask are somewhere on this blog, if one was so inclined to hunt. (Heck, even here in the other comments there’s lots of info).
However, this might elucidate a bit https://shawnbird.com/2010/10/13/starry-night-of-music/ (Be sure to read the comments, as well).
Not withstanding the above, every poem should mean something to the individual reader, whatever its meaning to the poet. I don’t think the poet’s meaning has greater validation than the reader’s.
hey Shawn … i couldn’t agree with you more … i had fun filling in the blanks …. ks
oh … i’m sorry if you misunderstood. these were questions your poem elicited from within myself. I enjoyed filling in the blanks … ks
Absolutely beautiful.
Thank you, Heather.