The Lingering Lemon of Death

news from toyland. songwriters and poets invade

i've been part of a small songwriting circle for a while now. we meet about once a month, we play songs for each other, we talk about places on our writing where we are stuck, we share ideas, we eat cookies. the main purpose is not to sharpen our songwriting skills (though that does happen), but just to provide us all with a rhythm of life where the act of songwriting keeps coming up.

this last month we had a semi-secret house concert to which we also invited the poets. granting them "honorary songwriters for the evening" status. it was "semi-secret" because we didn't really want a zillion people.

i had two songs ready to go, but because my guitar skills are so low i chickened out and read poetry instead. that was scary enough though, since up until now i had told very few people who lived in my city that i was a poet. not that i was hiding it, just that such things don't come up in conversation.

anyway, was a beautiful little evening. we are all hoping to do it again. here are a couple of iphone snaps. i didn't want to be photographing the whole evening, since i always feel like when i am taking pictures i am no longer present, but i took a couple of quick pictures at the beginning. here's dave reading some knock you back through a brick wall poetry and the michaelness on the guitar.

mark scandrette, "reimagine"

here's mark scandrette doing his poem/spoken word thing "reimagine".   this particular performance is one i happen to have on tape because this is part of the church basement road show.

if you talk to mark he will tell you its just something he threw together one day, but to me that makes it even more wonderful because that means all this is not something he made up because it sounded beautiful, it all had to already be inside him for that to happen.

i've probably heard mark do this 10 times or so.  i never get tired of it, the spiral whirling miracle.  i hope you like it too.