I’ve said before that I was a reader before a writer. This is true. I’ve read hundreds of novels and as many poems, if not more. I’ve read, and continue to read, not just for my own pleasure but as an apprentice with his own literary aspirations. I had sampled a few courses on “critical theory” in my twenties but, truth be told, I’ve learned far more about the craft of writing from The Sound and the Fury and Binsey Poplars than I ever did in a graduate seminar on literary criticism. However, I should confess that my education on writing extends beyond reading. I also listen.
Music can be an occasional source of ‘found art.’ I remember hearing a writer once say that our poets didn’t disappear, they just started writing songs.
Below are a few lyrics that inspire me.
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
- Bob Seger, “Against the Wind”
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
- Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
- Words based on an old Irish prayer, "Be Thous My Vision"
Have I enough time, have I just some time
To revisit, to go back, to return, to open my mouth again
And say something different this time?
- Everything but the Girl, "25th December"
"Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
- Paul Simon, "America"
