Morning Glow
another day begins
The blaze of early sun
Blinds and dazzles,
Dancing and reflecting
Off the corrugated tin
That serves as roof and fence.
The effect? Fleeting but magical.
A warm, white glow, cast like a net
That encompasses and obscures
With a sort of subdued intensity
All across this shantytown.
The sun plays its tricks,
Creating a false sense of quiet,
An illusion of peace and calm
Before rising high to lay bare
Hunger and poverty, crowding the streets
Like the rows of makeshift shacks.
But maybe this luminescent blanket
Is not a cruel hoax of nature.
Perhaps it’s a gesture of kindness;
A chance for this place to catch its breath,
If only for a moment.
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[Author's Note: This poem was first published in the journal First Reads (St. Vincent, West Indies) in 2010).]
About the Creator
Randy Baker
Poet, author, essayist.
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* The Breakers Motel * 7 * Holding On * Til Death Do Us Part * The Fisherman
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'20/20'
"Do It Again" the track that would ultimately open the Beach Boys final album on Capitol Records which was released on February 10th 1969 had originally been released as a single in August of 1968. The track was the first of many post-Pet Sounds era throwbacks to the early Beach Boys sound which would become continually more cliched and eventually lead the Beach Boys to the level of self-parody they would eventually succumb to in the 1980s while their closest contemporaries The Beatles nearing the end of their run in 1969 would go on to be viewed as the most influential band of all time. However, the song itself is not bad on its surface, and it opens with a futuristic sounding (for 1969) drumbeat captured by then-Beach Boys engineer Stephen Desper using tape delays on the drums performed by Dennis Wilson and John Guerin. The song has been re-recorded numerous times over the years on various Beach Boys-related projects most notably the 2011 re-recording at Capitol studios featuring the five surviving Beach Boys at the time backed instrumentally by various members of both the Brian Wilson Band and Mike Loves touring "Beach Boys" to promote the then upcoming Beach Boys 50th Anniversary reunion tour in 2012. The hammering and power drill sound at the end of the song was an excerpt from a track called "Workshop" that was to be a part of the uncompleted "SMiLE" album.
By Sean Callaghan6 days ago in Beat
Comments (1)
Welcome to Vocal Randy! Your poem is lovely, and I cannot wait to read more from you.