I'll Be Right Here

"You said, ' Young man don't rely on a sword.
                   Cause your words will outlive even time.'
I've counted my blessings.  The rest are for you.
Please listen close for awhile.
And breathe, breathe, deep for me...."
                                                -James
                                                  O.A.R. (of a revolution)

Your eyes cling to me - grounding you.
So many words you have yet to shed
spill from your eyes in silent pleas,
but I know all that there is to be said;
your words have always carried me true.
There's no need to speak to this reality,
no need to cling so tight,
I'll be right here;
all you need do is just set yourself free
and breathe, breathe, deep for me.

As the world spins out of control
and you feel yourself ready to fall,
know my words will catch you
wrap you in their warm embrace
holding you safe as you approach the unknown.
Don't get stuck in the turnstile;
so much awaits you on the other side
and I'll be right here
until you can move on with a smile.
(So) please listen close for awhile.

You will never be far from me
for your words I hold in my heart.
There's no need to worry or fret,
so much of who I am is due to you.
Take this moment and just breathe;
allow my words to ring true,
as time steals all we have left
I'll be right here
until you can see your way through.
I've counted my blessings.  The rest are for you.

Know when at last the curtain falls,
I will continue to cling to the words.
You've shown me their power,
both to strike down & build up,
and I'll wield them as you implored;
may that be my only crime
as I sing out for you
to a tune I have scored
so your words will forever chime;
you said, "Young man don't rely on a sword.
                Cause your words will out live even time."

---

A note on form:  This is a glosa (of sorts).  While it maintains the traditional opening cabeza (four line by another "poet" - I put poet in quotes because I tend toward lyrics and therefore song writers as apposed to "pure" poets) and it contains four stanza with 10-lines where the tenth line comes from the cabeza, along with the appropriate rhyme of lines 6, 9 & 10, I deviated slightly by using the lines in reverse order as instead of their given order.  I could try to explain my reason for this, but I fear the rambling would turn you away.  Now when have I ever let that stop me.

I had trouble with the cabeza.  As I mentioned it is supposed to be four lines from another artist's piece.  The problem is that in song sometimes you hear breaks where they don't exist or don't hear breaks where they do exist.  There was a time when albums included the lyrics...I suppose some still do.  But more often than not, the internet provides the resource you can't find else where...but who says they're right.  Anyway, it doesn't really matter, I actually have the booklet from the CD and therefore the lines.  What I did not expect was the first line wasn't two lines; either that or it's a typo, regardless....   I had thought that I would split them anyway and take the actual last two lines and join them together.  Then I had the idea to reverse them and well....(I think that's enough of a ramble.)

Inspiration for this piece:  I have to be honest, I'm not quite sure from where this piece erupted.  Outside of the cabeza I had no real direction...so I suppose the piece took control of the pen.  I admit when I first thought about using these lines for a glosa (before I had ironed out the line breaks) I had thought to follow along the opening lines...speaking to the power of words.  I think in the end I stuck more to the "meaning" of the song.  Though to be quite honest the lack of direction makes me wonder if the piece meanders around directionless itself.

An aside:  There was another reason behind this selection today.  This blog recently passed the one year mark.  It was a convergence of three things that lead to this blog and its name.  One of which was the opening of the cabeza.  So...