Listless List (with Past Present Future Tense)
I've had too much to think lately, and apparently not enough caffeine to drink this morning. Add to this the fact that my dog Lucky got me up at 3 a.m. and I found myself unable to return to sleep. So I'm sitting here staring into space, immersing myself in David Gilmour's CD On an Island, and recalling that I promised you five lists of ten (in my Nifty Rhymes with Fifty blog) not so long ago. We'll let this listless list count as one.
10. I wrote or co-wrote 10 of the dozen musical plays I helped produce in prison.
9. I have 9 Peter Gabriel solo CDs on my computer
8. I played keyboards and sang with 8 different bands during my incarceration.
7. My wife and I have 7 grandchildren (Marcus, Jada, Cevon, Dorian, Vanessa, Derek & David).
6. I saw Purple Rain 6 times at the cinema and drive-in when it came out in 1984.
5. I've had 5 pet guinea pigs over the years (Whitey, Marcus, Harvey, Pierre & Delilah).
4. I've lived in 4 places since I came home to Elyria in 2004.
3. I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee this morning and am still half asleep.
2. I've portrayed Jesus Christ in 2 plays (1998's On the Third Day and 2001's King of All Kings).
1. I've played the Devil 1 time (Chancellor Lew C. Furr in 1997's The New Apostles).
[my mustachioed prison mug shot]
10. I wrote or co-wrote 10 of the dozen musical plays I helped produce in prison.
9. I have 9 Peter Gabriel solo CDs on my computer
8. I played keyboards and sang with 8 different bands during my incarceration.
7. My wife and I have 7 grandchildren (Marcus, Jada, Cevon, Dorian, Vanessa, Derek & David).
6. I saw Purple Rain 6 times at the cinema and drive-in when it came out in 1984.
5. I've had 5 pet guinea pigs over the years (Whitey, Marcus, Harvey, Pierre & Delilah).
4. I've lived in 4 places since I came home to Elyria in 2004.
3. I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee this morning and am still half asleep.
2. I've portrayed Jesus Christ in 2 plays (1998's On the Third Day and 2001's King of All Kings).
1. I've played the Devil 1 time (Chancellor Lew C. Furr in 1997's The New Apostles).
[my mustachioed prison mug shot]
And as an added bonus - I've begun finding some journals with poetry of mine that you might believe beats the beJesus out of the sorry schlock I've posted in the recent past on this blog. Or not... LOL.
Here's one example:
Past Present Future Tense
(8 May 1996, 10:05 p.m., Marion Correctional Institution)
Can you believe the
Rays of the sun can still penetrate
Our
Souls as in the past?
Begin with the
Young heart,
Stay with
The smiles, live
In the dust of the present, and
Learn to
Love the other
Stars as well.
Neither sea nor sky can offer
Any more than already resides within.
Search the
Heart of
Yesterday,
Open the sometimes
Ugly chest of the future, and
Never
Give in to the lethargy of summer.
I am the first to smile at your blog today. I also have been awake for hours now and wondering about a lot of things
about you. Did you know that everything you have on your computer can be projected to an audience. But you only have 45 minutes to present this. I love your poetry and your picture.
Check my new blog and pics from Santa Fe and don't drink too much coffee. It will keep you too wide awake.
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Perhaps I can make an interesting introduction with some of the items from the above list. Which are your favorites?
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Have at it, Elena! Asking my favorites is like asking what my favorite Peter Gabriel song is... lol.
Right now I'm listening to "Shock the Monkey," but five minutes from now it will be something else.
Too many choices seem worthy of the label "favorite."
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I'm happy it made you smile. Four cups of coffee, one can of Pepsi, and a bowlful of potato chips drenched in ketchup was all it took to wake me up.
Looking forward to checking out your bloggery...
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....for BREAKFAST?????.....now thats just WRONG.....blech.....
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I thought the same thing until I tried them.
Heavenly...
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And hopefully I will squeak in for second. I had a night like that the night before so my sympathies John.
I love the poem... but I wonder about the "ugly chest of the future"... was that referring to the prison life .. I assume so.
Sometimes when the future seems indefinite staying in the present is all we have till we can find our dreams once more... I think your reference to stars and present moment made me think of that.
Thanks for sharing... also didn't realize you're a Peter Gabriel fan.. I've just discovered him... like his music alot.
Smiles....
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Now you've got the U2 song "Seconds" playing in my head!
Thanks for your kind remarks about the poem. The "ugly chest" referred to my prison stay and beyond. There was always a chance the ugly chest could contain an even uglier booby trap. But I became determined to find a marvelous treasure in that hideous-looking chest at the bottom of the deep dark ocean of incarceration. That was the year I really began trying to transform my future life, including the prison trap, into a treasure trove.
P.S. I've always been a Peter fan (oops... that didn't sound right!)... from his early days with Genesis.
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liked the poem very much. staying with the young heart is very important, holding on to a positive vibe living in the present aware and hopeful. i do however kind of dig a nice lethargic summer day but thats a different story entirely! i think its all this snow!
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Thanks, Marilyn! I can definitely dig it.
Damn this driven snow! Bring on the summer, lethargic or not!
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Hm, where to start? RE: Peter Gabriel, "Solsbury Hill" is one of The Minister's own personal all-time favorites, definitely on his top ten favorite songs of all time. RE: playing the devil in The New Apostles, I would love to see a photo of that.... RE: Past Present and Future Tense, wonderful title,
great poem-- the part that really grabs me is "learn to love the other stars as well"-- such good advice, along with "never give in to the lethargy of summer". Bravo, dear child, Bravo!
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Ah, thank you, Minister!
It would be hard for me to choose a favorite Peter song. Perhaps it would be "Fly on a Windshield" from his last album with Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Once upon a time that was my profile song on MySpace. Candidates from his solo years include "Lay Your Hands on Me," "Here Comes the Flood," "San Jacinto," "Family Snapshot," "Love to Be Loved," "Games Without Frontiers"... I could go on for a while, so I'll stop here.
There is no picture, as far as I know, of me as the devil in that play. But there was at one point a video of me from it. I saw it at one point in prison. Not sure if it still exists still, or how I could acquire a copy if it does....
I just came up with the title this morning, after recalling your remarks about my recent "Untitled" postings.
Billy Corgan, Aleister Crowley, and Carl Sagan all said things about us being stars or made of star stuff. And I think I'd just really discovered all three not long before that poem was written.
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I think my favorite poem of yrs is still from that prison cell slice-o-life scene.
It seems that prison was an over-all good experience for you - you were/are very creative.
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Thanks, Kathy! In a way, it was a great experience. I grew in numerous ways; discovered new talents, abilities, and interests; got over a lot of my shyness; and grew in confidence. It took me a few years to turn it into an over-all good experience. To some degree, I could say the same has been true of my post-prison experience.
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so tell us about the guinea pigs. were they long haired or short haired? when was the last time you had one?
i think you're better at playing the devil's advocate than you are at playing the devil
the poem? i can believe all of it.
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All of them were short haired. Whitey was actually my brother's, when we were very young. The others were mine while I was an adult, all in my pre-prison (and pre-dog) life. Delilah was the only one still alive when I went away. Marcus was my first and the smartest - almost human.
I was pretty good as the devil. So much so, the Chaplain was reluctant to have me play Jesus the following year. He thought playing the bad guy was my strength. I hope I proved him wrong.
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Oh, I do like this poem better!
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Acrostic. I hadn't noticed this before. Have to backtrack and check.
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Cool... thanks!
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....i also liked the line...open sometimes the ugly chest of the future...insight as to what was happening inside, i suppose. ....very nice, JC!! (oh and GUINEA PIGS ROCK!!!!) ...i KNOW you didn't expect a comment w/out critter.......
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Thanks, barbie! I hope you didn't expect a reply without a critter!
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....hmmm..playing Beethoven, perhaps??
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Or the Beatles...
"Have you seen the little piggies..."
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Dugg this.
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Cool... thanks!
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Ok, so you saw Purple Rain 6 times. Well, I got that one beat. I met Prince in Detroit at his Sign of the Times Concert in 1988. I also went to his Purple Rain Concert in Toledo in 1984 and have every album he has ever made including a copy of The Black Album in red vinyl. I am a Prince freak!
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Damn U!
Very cool....
I have every album, but no red vinyl. Had a chance to see his Musicology tour in 2004 - but my parole process took longer than expected, and so I wasn't home in time.... Hopefully, I'll have another opportunity!
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Next time he is in concert, we should go together. Nobody can ger tight down to the heart of your soul like he can. Not to mention all the sexuality!!!
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dig the poem. blakean...and your mug shot very handsome. would love to be your cell mate! lol
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Naughty... and in spite of my hideous mustache.
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"Neither sea nor sky can offer
Any more than already resides within."
totally true.
hmmm, 1 satan, 2 christs - the equation balances in your favor.
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All I need's a Buddha now.
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I wonder what beings be under other stars' dust
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Me too!
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