Monday, January 6, 2014

Identity Crisis Valentine

Of what spiritual
lineage are you anyway
are you a shepherd
or a king do you

see storms brewing
or gods in the distance
do you see around the heads
of each of us pictures

of the dead or the dead
themselves who gather
singing Bach and Monteverdi
or doing covers

for Beck and Mraz
were you a monk or a knight
a happy victim or contrite

1 comment:

William Keckler said...

Love it. You got some of my favorites in here too. For some reason my mind flitted through a number of strange paintings. The one with Keats in it where he's so strange. I think Hunt is with him. It's not ancient obviously but it looks worn as a Renaissance mural. That's neither here nor there with regard to the poem (subjective response) but I guess I'm saying I like the fullness and the mix of the contemporary and the historical selves constructed through persona (musicians, poets, etc.). All wandering minstrels really...or "usta" be. Think that's why the Keats painting leapt to mind...the evanescent "portrait" and the feeling he was a "displaced musician."