Atlantic City
A groove so true it hurts the brain. Now, there
was time before this song, and there will be
time after. But for now, there’s only music:
a mandolin plucks out a melody,
and we begin. Some dude begins to speak.
Well, they blew up, he says, the Chicken Man
in Philly. What is this? It’s not some bus
stop conversation, it’s a place where debts
accrue and people pay and all our talk
will not resolve what happens, it’s a hard
and unforgiving region – though in fact
it is New Jersey. Everything, sings Levon,
dies. This is so. The dude sings baby, since
he’s talking to a lady. Could there be
some haven for the heart in this cold world?
Fix your hair up pretty, he confides –
it’s his girl. The dude has a plan and she
is in it, though she doesn’t speak. Could there
be some path through the maze? Maybe, he sings,
the stuff we lose someday comes back. I can’t
confirm that theory. But the dude has got
two tickets to Atlantic City and
a little favor he is going to do.
If you are worried for him, you are not
alone in that: in straits like this, a man
might die, or go to prison, or end up
with broken legs. The girl still doesn’t speak.
Will she put on that makeup? Could it be
the little favor will work out? For hope
won’t die, it wells up in that chorus where
death is not final, and the Chicken Man
may yet come back in Philly, where a deal
may warm the hand, where we can tell our girl
to fix her hair up pretty and she knows
how love wins out, how people catch a break.
And The Band:
Atlantic City
Hi John,
I enjoyed this on first read. I'm a bit tired tonight, but I'll come back tomorrow. It's pent, yes? You could try a hyphen after 'bus' at S2 L2, is a thought to start things off. I like the 'path through the maze' and the word 'dude', generally. And the idea of a part-man, part-chicken being (^v^)
Bw,
Fliss
I enjoyed this on first read. I'm a bit tired tonight, but I'll come back tomorrow. It's pent, yes? You could try a hyphen after 'bus' at S2 L2, is a thought to start things off. I like the 'path through the maze' and the word 'dude', generally. And the idea of a part-man, part-chicken being (^v^)
Bw,
Fliss
Very much so, John 
I'm sorry I forgot to return to this poem the other day. On coming back, I continue to enjoy it. I wonder whether you know Prokofiev's 'Dance with the Mandolins' from his Romeo & Juliet suite; here it is, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LPmWLy4c1o
Bw,
Fliss
I'm sorry I forgot to return to this poem the other day. On coming back, I continue to enjoy it. I wonder whether you know Prokofiev's 'Dance with the Mandolins' from his Romeo & Juliet suite; here it is, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LPmWLy4c1o
Bw,
Fliss
Ooh, Dr Z. Well, here is the trance track, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDfM1u-AiCs. "Trance on!" (^v^)