“Country roads take me home,
to a place I belong.” (John Denver, 1974???)
To a cabin by a small lake,
where toads run and blue gill swim,
going there is never wrong.
“What are we doing in love?” (Kenny Rogers and Dottie West, 1981)
Going to meet my love,
my love who I’ve missed.
Soon my hand will be held snug in his glove.
“Sweet Dreams of You” (Patsy Cline, 1963).
No more a dream, this is my life.
So blessed am I to hold your hand our our small lake,
Never will there be a need to be blue.
Today, while driving to our cabin, I listened to the radio. The three songs listed above to the left of this post played consecutively as I travelled. When the iconic John Denver song played, I sang along at the top of my lungs. Still a fan of this departed musician, I knew the words by heart as his album, containing this song, was one of the first I owned as a pre-adolescent!
The other two songs were only vaguely familiar, although I did recognize the Kenny Rodgers and Dottie West Song and the voice of Patsy Cline. My mom was a big fan of Cline’s.
As I drove and enjoyed these songs, I thought it would be fun to try and make a poem out of them. However, it turned out to be much harder than I imagined. I’m not all that pleased with the outcome. But, it is hard to write and drive at the same time. As it happened, I had to take a break and took the chance to jot down my thoughts (just the song lines that made an impression on me).
I’ve gotten away from listening to country music, although last fall I went to a concert with my son to see Vince Gill when he was at Iowa State University’s Stephens Auditorium. It was the third time I saw Gill in concert, and at 62, he is still an affable and amazing performer.
Eventually, it got too hard to keep track of all the lines in the songs that would make great poetry. It struck me that songwriters (some) are really poets that set words to music!
Today is Poetry Friday. It’s not my best effort but the connection between word and song gave me pause. Thanks to Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link for hosting and for being a great support for my own writing. Carol writes thoughtful poetry and responds to others who post to Poetry Friday in the same way – with thought. Please check out her blog using the link above.
The Apples in My Orchard 
It sounds perfect, driving to your cabin listening to John Denver. I love Patsy Cline also, and maybe I’ll listen to her today.:)
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Janice, thank you for your comments! I hope you had a chance to listen to some music you enjoy!
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Those are great songs to accompany you on your drive to the cabin. I like how the music, words and your thoughts intertwine.
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Thank you so much! The music kept me in very good company on my trip.
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Carol, I am sorry that it took me so long to reach your post. There are so many to dos on my list since I am trying to build a home virtually in VA while trying to sell mine home on Long Island. I was never good at balancing several balls at once but your post has allowed me time to agree with you: songwriters are poets in the way they add their lyrics to create a new song. I have to say that you handled these poems of yours quite well. You drove and created at the same time. I have tried to do that and in some cases also needed to move to the side of the rode when the muse comes to visit. I found this line to be one with soul: “Soon my hand will be held snug in his glove.” I like the way the word snug fits so well in this line. While this line is a closure, it lets the reader imagine that relationship and the joy it brings. Enjoy your cabin life this weekend.
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Awww, thanks so much for taking the time to write such a wonderul critique of my travel/song poems! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one that needs to occasionally move to the side of the road or find a parking lot to write down some words as they come! Thank you for sharing your insights with me!
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Love this, Carol. My husband has John Denver on the car playlist a lot recently–a new mix-in. Calypso is a favorite! I wrote him a cento out of lines from some of my favorite songs for our anniversary earlier this year. It was so much harder than I thought, even though I love centos!
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I love your cento poem idea. Thank you for sharing it. I actually never knew what centos were until I read your comments – I had to go look it up! Ha! Here I thought I was being inventive! One thing is for sure – they are harder to write than it seems at first! Thanks so much for enlightening me on Centos! I’ll have to try it again!
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