Thursday, November 17, 2016

Cecilia White #1 - DJs At Drive-time

# 01 DJs At Drive-time

When he died
My grandfather left
A vinyl stack
Of wild sound
In his ‘office’
That place where
Discarded men find
Themselves listening
To the radio, mostly
In backyards
Of outer surburbia
An unparalleled universe
Of the static
Produced by waves
Of daily living
Until transmission ends

My grandfather preferred
Hearing improv jazz
While he fashioned
A miracle from
Any discarded thing
Understanding its need
To live again
Turned and returned
With sound qualities
Drifts of familiarity
And resonant charm
To be remembered
And even useful

Outside, the roses
Did not know
Where to look
Their faces open
Perhaps in shock
Waves of air
Tromboning the expected
Grace of gardens
Out of order
But my grandfather
Knew how to
Subvert the suburbs
Converting the air
One revolution
At a time

Jazz strained, pulled
Leapt from windows
Like Yves Klein
From that wall
And my grandfather
Was always there
Tapping nails, wood
And his feet
In the dust

Where I am
Sitting now hearing
A car arrive
Its radio doofing
Some generic chant
My grandfather refused
To let in
To his system
Of sound making
As he built
Another world far
More experimental than
Switching DJs

At drive-time.

cw '16

9 comments:

  1. Knew how to
    Subvert the suburbs
    Converting the air
    One revolution
    At a time

    nice writing - he sounds wonderful Cecilia :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Efi. Yes, we are often blessed with wonderful people in our lives x

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  2. Great. It made me think of my father who could return mechanical things to life.

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  3. Thanks Robbie - so glad it resonates with you x

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  4. Hi Susan, your grandfather sounds wonderful! x

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  5. It was my father. He once pulled apart a header (for wheat harvesting) and put it all back together again. Like a giant meccano set!

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  6. Seeing a puzzle come back to life is wonderful. Your Dad sounds like he had a love of movement and appreciation of usefulness. Isn't it interesting how those gestures and approaches to living remain with us in such positive ways.

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