PASSING THROUGH

Sometimes I can

move with the music,

sometimes not.

These scars on my knees

and the palms of my hands

bear witness to a path littered with

discarded time and rusted memory

where it was easy to fall and stay down

on stones sharp enough to cut my eyes

if I stared too long.

I passed through some blues back there;

it was a rich time textured with soft rolls

and sharp riffs, fast and slow at the same time,

good for dancing eyes closed.

Before that

the rock and roll

left me breathless,

all those girls with

smokey smiles and

golden thighs

in the full sun

when I never shut my eyes.

Right now, in a quiet reverie

I’m resting on this gray rock

while a wry smile eases itself

into the October air and a dry

voice whispers like yellow leaves

a song I’m not ready to hear,

so I wait and breathe

and breathe again

eyes languid, listening

to the sound of an old familiar

spiritual beckoning in the distance,

sweet and low,

"when I die, Hallelujah. by-n-by...

Reviews

[Lorry]

Those quiet reveries are what keep us all going Vol. Its our own editing suite that we can remember past pains without the actual pain being much involved more than the pain living through it brought.
But just keep in mind your title here and always remember that you are just passing throughat all times!

[Vol]

Lorry,
It is a concept that has floated (haunted) my life from the time I I had just learned to do better than toddle. My mom's latest book is called "Aliens and Strangers," which is the fate of all spiritually inclined thinkers. No one understands unless they have worked out "Their own salvation with fear and trembling." (Another concept I have spent a lifetime considering but have either failed or maybe just cannot articulate.) For me, the most important reason for taking the next breath. Since, for all practical purposes, I live alone, I have plenty of time to talk it all over with the voices. I'm old enough to know that I am closer to finding out the truth than when I beghan all those decades ago.
Vol

[John the Baptist]

Something of a musical memoir here. The speaker reminisces about the music of times past. The genre is not named in the first verse, but verse two speaks of the blues, and the following verse, rock n roll. The last one mentions October, so we must assume the speaker if of middle age, if not beyond. Ironically, the music now is from an old spiritual, the subject of which is death. I think he needs a touch of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus."

[Stella Armour]

Swing low sweet chariot .... all the spirituality comes forth as we get older and have time to dwell on our mortality .
The last waltz tho' may be a beautiful dance ... nice and slow, serene and happy ..

[Vol]

Strella,
I'm thinking TANGO! Ravel's Bolero...
Vol

[Stella Armour]

haha.... well why not ... go out on a high 😄

[FGFRANKLIN]

Fantastic write! You had me hanging on every word and it carried me along. The memento mori of the content wasn't that harsh considering we have

"all those girls with

smokey smiles and

golden thighs

in the full sun."

My spellcheck is telling me "smoky" doesn't have an "e" but I didn't even notice that until I tried to copy and paste your words. The journey remembered and the battle scars make tired old warriors wistful. Loved this and can't rate it high enough.

[Vol]

FG,
Thank you, sir. I know about Smoky... but I have in my wallet a "poetic license", that gives me permission to write as I like... Truly and Smoky need an "e" to look right.
And yes we old hippie, rock-n-roll, surfer warriors, have a solid foundation and have earned the right to say whatever the hell we wanna, however we wanna!
Peace out!
Vol

[FGFRANKLIN]

They won't give us hillbillies a poetic license; they're afraid we might mistake it for a hunting license. Ha! Although I have seriously injured or maimed a few perfectly good rhymes in my time. Robert Frost said he threw away over half his work. I wish I had learned to surf. I didn't learn to swim until I was in my twenties. But I used to ride a skateboard all over town, none of that trick stuff, it was way before the era of Tony Hawk but I had fun on my bike and board back in the day. F.

[Vol]

Hillbillies don't need no license... we just do what's gotta be done... I despise rhymes, unless they are done by Frost... he is amazing. I grew up on the beach in Florida, so...
Vol


hahaha... my first skate board was made of a street skate pounded flat and and screwed to the bottom of a one by four...