The Muse and Whirled Retort February 2024
Hey everybody,
It’s that time again. February 1.
February 01, 2023
Here are two photos. This day last year - we had an ice storm here in Austin and this year - it is glorious. February 01, 2024
This year is particularly reflective for me because I just had a big birthday. Sixty. We had a big celebration in Oakland. Followed by several shows. Paul Benoit had a family situation and could not join me, but I was lucky enough to have the adept accompaniment of John Elliott and Jordan Feinstein. I hope to have a couple of videos of some of those shows up soon.
In other news, Paul Benoit and I are planning a handfull of shows in the north east. It is centered around a May First tribute to Anne Feeney in Pittsburgh. We would like to play some shows in and around there: Philly, New York City, Washington, DC, maybe even Boston. Want to present us? Have us do a house concert in your living room? Drop me a line!
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T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.
Feb 01, 2024
Austin, TX
This month’s edition is a poem by Al Grierson. One I may have shared with you before. But it has particular resonance with me as I start my 60th year. I made a video for it a few years back.
Til The Circle is complete
By Al Grierson
and the ticking of the clock
The planet's one year older,
so are you.
I leave the speculation
and the silly idle talk
for another time
and someone else to do
there will be a celebration
at the end of every street
when we claim our bread and roses
and the circle is complete
So if destiny should drag you down
or dress you up in style
may you never be too weary
to walk another mile
May you never cease your growing
or learning as you grow
May the things you discover
be the things you want to know
May you gain in strength through sorrow
and may all your love be true
May you turn your hand to something
that you really want to do.
May your friends encounter fortune
and your comrades find release
though they see the hopes of others disappear
may your parents die contended
and your children live in peace
though the hands of desperation
hold them near
with a lover at your side
or left alone with broken arms
and all your dreams denied
may your footsteps ring like rifles
through the darkness of defeat
may your spirit never falter
till the circle is complete
May your life be like a love song
and the act of every breath
be a poem to the purpose that it serves
at the hour of your death
And meet it with the courage it deserves
may your shadow pass
in pirouettes of such amazing grace
that the tears of those who mourn you
disappear without a trace
In a smoke that shapes their sorrow
to the fading of your feet
in a ring around the rainbow
Where the circle is complete.
May you never cease your growing
or learning as you grow
May the things you discover
be the things you want to know
May you gain in strength through sorrow
and may all your love be true
May you turn your hand to something
that you really want to do.