Coming From Where I'm From

Coming From Where Sam's From

Sam is my oldest boy. He, of the three, looks the most like me. And our relationship is the most complicated. This week he started middle school in a new town where he knows no one. He brought home a writing assignment tonight. I'd like to share it.

 

I am from...

 

I am from my small room

From the gas station down the street

I am from a big family

From my small town

Rutland

From a mom who says

Don't forget to say thank you

I am from banoffee pie

My favorite pie

From the first day of

school

I am from my special box

Overnight Shift

All night she's coughing
getting up to use the bathroom
pacing, coughing, pacing
she wants you to listen to the noise
inside the walls
afraid she's being poisoned
all the time
she'd like to trust you
somebody
she wants to smoke
but can't have her cigarettes
until 6 am, until then
she passes the time
coughing, pacing, coughing
using her inhaler
keeping her distance
afraid of everything
in the world

Gently It Slips

Quiet here now
as the sun sets
on summer -
a cricket or two,
a blue jay,
the distant rush of
rolling tires.

There'll be more of this
as it gets colder
along with the sound
of the inside
of my head,
 

Let's Get Lost - The Whole Documentary

The soundtrack to this film is fantastic. I like to watch him sing.

I'm A Fool To Want

Play it once, play it slow

It'd be nice if some one some day plays quiet Mexican guitar with you in mind - a kind of tribute, because at last you became someone worth remembering. Maybe someone at the bar will raise a glass, staring down the years, understanding just what you meant. We deserve a soundtrack, all of us, with exclusive rights to the final edit.