Showing And Sharing
Why do I perform, I ask you?
Kent and I, we talked it through.
“Why do we do what we do?”
Musicians both, asking about both sloth and troth.
“Why not stay at home, just play at home?”
The need to play for them, where does it come from?
Why not warble in a corner,
Trade Jack Warner for Jack Horner?
The path, pith, analysis, seed of non-paralysis
Lies in the need to share each bar,
Ensnare them in the repertoire:
Acquired, inspired and fired solo.
To play for those who know is where share becomes the show.To share the stuff you’re made of,
One likes to give and get the love.
The gig may be just one night long,
Player’s voice imbibing song.
That’s why birds have beaks,
Actors paint their cheeks,
Nuns not called freaks,
Why climbers climb outrageous peaks:
To show and share’s their form of care, of who they are,
A wearing off of vanity and learning of humility:
The real way to get somewhere.
Why seek the gigs, and time on time risk disapproval?
Bumpy lyrics, chords that stump,
Mental blocks to shock a heart that gasps to pump;
Sometimes on your frumpy rump
When you’re a grumpy, dumpy lump;
Handling cash, the boss
Without the foolishness of loss;
And gathering the strength
To stand with dignity against the length
Of lustful arms and eyes,
Seductive men and women: lies.
In some mysterious mirror way
You need to hear the stuff you play
Through other’s ears and other’s eyes.
It’s the response that makes you wise,
The music genie rise.
I’m giving up the claim to fame,
(Which only means you know my name)
The thing I can’t give up’s the call,
Which means, of course, the playing hall.
Knowing, daring, going, baring,
Learning, doing, wooing, paring:
That’s the showing and the sharing:
©Showing & Sharing #1 11.4.1992 rev2009
Vaguely About Music; Circling Round Reality; Circling Round Vanities;
Arlene Corwin
Arlene Corwin Poetry 