That blue guitar I had
when I was young
is gone now,
frets and strings
pulled back to another time.
I remember the burning
on my fingertips,
the busyness of learning
to put the tune all together,
and a yearning
to scale
from basement
to window
to…
I don’t know,
Other.
I wanted to send a message
from hidden hours
I’d spent writing and sketching
figures of love and loneliness
draped across my waterbed.
Oceans have passed
since then
and the message
remains much the same.
Hello. I am. And so are you. I see you,
lily among the cranberries
in a burning coffin.
Jump, but into a place
where snow and rain are soft.
The tune plays softly still,
lighting matches for hope’s candle.
Grasp it with me, together.
We’ll need the light,
and we’ve got many miles to go
before we sleep.
The close is a twist on the close of Robert Frost’s poem. Yes, I had a waterbed and a blue guitar in the 80’s.
I think it was Fitzgerald who said that there are no second acts in American lives. Nonsense! I think I am on at least my third. Like the fellow in the movie "City Slickers" whose life is a do-over, it's a damn good thing we can change the tune along the way. I like that you had a blue guitar. That just seems so "you."
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the title. I love the blue guitar and the waterbed. I was a grownup before I had one. Loved them. Your poem is Just. So. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteA very powerful and honest poem - I am glad it ends with light - Jae
ReplyDeleteI always wanted a guitar. Even into adulthood, but never got one. How I admired Judy Collins, how she could sing and play her guitar. These words stay with me: " Hello. I am. And so are you. I see you, " A good reminder that we all need to be seen! Even in the poetry world, being seen is a good thing. I see you, and I loved this poem.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we can change the tune of life. If hadn't been able to do that, I would have succumbed to my own suicide song. Thank you for this beautiful reminder life can go on to rewrite or write a new song.
ReplyDeleteI tried the guitar once but i was useless at playing it. So music past me by. But this is really good and i enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI can see that waterbed and blue guitar. Excellent poem, Jennifer!
ReplyDeleteI love this line: The tune plays softly still, lighting matches for hope’s candle. So glad you are here and writing hope!
ReplyDeleteJennifer this is deeply relatable to all of us that have experienced life and gotten older. Simply beautiful!
ReplyDeleteReading this was like reading a love song -- from the present self to the younger self. Like a lullaby, "The tune plays softly still,/lighting matches for hope’s candle." Heartbreakingly tender, like all lullabies should be.
ReplyDelete