THE SCENERY DOESN’T BEFIT REPLACING
But I Know Who You Are
By David N. Lewis
III.
I will live and breathe in dark silence
Without a degree of physical seasoning
I’m eternal in your social paraquat
Of fake understanding – I will die
Attached to your lips – longing for
A breath of fresh air – I can’t stand it
Anymore, you’re driving me insane!
You’re so sane you’re insane!
I will repeat your expulsions until
They ring true. Illusion wins out
Over off-track betting. I’ll bet you
A thousand sovereigns Vine Street Betty can find an
Inconclusive conclusion.
Written 05/29/1987
Source: Notebook “Regina” pp. 95-98
Copyright 1987, 2003 David N. Lewis
That's the last of that. Tomorrow I will publish the text of "No Play"
which was written the same date as this poem.
Been reading a book about Henri Dutilleux, a French composer born in 1916. He withholds/destroys works of his own dating as late as 1954, and his compositional career began in 1929! If only I could recover many of my own early works (which date to 1970)! You don't know how frustrating it is to have just six measures of a string quartet from 1978 that orignally ran to five pages in full score. Or my unplayable, sloppy, but glorious Trio for e-flat clarinet, banjo and contrabassoon which was totally unplayable but nonetheless charming in its non-blending, atonal way.
Obviously I don't make much of a distinction when it comes to good and bad when it
comes to promulgating my work upon the public. neither did Milhaud or, for that matter, Ives. I find it inspiring that so many of the things that Ives considered "bad" actually include some things that are clearly masterpieces. So I just pretend not to know and put it out there anyway. After all, it's just work.
Uncle Dave Lewis
uncledavelewis@hotmail.com