Cruelly Judged.
A well known singer / songwriter is still being unfairly condemed by ‘fans’ because he hasn’t lived up their own expectations of him.
Such words are his
they weave our dreams,
drift through our hearts
like moon-dipped streams.
Amber notes of songbird lilt
cascade from poets’ pen,
draw us up, with him to fly
to cast within a zephyr’d eye.
Yet this is not enough to see
in greed a gilded cage to tie,
berate the giver of the gold
for he has failed to live their lie.
A brush is not the canvas bare
an artist not the paint,
a songbird may the heaven’s hold
but he’s the singer, not the saint.
© sweetwater 2020
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Hi Sue – this is so lilting and really sweet. Hope you don’t mind a few suggestions to gild the lily: moonlit rather than moon-dipped reads aloud better although I liked the surreal juxtaposition of somehow dipping a stream in the Moon. The second stanza strayed from the rhyme scheme and ‘poet’s pen’ needs an apostrophe. Excellent stuff. Mitch
Thank you Mitch, I decided on moon-dipped as I was thinking of the moon’s reflection rippling in the stream as it flows onward. I debated over the ‘poets pen’ as he is a song writer, not literally a poet, so I wrote ‘poets’ plural to mean every poet, as if he has captured the words of every poet. As for the rhyme the first and last verses read more quickly and the middle two are slower. If you think I should change poets to poet’s I am happy to do so, never really been sure of apostrophes. I don’t read… Read more »
Appreciate the nib thank you 🙂
I enjoyed this different view of singer/songwriter and how we lay our expectations unfairly on our heroes.
Thank you Pronto this last year has been terrible for him due to family issues and those who profess to be long time fans are tearing every part of his character to pieces. He is one of the greatest singer / songwriters we are lucky to have and at 71 still writing and touring. I do not understand why so many people demand he lives up to their own self made image of him, when he already gives us so much to love and enjoy. Sue 🙂
Yes, just what makes these gifted people able to create outside conventional restriction is because they are real people with all the faults and struggles that are part of being this, especially within that sometimes volatile minefield called love, which can function as a steady rock or unpredictable witch! With aging, along with the dwindling fans, the admired person is always being overtaken, by changes, by new tastes and styles, and it gets harder and harder to live up to legend, demands, and expectations. Away from home a lot, relationships inevitably suffer. In the arts, enjoy the skill, but keep… Read more »
Hi Trevor, this is a very personal rant, I’m surprised and pleased you knew to whom I referred, he has been my inspiration for three quarters of my life (44 years ) not just for his wonderful words and music, but the way he lived his life, his single-mindedness and determination to run his own affairs and to succeed in the business he loves. He has had the worst year of his life, arrest, divorce, his character torn to shreds and his affair which brought everything to a head. I have supported him wherever and whenever I can standing up… Read more »
Here is pure class, musically, lyrically, and poetically:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdYLGAxcWA
There’s a new film coming out (2017) about the life of Vincent van Gogh called “Loving Vincent” starring among other good actors Aiden Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson from the excellent “Poldark” TV-series. I wonder if they’ll use this beautiful song as it would be wonderful for atmospheric setting, run in, run out music, especially with cinema acoustics? Such clarity and purity of sound.
It’s the first film using animated paintings, and the music has been specially written for it unfortunately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVa_ZENSqvw, and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shLSWO659vs
Thank you Trevor, I have watched the links, I shall definitely look out for the film, it looks amazing, such talented people to bring everything to life so beautifully. I know they play Don’s Vincent at the museum so hopefully they will also include it in the film, I think it is all down to Don that Van Gogh has remained at the forefront of people’s minds, so he deserves to be credited, although knowing Don if he is interested he will let it be known. Sue 🙂
I have just noticed this poem has been nominated. Thank you so much.