#thanksmarkberninger

Tonight, I write about how sometimes we have to shatter everything to find the pieces that matter most.

I see myself in a picture, Looking far away, looking removed, And I want to run away from everything They asked me to do,

or just sledge- hammer the flawed porcelain doll-man standing on the stage singing words so well he doesn’t realize, like Monkee’s, they are genuine words of other people who

Song of the week and a response: I Need My Girl – The National; Cannonball With Me

Inspired by justruminating and others, here is my song of the week and my response poem.

If this post becomes a regular song of the week, we will learn something about my love of the band The National. This song tells a love story that is more real than “pop” and reflects the melancholic and romantic moods of this marvelously creative band. I am sure we will be talking about them more here.

But…

Song of the Week – The National “The Geese of Beverly Road” and a Response “Tea With Tumnus”

This week Alligator has played in my ears more times than I can count with this beautiful song, “The Geese of Beverly Road,” playing on repeat for nearly the entire flight from Singapore to Hong Kong. When deciding which song to write a response to this week, I knew I wanted to move away from the cathartic after last week’s Porcelain Doll-man. As this song grew in my mind it brought me to a tiny,…

Song of the Week – The National’s “Lucky You” and a Response Poem “Drunk Carlton”

Drunk Carlton

You own me, Carlton, lucky you, But, who was bought and who sold? Every night you fall asleep a drunk’s Dream inside your head, nightmares Sun lit up in your bed, unaware Of the test you weren’t too smart to flunk.

You won me, Carlton, lucky you, But who bought you and what was sold? Every drunk night you fell outside safety Zones where you tried to hide me Ridden home, I will never…

Song of the Week – The National’s “Lucky You” and a Response Poem “Drunk Carlton”

Last week I slightly misled with a comment that I couldn’t settle on a song from Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers when I had, but hadn’t figured out how to tackle it. Instead, I got drawn into the grief that sneaks out and touches us all following the loss of a loved one. In a strange and unexpected poetic turn, I am reading a book by Jane Mayer called Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires…