Poem 4
Don’t Look Away
“This is our life happening, I told her, or would have told her if I could have caught my breath long enough to say it over the clamor of the clarinet and fiddle, and it’s happening right now.”
Michael Chabon, Manhood for Amateurs.
This is our life happening, I told her,
or would have told her
if I could have caught my breath
long enough to say it over the clamor
of the clarinet and fiddle,
and it’s happening right now.
This is life
catch your breath
dismiss the clamor
play your fiddle
be here now.
This is life
it’s all ya got
so play it right
and don’t ever
ever ever ever
think that the future
is more important
than now…
because the past
must have shown you
that looking ahead
makes you blind to right now.
And the best part of now
is that if you do it just right
it becomes the future you’d
been striving so hard to create.
What a great piece of (poetic) advice, Harvey! I also like the way you move from the Chabon quote to ‘be here now.’ Well choreographed!
Thanks for the support!
My first impression when I saw the long complicated last line of that book was to pick a different book. But then I realized I was not paying attention to an interesting challenge and went with it.
Best,
Harvey
ps Just read your nonet…very well done…love how you did a complete narrative and your last line!