PAD Day 17: Music on the Brain

 Today's prompts:

WBP: Write a poem titled "Not ________."

NPWM: "...write a poem that is inspired by a piece of music, and that shares its title with that piece of music. "

PSH: "Make a haiku with 3 songs that are stuck in your brain." (Gayle Bell)

It's interesting that two of the sources both have music-based prompts today. (And I know for a fact that Poetry Super Highway will have a music-themed prompt coming up next week too.) I wasn't sure how to combine those two, though, so I started with the haiku prompt. I have been listening to a fascinating CD box set called I See You Live on Love Street. It's three discs of music by artists who lived in the late 60's or early 70's in Southern California's Laurel Canyon, which gained quite a reputation as an artists' community. Featured in the box are the likes of Buffalo Springfield, The Doors, Linda Ronstadt, The Byrds,The Mamas and the Papas, Frank Zappa, Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons,The Turtles, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, and many more, as well as a number of more obscure artists and their songs. Two of the three songs "stuck my brain" are from this collection: Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With," and "Twelve-Thirty," a cover of The Mamas and the Papas' song by Scott McKenzie (of "If You're Going to San Francisco" fame) - the Mamas and Papas do a different song in the collection. Joni Mitchell doesn't appear in the box (nor do some other famous Laurel Canyon residents, due to contractual issues,) but her song "Ladies of the Canyon" is also stuck in my brain by association. So here is my haiku. (The second line is from a lyric in the song "Twelve-Thirty.")

canyon ladies

say good morning and mean it

and love who they're with

For the other two prompts, I thought of songs that I like whose titles start with the word "Not," and one of my favorites is Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet" from his 1997 album Time Out of Mind. It's just a beautifully reflective song about aging and disillusionment, and one of my favorites of his whole catalog. So I listened again to the music and lyrics and came up with my own impressions and interpretation of the message of the song.

Not Dark Yet

It’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there. – Bob Dylan
 
I can count more days behind than ahead.
My motor is slowing down and I’m in need of repair.
Today it’s the headlights—I need a cataract removed,
before I slip into clouds and darkness.
 
The sun, that enemy in disguise,
probably caused my foggy lenses, and for sure
some nasty lesions on the skin.
But I want it to stick around a bit longer,
even though it’s lower on the horizon,
and the sky is beginning to catch fire.
 
I’m not ready to pull the shades, not yet.
I’ll let you know when I’m good and ready.

This poem looks like it really wants to be a sonnet. It has a generally loose meter, and it could be easily extended from twelve to fourteen lines. Maybe I'll rework it when I have more time.