One day you picked up a guitar
Ran your thumb along the strings
Imagined yourself a star
With a house, a car, bedecked like kings
Ran your thumb along the strings
Following notes on the page
With a house, a car, bedecked like kings
Slowly coming of age
Following notes on the page
You listened to Hackberry Ramblers
Slowly coming of age
Your dream of music felt like a gambler’s
You listened to Hackberry Ramblers
Learned the six-string, then the twelve
Your dream of music felt like a gambler’s
But a musician’s bounty you could not shelve
Learned the six-string, then the twelve
Looked for jobs in the Times-Picayune
But a musician’s bounty you could not shelve
Ending up singing in a dank saloon
Looked for jobs in the Times-Picayune
By moonlight you read Cajun Music by Savoy
Ending up singing in a dank saloon
Playing until your fingers were raw
By moonlight you read Cajun Music by Savoy
Imagined yourself a star
Playing until your fingers were raw
On the day you picked up your first guitar
Prompts for August 5th:
- include three senses in your article
- mention a book by title, either a real book or one you've made up
- use the word "page"
- make sure someone shows a noisy reaction such as cry or scream or roar with laughter, etc.
- tag with wwe


Comments: 38
I love it! I actually remember picking a guitar until my fingers were raw and bleeding. By chance, do you play one? Just wondering as that really does happen! It's also what made me go back and stick to any type of keyboard instrument, no bleeding fingers. Ouch...
Marilyn
I love tight poetry forms, but there's a special quality to your pantoums that I find hard to describe. When I first read a line, it's a revelation. By the time it re-appears in the next stanza, it's part of a story. I guess I could say that you're a master of context.
poet
Who started out writing a pantoum
She picked a guitar
And became quite a star
Writing poems that end with a sad tune.
Okay, maybe I should just say I liked this.
Just coming back for a second read -- as for singing, as my Mom used to say... You sound good, but you sound better when you stop! -- meaning, I cannot carry a tune to save my life. I play the organ, keyboard and piano, but since I no longer have any of them - it's been awhile, but I grew up playing them.
M
The title of this poem is a song he wrote; it's all instrumental.