The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

Getting Horizontal

I've just spent an hour on my floor.
No, I didn't fall.
No my back doesn't hurt.

A sudden impulse to get horizontal, 
listening to old music 
without the distraction of videos.

I set up a play list,
then flopped out on the carpet.

Mama Cass and her cohort
took me to Creeque Alley,
and I shared Summer In The City
with John Sebastian's Spoonful.

The Moody Blues, somewhat dramatically,
asked me The Question.
then lounged around in White Satin.

Procul Harum slowly wound on,
about a Whiter Shade of Pale.

Leonard Cohen growled hypnotically
about some bird called Suzanne, 
who lived near a river

The Byrds were Eight Miles High,
and I still don't know what it meant..

No red or black candle,
flickering in the wax encrusted neck
of an old round-bodied wine bottle.

No twirly Hippy thing, hanging above, 
swirling in the convection currents..

Must have slowed my pulse way down,
forty per minute or less.
A leisurely wander down memory lane.

Bit of a bugger getting back up again though

Gyppo

It was like the love of thorns, like the beauty of dead summer
But I, the lurker, the carrier of wounds outlived it. . . .
-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   

Great reminisce, Gyppo.  And a valuable exercise from time to time -- to remember he who we used to be.   

And then, unfortunately, the back and knees remind us of who we are now.  

Cheers.

T

Hey Gyppo
I really enjoyed this. My favourite of your recent poems.
Dave
 

Enjoyed the read Gyppo, and the 'trip' down memory lane 
 

Gyppo - once again you hit the nail squarely on the head.  Fabulous float.  Great meditation.  Very peaceful not being sold something for a few moments.  Time spent in one's head - after all, that's what writer do..............

Aj

 Hi Gyppo  

I adore this. So the whole is quite lovely, with its sinking into memory and music/melody, but the starting off with lying prone on the floor makes it just magical. There's something so elemental about lying flat on the ground or floor... I right away wondered, when's the last time I've done that?? A long time. Listening from that perspective must have been sublime, reading it from there certainly was; I think I have to try this. Yeah, my back and knees will protest. But the child in me says go for it! 

Ps, it may be overlooked in the fun of the whole write, but in S2 L2 you expressly say "listening" to old music without distraction of video...I felt this deeply! I've often sent music to my daughter, and when I do I always say to "listen the first few times without watching the video" because it must be experienced internally first without those external influences. I love this poem. I hope you are well