Wiregrass
Poets in their youth begin in gladness
William Wordsworth
Many poets I knew in my youth went away and died.
Others disappeared – merely –
Me, I am hiding in a mobile home in the Wiregrass.
I am running from sorrow.
Running from madness.
Running from the Devil.
My days are spent cooking, cleaning,
doing laundry, praying.
Praying to stave off sorrow and madness,
but sometimes I think these twin demons
are waiting outside the doors,
waiting for blindness to set in,
waiting for gladness to fade.
I’m trying to outshine
and outwit the Devil.
I bicker with my mother at night,
cook nice foods for her when it’s daylight.
No more $100 dinners that someone else paid for.
Food and fighting keep us alive.
Gone are the expensive European glasses.
Gone, the costly clothes and shoes.
Gone, the extravagant Georgetown hairdresser
My hair stuck on top of my head,
it’s just me now, in dungarees and torn t-shirt.
He can’t recognize me now.
I shuffle down the road, stray not too far.
Wiregrass by Tokyo Rosenthal Band
An Mp3
Lyrics: Moira J. Saucer & Tokyo Rosenthal; Music: Tokyo Rosenthal
Musicians: Tokyo Rosenthal, guitar, piano, vocals; Chris Stamey, bass; John Teer, fiddle; Logan Matheny, drums; Raul of Bayonne, percussion.
Wiregrass
Many poets I knew in youth have died
It’s a mobile home in Wiregrass I hide
From sorrow from madness I outwit
The devil, in Wiregrass I hide
That dinners are gone that someone else paid,
Its just me now, not too far but I stray
Amid the cycle of life and death,
In Wiregrass I rest
Not always a hero, how hard you will fall,
They kill or maim as you risk it all
Can the body absorb the impact of its weight,
In Wiregrass I play,
So go ahead fly into the clouds
Fall not with dread fearless heart abound
Amid the cycle of life and death
In Wiregrass I rest
Moira J. Saucer is a disabled poet who grew up in Hampton Roads, Virginia and now lives in Alabama.Her poem “Wiregrass” is part of Wiregrass and Other Poems, a collection she is currently working on. Moira’s full length debut collection will be published in 2020 by Ice Floe Press. She holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas Creative Writing Program and an MA from the University of Delaware. Her work has been published most recently by Failure Baler, Burning House Press, Visual Verse, Mookychick, and Fly on the Wall Press’ “The Weird and Wonderful” magazine.” She can be found on Twitter at @MJSEyesOpened
Tokyo Rosenthal @TokyoRosenthal is a singer-songwriter whose music has been described as “Americana with real teeth.” He has been writing songs and touring the world for three decades, including Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His songs have been in the top ten on many international charts, and he has received many awards, including the key to the city of Edmonton, Alberta for his song “Edmonton” and contributions to culture in Alberta’s capital city, and awards from Ireland (2013). His studio and live recordings include “One Score and Ten,” and “Ghosts,” Who Was that Man,” Tokyo’s Fifth,” Chris Stamey, producer. Currently, he makes his home in Chapel Hill, NC. “Wiregrass” was recorded for, and appears on his CD, “This Minstrel Life“. For more information, visit his website, http://www.tokyorosenthal.com/tokyo_rosenthal/home.html
Banner Art : Railroad tracks, Dothan, Alabama by Moira J Saucer
IceFloe Press 