Perhaps John Lennon never
considered old flat top a dolmen
never say never
I heard them say
in John Lennon world
You got to be free
forever
north south east west
never say never
I heard them say
beneath
beside
bequeathing dolmens
bequeathing breath
infinity
soul
north south east west
never say never
I heard them say.
The quiet sailor watches the Beatles play in the Kaiserkeller bar in 1960.
He listens to a song in time out of sync
composed for the Abbey Road album
in 1969.
A song born for the future –
silently asleep
in the silence of crystal stars.
He listens above the open sea
climbing a ladder made of coal
rising from the depths –
dreaming itself
into a structure
aimed into the obsidian sky.
I never planned
To add
Paul is dead
To the conspiracies
Swimming in my head.
But as they say
Never say never.
John Lennon & the gates of
Strawberry Field
Where he played
As a young boy…
(and still)
Nothing is real…
Strawberry Fields Forever.
Every year at this time
The hole
Where the spark of you
Was,
…it must be high or low,
Appearing
Like a cosmic holograph,
Zooming into view,
A thumbprint,
Touching &
Sailing into the sound
Of all that is
Going down.
Rockabilly blues overlap into
A new dimension
&
You, again, deliver us into…
(and still)
Nothing is real…
Strawberry Fields Forever.
Steering through,
Beyond,
Ornately fashioned
Gates of Perception…
Ah, Irish John of England,
Blake, Luddites and
Nell Gwyn,
Entering that space
Within your self,
Where
In your absence
You can always be.
Let me take you
down…
Cause I’m going to…
(and still)
Nothing is real…
Strawberry Fields Forever.
Lyrics to Strawberry Fields Forever: http://letras.com/the-beatles/186/
Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles video: http://vimeo.com/75657441
I had a friend in high school who would wear all black clothing, as well as sunglasses, walk beneath a black umbrella no matter the weather, and hitchhike at night. He laughed that he wanted to make people wonder whether they had actually seen somebody or not. We thumbed a ride a couple miles to a diner past the edge of town, with small jukeboxes on the counter, spending all our spare change playing Strawberry Fields Forever. He was, of course, in black, the small town atmosphere verging on confrontational, and the music, even though coming from tiny speakers, aiming rays of otherworldly colours and sensations into one’s mind. This song has never ceased to touch my sense of what might be mystical. I know I am not alone in missing John Lennon terribly.
The
black and white
television
flickers
reconfiguring
now
*
Flowers blooming
with
signs & symbols
reconfigure
a
flickering
*
My father
on the sofa
refolding
the creased and worn
shaking his head
Step forward
sideways & back
in
physical education class
repeating the Fox Trot
with L
again Jingle Bell Rock
she quivers and laughs
flat feet she offers
we were rocking
no reason
to watch the clock
*
C
my friend
fingers aglow
his urgent hand
Introducing The Beatles
I was torn
in steam the flowers were worn
*
C & L
exhaling
into the frosted black air
cloaking almost touching
one another
oceans of diamonds
rolling overhead
*
I couldn’t make out every word
the album cradled like an
illuminated manuscript
under his arm
*
My gloved finger
drawing in white snow
uncovering the dark metal
of a late model sedan
*
I Want to Hold Your Hand
A dinner party ceremony for
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
*
Cellophane flowers
dissolving
in crystal glasses
*
Comets curving
free fall
a sign
*
B, D & R asleep already
I walk beneath
into
awakening sparrow song
tiny electric sitars flitter
through branches green & brown
*
Translucent animals bounding leap
*
The solstice pulsing in waves
a pushing tide
subsides
*
I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
to stop my mind from wandering
Aluminum & ink folio
jukebox affixed to the counter
Strawberry Fields Forever
*
T dressed in black
opening a black umbrella
hitchhiking after dark
*
Living is easy with eyes closed…
What a trip to travel
through space & time emotionally and imagistically
enhanced
by these Liverpool musician/storyteller
icons of the cultural landscape
***
Introducing The Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFWXBn2d1d8
***
Jingle Bell Rock (Bobby Helms)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itcMLwMEeMQ
***
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYRSgbDw7xA
***
Strawberry Fields Forever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nehRB1FTeTo
***
I Want to Hold Your Hand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipADNlW7yBM
***
Photo credit: CBS photo archives – Comet: Visoki Decani Monastery, Metohia, Yugoslavia, 1330 (approx)
I do not own the copyright to these works have simply reconfigured for non commercial purposes of commentary
***
0:00 – 0:56
0:56 – 1:12
1:12 – 2:10
2:10 – 3:06
3:06 – 4:02
4:02 – 4:58
4:58 – 5:54
5:54 – 6:50
6:50 – 7:46
7:46 – 8:23
You can silently enjoy
the Beatle’s sound collage
Revolution 9
by following the time code
between images
above
(a Dada/Fluxus action)
or
this link
to
the full
eight minutes +
of inspired mayhem
on their White Album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJeqOoc4HmI
Amazingly
within five years
The Beatles traveled artistically
and sonically
from I Want to Hold Your Hand
to
Dada / surreal poetry
and a psychedelia infused with literary and cinematic
overtones.
As 2014 begins
you may find yourself
beginning or ending
travel
into or out of
cyclical spheres.
Like
a comet.
Like
comet #9.
poemimage 
