billboard blues

billboard blues

 

 

the advertising of you

is in my eyes

the passers by

acknowledge the look

 

read my book of excursions

into your heart

intrusions into the part

that wants to keep you secret

but whispers fluently

with each stroke of the pen

 

the eyes never lie

because now i never again lie

with you---

and the billboard is freshly painted

with the blues that meet me

at every mile marker,

every exit

every detour away from the tears

i cannot hide from my

 

billboard blues.

 

 

erin-cilberto

11/3/16

Reviews

[aLittlePain]

A riffy bluesy tale for sure. The eyes certainly are advertisements of the soul...it makes me uneasy to think of what people see in mine. R xo

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i bet they see the kindness and sincerity of a poet!

thank you, Rach.

j.

[Ted Kniffen]

There's something to be said for the blues (the music). Some great angst has come to the surface and played out through the eyes. The trip is all we have, right or wrong, and to have travelled even a bit of it with a loved one is truly priceless. Good write, j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insights and kind review, Ted,
j.

[Lydia Shutter]

We do advertise our feelings in our eyes and those who pass by might not know exactly the brand of our product, but they have the generic feeling! :) A great bluesy poem....somebody lost somebody blues! Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

ah yes, the brand X kind...thank you, Lydi...

j.

[redzone]

it's a tv show and not a billboard, but your poem and "billboard blues" reminded me of "Paint It Black" the Stone's song but sampled in this show... why you ask? because it is often violent when you keep seeing those billboards that remind us constantly of the love we have lost... it drives us crazy with the what if and why didn't I's and assorted cruelties of life... every mile marker, every taste and sound and loneliness of bed all blues songs filling our heads... and paint it black is a song worthy of such pain....

you always say that it's up to the reader to find the meaning in a poem... so here I am painting everything black tonight... your poem was a log on my fire, one I am grateful for and deeply sorry about if it has intruded on your wonderful poem Jacob

I truly do love your poetry it always allows me to feel and think...

redzone

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind review, Curt.

j.

[andrew mitchell]

haha perfect Jacob! there are so many reminders to haunt one when the love or ex has gone and how others see the distress, feeling the blues in one's eyes. While my guitar gently weeps comes to mind as well.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

ah, thank you, andrew....what a song! "while my guitar gently weeps"

[Relic]

This reminds me so much of a drummer and lyricist named Neil Peart. His wife and daughter died within months of each other. His reaction was to get on a motorcycle and ride which he did across parts of Canada and even Africa, trying to divert himself from the thoughts of suicide.

This sings the same melody to me. The pain and tears of a lost love and excursions performed in an attempt to forget. Tears are real and so is a broken heart. Men created a whole genre from this and called it the blues. When the one you want isn't with you, you see them everywhere.

A fine poem Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Relic...

j.

[barleygirl]

There is NOTHING that feels as good as a friend or lover whose face lights up when he/she sees you. Your poem shows us this feeling of having the excitement & joy plastered all over for the world to see, when there's someone who brightens up our life this way. But unfortunately, in your message it seems things are not reciprocated, so it becomes "Billboard Blues" becuz the other person is also advertising a total lack of interest or excitement. I know that feeling: YUCK! Well done & thought-provoking message!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, barleygirl....

j.

[Papaya]

Probably not the intended meaning but this reminds me of my father and how hard it was to quit smoking, especially with all the temptation around. Part of which was the magazine and billboard ads back in the day.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

hi ana....the only intention is that you could relate somehow to the words i wrote...and i thank you for that...

j.

[Ken Simm.]

I know driving rock (that is music whilst driving); I know urban poetry but this goes somewhere else. A love song perhaps that is as forlorn as an empty piece of highway. But is as full as art. It is the soundtrack to visuals we all know. but it tells an individual story. I can hear the music as well.
I did this some years ago driving through California and Nevada. Trying to get away from my own blues.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

just like the Beach Boys sang..."i can hear music, the sound of the city, baby, seems to disappear"

thank you for your words, Ken.

j.