John's Dura Mater Blog

What we want is never simple. We move among the things we thought we wanted: a face, a room, an open book and these things bear our names-- now they want us. But what we want appears in dreams, wearing disguises. We fall past, holding out our arms and in the morning our arms ache. We don't remember the dream, but the dream remembers us. It is there all day as an animal is there under the table, as the stars are there even in full sun. - "What We Want" by Linda Pastan from Carnival Evening

That is no country for old men. The young In one another's arms, birds in the trees - Those dying generations - at their song, The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas, Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long Whatever is begotten, born, and dies. Caught in that sensual music all neglect Monuments of unageing intellect. An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, unless Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing For every tatter in its mortal dress, Nor is there singing school but studying Monuments of its own magnificence; And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium. O sages standing in God's holy fire As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul. Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; and gather me Into the artifice of eternity. Once out of nature I shall never take My bodily form from any

If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air Quaint little villages here and there You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod If you like the taste of a lobster stew Served by a window with an ocean view You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod Winding roads that seem to beckon you Miles of green beneath a sky of blue Church bells chimin' on a Sunday morn Remind you of the town where you were born If you spend an evening you'll want to stay Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod If you spend an evening you'll want to stay Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay You're sure to fall in love With old Cape Cod - "Old Cape Cod", written by Claire Rothrock, Milt Yakus and Allan Jeffrey and released in 1957;

Harry got up Dressed all in black Went down to the station And he never came back They found his clothing Scattered somewhere down the track And he won't be down on Wall Street in the morning He had a home The love of a girl But men get lost sometimes As years unfurl One day he crossed some line And he was too much in this world But I guess it doesn't matter anymore In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute Things can get pretty strange In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute Lying here in the darkness I hear the sirens wail Somebody going to emergency Somebody's going to jail If you find somebody to love in this world You better hand on tooth and nail The wolf is always at the door In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute Things can get a little strange In a New York Minute Everything can change In a New York Minute And in these days When darkness falls early And people rush home To the ones they love You