the empty cafe(s)
by Steven McCabe
The lovesick man
although looking inward
is watching modern warplanes roar past.
Perhaps aiming for the cities and civilians
of Gaza,
Guernica,
Wounded Knee,
Nagasaki…
Nobody
can sing the blues
like
Blind Willie McTell
Nobody
can sing the blues
like
Blind Willie McTell
Digital collage: Details from Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ have been superimposed over photographs of rubble in Guernica and Gaza. The face of radical pacifist Martin Luther King Jr. is layered within a painting by antiwar artist George Grosz titled ‘The Lovesick Man’ (1916). Battlefield terrain from World War One frames the George Grosz painting.
“Nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell...” from the Bob Dylan song Blind Willie McTell.
The copyright of original images remains with the holders of same. Under fair use provisions I have composed new work for non-commercial purposes and commentary.
poemimage 
This may be my very favorite so far. Great work
Ray Battams
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 19:19:02 +0000 To: raybattams@hotmail.com
Thank you Ray. I’m glad you find this your favourite.
Such precious gifts.
Thank you.
Thank you Heather. So many gifts from the past we have to draw upon.
Brilliantly precise and poised.
Thank you Richard. I like how your words work together. They seem to arc upwards.
This is very powerful, Steven. The beauty and the ugly…
Thank you very much Karen. Yes… the beauty and the ugly…
You’re making it work, Steven. I am impressed with your ability, like Dylan to use sheer force and grace (or is it mercy?) in tandem to balance and propel a length of wave forward -not just information or even mere communication- but something a little bit more, I can’t put my finger on it just yet.
“although looking inward
is watching modern warplanes roar past”
I am struck continually, in my own life, of the vastness beyond myself revealed by an authentic inward looking.
Jack, hello and thank you for this in-depth reply once again infused with your generosity.
Yes, somehow the idea of pushing things forward, enveloped and infused, thank you for commenting on this, I need to get back to painting with this in mind.
Your last line rings so profoundly and poetically true. ‘…the vastness beyond myself revealed by an authentic inward looking.’
Nobody can sing the blues like Picasso…I cried before Guernica in Madrid…your layering of images and time here is profound, unsettling and so very relevant to now…stunning work my friend…
Hi John, Thank you for sharing this deep and rich experience with Guernica…it sounds very powerful. ‘Nobody can sing the blues like [Pablo] Picasso…’ I love this feeling regarding Guernica. And thanks for your generous thoughts on this ‘posting’ John.
[…] July 18, 2014 […]