archive: 1 july 2007: dangling conversation

"The Dangling Conversation"

Its a still life water color,
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what weve lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow,
I cannot feel your hand,
You're a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.
- Simon and Garfunkel

This is one of my favorite songs ever... I tend to like lyrics that make reference to literature or specific things in culture. I like socio-political songs for that reason. It connects it to a specific time. Maybe it isn't "universal" anymore, but to me it is like any historical epic or legend. It continues to tell the story's historical points long after it no longer applies in current society.

I have uploaded a few of the pictures I took yesterday of flowers. One is linked on my blog, http://www.poetess77.com.

Ahh... Love this one also...

"Poem on the Underground Wall"

The last train is nearly due,
The underground is closing soon,
And in the dark deserted station,
Restless in anticipation,
A man waits in the shadows.

His restless eyes leap and snatch,
At all that they can touch or catch,
And hidden deep within his pocket,
Safe within its silent socket,
He holds a coloured crayon.

Now from the tunnel's stony womb,
The carriage rides to meet the groom,
And opens wide the welcome doors,
But he hesitates, then withdraws
Deeper in the shadows.

And the train is gone suddenly.
On wheels clicking silently
Like a gently tapping litany,
And he holds his crayon rosary
Tighter in his hand.

Now from his pocket quick he flashes,
The crayon on the wall he slashes,
Deep upon the advertising,
A single-worded poem comprising
Four letters.

And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding,
The poem across the tracks resounding,
Shadowed by the exit light
His legs take their ascending flight
To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.
- Simon & Garfunkel

Ok. So you got me. All S&G songs that reference poetry make me happy.
I like "Bleeker Street." I like ALL S&G songs. Ok. And now "America" plays...
"I've got some real estate here in my bag" ?!?! yeah! great lyric!