Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Chris' Song


The last time I saw you,
you ran to your Mom and you wouldn't look back
and you asked you stepdad, "Hey, what have you brought me?"
Then you turned to me.
You said," Dad, you know it's gonna be fine.
'Cause I should be back right after my birthday!"

Ch
But it's been three long months since I saw you.
Sometimes, we manage to talk on the phone.
I'm keeping it easy so I swallow my questions.
Christopher, when are you coming home?

Me and your mother,
we were together for more than ten years.
Just a few more and we'd have broke twenty.
But I didn't notice,
I couldn't admit that she wanted so much
and I hope she's happy way out in Missouri

But it's been three long months since I saw you.
Sometimes, we manage to talk on the phone.
I'm keeping it easy so I swallow my questions.
Christopher, when are you coming home?

The first time I saw you
I could hold your body in one of my hands.
How did you grow from something so tiny?
And now you are flying,
flying alone through the Midwestern night,
back to your mother, way out in Missouri.

But it's been three long months since I saw you.
Sometimes, we manage to talk on the phone.
I'm keeping it easy so I swallow my questions.
Christopher, when are you coming home?

Since the first time you left me,
almost twenty-five years have passed by and gone,
and the good times and and bad times, we've seen them together.
Now you work in Chicago.
Your life a spark I once held in my hands
And I hope you're happy way out where you're living.

But it's been long, long months since I saw you.
Sometimes, we manage to talk on the phone.
I'm keeping it easy so I swallow my questions.
Christopher, when are you coming home?

4 comments:

  1. I wrote the first draft of this song years ago, after my ex-wife moved from Massachusetts to Missouri and took my 3-year-old son with her. It included the first and second verses. The 3rd verse was added several years later when he was able to fly back home unaccompanied. I have dusted it off, reworked the words and added a new stanza. As with any piece meant to be sung, some of the words scan oddly when read. If I can figure out a way to record the song, I'll post it.

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  2. Great job! One comment that I was going to make was that I'd love to hear what it sounds like with music. I'm pretty sure it's possible to upload audio blogs through this site. I've been working with the software called, Garageband to record some music and it's pretty simple. All you need is a microphone, and most computers come equipped with those. Do you play guitar? That's sort of what I hear in my head when I read the poem. Almost like Woody Guthery or Cat Stephens. One piece of constructive criticism I could give you might be to somehow order the verses chronologically. It seems like in the way it's written here you're talking about "the last time" you saw him, and then a history of the marriage and then onto 25 years later. Not sure how you'd do it but just a thought.

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  3. You're right - it does hop around time-wise. Remember that it was written over a quarter of a century. Changing the order would be like revising the liturgy, in some ways; it has become holy by virtue of its traditions!
    It is a guitar piece. I do have a mike, and will see what I can do.

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  4. David-
    nice job on this piece - I actually like the order you have it in - because it clearly is a reflective process and shows how events like these develop and evoke emotion.
    In reading your work the last couple of weeks I have been contemplating writing a piece for my father - we'll see if I dare to attempt verse!

    Becca

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