Friday, April 27, 2012

BOB DYLAN AND ME - A True Story

"Render Me Willing" - Letter for Bob Dylan

August 2, 2014
"Dylanesque"- Tribute to Bob Dylan


Autumn 2013 Addition: 

Confessions of a Bob Dylan Fan


July 29, 2013







"Come in" she said,"I'll give you shelter from the storm" B. Dylan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzB3Xuqw5yQ
Run You Away - Sue Sed 

6/25/2013

Note:  Artwork (AlexRa) is no longer available to be viewed on MySpace. 



 

In Case of Emergency --Jettison




Plentitude thrives in the operatic confines of misgivings and loud spectacular presentations of weighty matters




Glissades of rain behind frosted glass and contorted images of free masons jumble together like an untended garden




Tisanes and barley steeped comforts simmer in a padded cell where, in free fall, an inchoate manikin will convince you of cozy retreats




Speak and behave as if our referential conversation never took place and all manner of repressed dollhouse characters, saturated with fact and fable,


 will react with who knows what




Situated and beaming at the blamelessness of having been born, we might consider ourselves absurdly displayed in a line-up,


duly labeled "risible"!




Might I frighten you today with petulance or sincerity? Two halves of a whole I maintained at fever pitch




Imagine, if you can't help it, as long as the dough keeps rolling in.  Surrender if you pay no one any mind and experience no longer has anything to recommend it




Know well, sparring partner of mine, no debt was incurred. The judge appears to be out to lunch and there is this brilliant shock inducing whirlwind divinity that broke the ice between us


A dreamed up physician saw the dark in my eyes I hide so well...and after a soothing laying on of hands told me not to chase my bliss
It didn't much matter what he said 'cause a nightmare followed soon after -- tormented and terrified by one man, another came along and chased him off -- a scenario as old as time itself
Makes you fret though, should there be more to the afterlife than oblivion.

Queen of Swords




3/23/13
"Is it really any wonder
The love that a stranger might receive"

"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You"


A photo of part of the grounds of a house I researched that was significant in my life for a "Memory Journal" I've created and lo and behold it still exists.  Many a day was spent in the late 60s day dreaming in the formal rose garden in front of the home.

Some things have changed, however, the view, facing Mead Mountain across the way, where Bob Dylan then lived, is timeless.


Posted 6/21/13


"SO WE BEAT ON, BOATS AGAINST
THE CURRENT, BORNE BACK
CEASELESSLY INTO THE PAST"
(Note: Last line of The Great Gatsby also on gravestone
of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald)
___________________________________________

____________________________________________
“In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”  Anon?

"I used to care, but things have changed"Dylan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwrHU2yyC-c



From 1990s -posted 6/17/13




JOURNAL ENTRY #13 




I LOOKED TO GOD AND FOUND A HUNDRED ROADS


I LOOKED TO THE WORLD AND FOUND A HOUSE OF CARDS


I LOOKED TO FAMILY AND FOUND LOVE AND REBELLION


I LOOKED TO NATURE AND FOUND BEAUTY AND SAVAGERY


I LOOKED TO FRIENDS AND FOUND SOLACE AND COMPANIONSHIP


I LOOKED TO LOVE AND FOUND ECSTASY AND BETRAYAL


I LOOKED TO ART AND FOUND A MUSE IN LONELY PURSUIT


I LOOKED TO SAINTS AND FOUND MYSTICISM AND SECRECY


I LOOKED TO HEROES AND FOUND ORDINARY PEOPLE


DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS


I LOOKED TO MYSELF AND FOUND THE NEED FOR ANOTHER 
Queen of Swords
###


Out of the Blue


Feelings recognize the persuasive fortifying inner source

that generates a framework which allows the soul to read true every nuance.


"Complete" is embracing the goodness that inherently

avails itself of heaven's bounty.


Tread gently therefore upon this seasoned ground

that grants such scope and sovereignty.


***

To be concerned, to be incorporated within instances of memory

 and slip between fact and fiction,

questions the observer as to who is the imposter.


It is choice, duty and the dictates of nature that persecutes no one,

redeems only a few and gives rise to the battered premise

that all living things have no option -- save humanity its free will...

ever taunted by the responsibility of uncertain outcomes

and infinite variations on a theme.


***

Even so, amidst knowing and plentitude -- silent, conditional implications

determine much of what passes for learned assumptions.


Taken out of context, freedom brings unwarranted fear of consequence

and ever more compelling reasons

to frequent the undiluted backwaters of the subconscious.


***

Seeing that often nothing is attained by ruminating

 and the pursuit of incessant speculation,

the unwavering thoroughfare of common sense

permits a calming, if fleeting satisfaction

to a heretofore restless questing mind.


Be that as it may, a leaf flutters to the earth, unquestioning and deliberate,

joining each with the other -- as if ordained.

by Queen of Swords
_____________________________________________________________

      Inspired by Bob Dylan (as always)
___________________________________________________________
5/9/1999
Grace and Harmony


conquered by fate's symmetry

and fallen heroes scattered

a battlefield of grieving mothers

the wonder is where i might be

without grace and harmony


raucous cries of night birds

ghostly wreaths of gray

gliding amidst trees

among tenacious bark

and things of musk and honey


Queen of Sowrds



6/8/13



"Satiety is an honest judge, but hunger is a favorable jury" --India


***In Case of Emergency Jettison

Plentitude thrives in the operatic confines of misgivings and loud spectacular presentations of weighty matters

Glissades of rain behind frosted glass and contorted images of free masons jumble together like an untended garden

Tisanes and barley steeped comforts simmer in a padded cell where, in free fall, an inchoate manikin will convince you of cozy retreats

Speak and behave as if our referential conversation never took place and all manner of repressed dollhouse characters, saturated with fact and fable,
 will react with who knows what

Situated and beaming at the blamelessness of having been born, we might consider ourselves absurdly displayed in a line-up,
duly labeled "risible"!

Might I frighten you today with petulance or sincerity? Two halves of a whole I maintained at fever pitch

Imagine, if you can't help it, as long as the dough keeps rolling in.  Surrender if you pay no one any mind and experience no longer has anything to recommend it

Know well, sparring partner of mine, no debt was incurred. The judge appears to be out to lunch and there is this brilliant shock inducing whirlwind divinity that broke the ice between us

A dreamed up physician saw the dark in my eyes I hide so well...and after a soothing laying on of hands told me not to chase my bliss

It didn't much matter what he said 'cause a nightmare followed soon after -- tormented and terrified by one man, another came along and chased him off -- a scenario as old as time itself

Makes you fret though should there be more to the afterlife than oblivion.

***


P.S. Wrote the foregoing in a few minutes this a.m. upon awakening -- some people seem prefer nonsense :-).
"Satiety is an honest judge, but hunger is a favorable jury" proverb --India
***
______________________________________
Songs
 on my mind this day:

Handy Dandy by Bob Dylan
Handy Dandy, controversy surrounds him
He been around the world and back again
Something in the moonlight still hounds him
Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, if every bone in his body was broken he would never admit it
He got an all-girl orchestra and when he says
“Strike up the band,” they hit it
Handy Dandy, Handy Dandy
You say, “What are ya made of?”
He says, “Can you repeat what you said?”
You’ll say, “What are you afraid of?”
He’ll say, “Nothin’! Neither ’live nor dead.”
Handy Dandy, he got a stick in his hand and a pocket full of money
He says, “Darling, tell me the truth, how much time I got?”
She says, “You got all the time in the world, honey”
Handy Dandy, Handy Dandy
He’s got that clear crystal fountain
He’s got that soft silky skin
He’s got that fortress on the mountain
With no doors, no windows, no thieves can break in
Handy Dandy, sitting with a girl named Nancy in a garden feelin’ kind of lazy
He says, “Ya want a gun? I’ll give ya one.” She says, “Boy, you talking crazy”
Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, pour him another brandy
Handy Dandy, he got a basket of flowers and a bag full of sorrow
He finishes his drink, he gets up from the table, he says
“Okay, boys, I’ll see you tomorrow”
Handy Dandy, Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy

Peggy Day is 70!






Bob Dylan songs on my mind this day: 4/1/13

"SOMEDAY BABY"

What Was It You Wanted?
When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky
Never Gonna Be the Same Again
Where Are You Tonight
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
"Workingman's Blues #2"




Dylan songs on my mind this day: 3/30/13

The Man in Me

Watered Down Love

Bye and Bye

Up to Me

Under Your Spell

Forever Young

Emotionally Yours

Had a Dream About You, Baby

Let's Stick Together

Heart of Mine

When the Deal Goes Down

If You See Her, Say Hello

Tell Me it Isn't True

Make you Feel My Love

Baby, I'm in the Mood for You

Rollin' and Tumblin'

Long and Wasted Years

We Better Talk This Over

When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

Mississippi

Where Teardrops Fall

We Better Talk This Over

Moonlight

Can't Wait

Born in Time

Beyond the Horizon


"It's now or never

More than ever

When I met you I didn't think you'd do

It's soon after midnight

And I don't want nobody but you (?)"

***



3/27




3/27 Bob Dylan lyrics moved to blog below: Lyrics on my Mind

















Senor/Bob Dylan
__________________
3/23/

"Shooting Star", Bob Dylan

http://videos.sapo.tl/41ktom78Ydae23t4hv3D



"She lived a long life, doing "pretty much" what she wanted. 

She had not drawn the best of cards, but she'd played her hand darned well,

so what was  there to grieve over?"








I'll Remember You - Bob Dylan
The times were fast, my friend, and we rode that train 'til it rusted into the ground. Music, poetry, thoughts, feelings and memories were ours.  They're on the shelf for safe keeping.  Behind the wall, this karmic bond remains it seems -- for how many lifetimes more, one can only wonder. In the amber eventide at the gate -- solitary, silent, listening, waiting  --  all that might have been.

***













"Forgetful Heart" by Bob Dylan (video no longer available)

So beautiful!

I pay in blood, but not my own"
Bob Dylan




 September 2012
 5/6/ - Bob Dylan "Tempest" Review moved to "Lyrics on my Mind" blog below.






From the master's hand ("Tempest")

"They waited at the landing
And they tried to understand
But there is no understanding
On the judgment of God's hand"

***

9/25

Last night I was scanning the radio, as sometimes on sleepless, restless nights I'm prone to do...thinking and wondering how relatively few of Dylan's songs get played....AND lo and behold
"Duquesne Whistle" came on. (Strange how different it sounded to me without accompanying video)
I liked it a great deal.
____________________________________________
                                         
"It's soon after midnight
And I've got a date with the fairy queen"

Bob Dylan

_____________________________________________
Art by AlexRa 2011- "The Fairy Queen," 16" x22" multi-media

_____________________________________________ 
"Forever Young"
  "...my handsome friend


Note:  Bob Dylan videos moved to Rumblings and Ramblings (below)


 (blog author age: 69)







Woodland Bride by AlexRa, May 2012

__________________________________________________________________ 

The Chimera of Our Satisfactions




When we witnessed astute merchants deplore missed opportunities and impotent citizens grieve for complacent youth -- when priceless art was acquired by insatiable consumers and the outrage of malfeasance made itself felt...
          We acknowledged humanity's disgrace

When despots took on a court of law and a treble key announced a misheard note -- when hard-earned privileges evaporated into the void and salvation seemed at hand but left us to our own devices...
          We were in the same boat

When coincidence was no longer valid and we thought ourselves immortal but prepared to die the next day -- when we no longer held fate or madness responsible, but owned up to our deficiencies...
          We embraced a new morning

When love and unalloyed proclamations of suppressed emotion invited us to an inexplicably denied embrace -- when we remembered how striving for liberty our unabashed candor was exposed...
          We held together 

When evocative echoes were unable to return to their source and ancients visited their present reincarnation -- when ephemeral melodies caressed our ears, then promptly disappeared...
          We experienced uncertainty

When we spoke to one another without sound and terrorized our hearts with unmet demands -- when untended earthly obligations and virtues of faith, love and righteousness trembled by a thread...
          We had reason to bemoan our fates

When clarity enlivened and rekindled our days and unfettered feelings, like a purified spirit, answered the stillness -- when foolish words and feverish imagination burdened our dreams with what would not be...
          Our recourse was to endure

When forever silent erstwhile companions were apt to remain and naught but wishful thinking was in charge -- when redemption was imminent but unexpectedly vanished...
          Our clamoring minds had to admit defeat

When we had to acknowledge that our hands, once so dutiful, neglected their obedience and backward glances resulted in turmoil -- when affirmations that once graced a winning but wayward heart were absent...
          We shared our sorrow

When our daydreams were naught but dross and our memories like capricious phantasmagoria -- when  bright days acquired a dark patina and mirrors no longer reflected who we thought we were...
          Your songs survived


***

If you were born while all around you lives were being destroyed, if mortar and debris graced your basinet and one of your earliest recollections is walking through bombed buildings -- if your innocence was violated at an early age and the infamy of your origins is considered your birthright...
          You would discern adversity isn't just a concept

If you believe I passed by your forbidden door without reflection, know that I applauded my good manners but cursed my cowardice -- if the fury of a virulent galloping wind of idiocy was the result of my festering blood spilled frustration...
          Understand anguish was at the wheel

If the vehicle that takes you from here to there is a deathtrap and the clothes you own once belonged to someone else --if your neighbors are clannish and remote and your friends act as if you're in their company on sufferance...
          You'll walk in my shoes

If old lovers appear like so many surreal escapades and places that shattered your senses with glory have become an unrealized paradise  -- if  those whose loyalty you've earned have no consideration for you and every escape is barricaded...
          You'll get a taste of my life

If your talent were ever unrecognized and your assets negligible -- if  your internal climate is one of gloom and despondency and you have no option but to pull yourself up by your bootstraps...
          Welcome to the club

If your ancestors question your common sense and you experience the burn of dissent and the gross injustice of silent spectators -- if all that you saved for a rainy day seeps sieve-like to nothing...
          You may speak to me of distress

If your heirloom silver is tarnished and all the things you pawned add up to major inventory... if the people you've misplaced censor your thoughts and you discover that instead of being the main event in another's life you were only a subplot...
          You'll experience humility

If you recognize that exquisite beauty can be cruel, insensitive and miserly and you've been simultaneously honored and exploited --  if you realize you've served merely as a symbolic metaphor, a poetic device for someone's inspired work...
          Disillusionment will be your lot
         
If implacable, not easily recognized envoys of supernatural omens, cease their importunate beseeching and their authority results in doubtful declarations -- if prayers for compassion and understanding seem like an exercise in futility...
          You'll know where I've been

If the hours you spent creating you judge to be a waste of time and there is little to salvage or aspire to -- if hope perishes and you feel as if there is nothing worth caring about...
          You're not alone
         
If the seraphim you believed would rescue and protect the blameless and helpless fail-- if there's no one to fantasize about and even old standbys leave you contemplating the chimera of your satisfactions...
          You too, will wonder what went wrong

***


When the laughter of your detractors reverberates in an empty room and on a lifeless gravel road you  have to admit your helplessness and insignificance -- when you play the fool since it's expected and you tiptoe through conversations like a mine field because you want to be loved...
          You'll value the necessity of accommodation

When your sphinx like countenance and your immortal work reminds the world forever of your iconic history, but your productivity has become trifling, your popularity unremarkable and your vision grows stale....
          You'll comprehend what the gods want to teach

When you've observed enough degradation to educate even the most ignorant -- when a virgin represents nothing but a token of regret and you seek to be forgiven, nay redeemed from past wrongdoings, but none will absolve you...
          Desolation will be yours

When misery stalks your corridors and a gargoyle mocks your efforts to capture freedom -- when your words seem to convey nothing  but meaningless nonsense and there remains no one to write sonnets for...      
          You will cherish the past

When the status symbol you advertised is outdated and the naked angels who were paid to play with you are no longer interested -- when only those who frequent dark underpasses and dank tunnels seek you out and neither joy nor pain alleviates your apathy...
          You'll see the folly of it all

When you've become indifferent about what others would die for -- when you realize you've immortalized someone's name but the honor you bestowed was blithely taken for granted...
          You will have "gone down the line"

When you've provided yourself with every convenience but have derived no comfort -- when performance is the least of your worries and nothing you can have -- you want...
          A merciless north wind will chill your bones

When make-shift arrangements result in a pretense of joyousness -- when your life gives rise to a carefully constructed façade to protect you from everything but the appropriation of the crowd...
           You'll pay for promises not kept

When you recall how you followed the line of least resistance in tinsel town while your heiress of misfortune despondently yearned -- when denounced and rejected she was filled with foreboding but had no choice but to bow to circumstance...
          You will revisit regret

When self-lacerating memories and iniquities reside silently in ascetic chambers  -- when the fortification of your “couldn’t care less" declarations fool no one but yourself...
          A tragic heart alone knows itself

When your eloquence is remembered and celebrated but your assumptions are revealed as misapprehensions -- when every project you put your hand to is jinxed and gold trophy so proudly displayed has lost its luster ...
          Your luck will have run out

When the silver crested harbingers of good fortune pass by your door and strangers auction off your belongings -- when the sister who had your back reclaims her good will...
          May you be long gone

When winning becomes naught but a gnawing possibility and crystallized sugar sand and shattered bones are irredeemably ground together -- when reverently we are awakened by the second coming of the Lord...
          We may meet again

When sleepless avowals that heretofore graced an endearing soul tremble and submit to disgrace -- when love won and lost is a forgone conclusion and nothing and no one will be there to keep your warm...
          Know I would have welcomed you

When neither fish nor fowl sates your appetite and lilacs drop their blossoms before they bloom --  when hard earned accolades lose their meaning and neither kith nor kin gives a tinker's damn...
          True wretchedness will be yours

When the cistern in your fields yields only tainted water and a lonesome owl's cry is the only sound answering your words -- when  targets fail to remain steady and gods fall short of their abilities...
          You will experience grief

When trouble takes up residence in your meeting hall and mice gnaw through the battlements and run off with your sack of gold -- when moths nourish themselves on your poet's mantle...
          May you have gone to your sweet reward

When the fox in his den refuses to hunt and bears in their lair seek not spring -- when lions cower and wolves desert their pack...
          All will be lost

When naught but wishful thinking remains and a shadow passes for your former self  -- when you fear the unrelenting fact of eternity and question what the universe had in mind for you...
         
          Then, Pilgrim, your race is run, your deeds are done and you'll recall how a delicate orchard oriole championed a splendidly vibrant blue jay's song... and a mighty downpour swept it all away.


Queen of Swords

*** 

In Praise Of Bob Dylan - Poetry by Queen of Swords
ART by AlexRa on MySpace (Photos)  NO LONGER AVAILABLE


"....Not Dark Yet - Poetry Odds and Ends by Queen of Swords
http://rockreelinride.blogspot.com/

The Light and Grace of Starless Wanderers -Poem by Queen of Swords
http://rockinreelinrideagain.blogspot.com/

"Til The Wheels Fall Off" -- Fan Mail from an Admirer
http://blogger2sillytobetrue.blogspot.com/

Long Have I Desired - A Medieval Tale by Queen of Swords
Same Place, Same Time - Poetry by Others
"...with one hand waving free" - this and that philosophy, etc.
Rumblings and Ramblings - Dylan music and others
"All I Want To Do" -  Authors' "Bon Mots"

http://rockrealride.blogspot.com/

Lyrics on My Mind - Bob Dylan lyrics, videos and photos of blog author
http://rockinreelinride.blogspot.com/

For whatever it's worth -- 2014 Selection of matters pertaining to Bob Dylan, blog author's interests, mistakes, odds and ends.
http://worthathousandwordsbob.blogspot.com/


_____________________________________________________

     
1/23/14
Workingman's Blues #2 -- another marvelous song by Bob Dylan

Message:


"I'd love to be in your company, old as old can be, total escape is not possible, but a slow, stately walk west of Eden is now not only an option, but a privilege and old ghosts will take this trainload of troubles and send them down to where never again will they pass this way again."
Queen of Swords
_________________________
"Render me willing to return to a measure of untainted clarity before our willful natures asserted themselves and expectations dominated, before insubstantial potent potions, that initially transported the senses, eventually made inroads and caused a dereliction of spirit. Again to come unto the world with unsullied idealism and the courage of ignorance, before hope was relied upon to aid belief and we strived against all odds to circumvent the collusion of worldly power."



(Above,a segment of "Render Me Willing" by
the "Queen of Swords")




New Year's Day 2014



"Well the future for me is already a thing of the past" Bob Dylan

In addition to two novels, (one written for mass market under the nom de plume Rebecca Rockwell) a small sample of poetry in this blog is from an anthology of poetry inspired and written for Bob Dylan from 1968 to 2013)  by "Queen of Swords" a.k.a  Hazel Brock, Hazel Badger, Peggy Day, (as posted on ExpectingRain) Stephania Badger, et al (copyrighted.)





Bob Dylan songs on my mind this day: 4/1/13

"SOMEDAY BABY"

What Was It You Wanted?
When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky
Never Gonna Be the Same Again
Where Are You Tonight
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
"Workingman's Blues #2"




Dylan songs on my mind this day: 3/30/13

The Man in Me

Watered Down Love

Bye and Bye

Up to Me

Under Your Spell

Forever Young

Emotionally Yours

Had a Dream About You, Baby

Let's Stick Together

Heart of Mine

When the Deal Goes Down

If You See Her, Say Hello

Tell Me it Isn't True

Make you Feel My Love

Baby, I'm in the Mood for You

Rollin' and Tumblin'

Long and Wasted Years

We Better Talk This Over

When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky

Mississippi

Where Teardrops Fall

We Better Talk This Over

Moonlight

Can't Wait

Born in Time

Beyond the Horizon


"It's now or never

More than ever

When I met you I didn't think you'd do

It's soon after midnight

And I don't want nobody but you (?)"

***



3/27




3/27 Bob Dylan lyrics moved to blog below: Lyrics on my Mind



















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Gi8EE8lcA
Senor/Bob Dylan
__________________
3/23/

"Shooting Star", Bob Dylan

http://videos.sapo.tl/41ktom78Ydae23t4hv3D



"She lived a long life, doing "pretty much" what she wanted. 

She had not drawn the best of cards, but she'd played her hand darned well,

so what was  there to grieve over?"








I'll Remember You - Bob Dylan
The times were fast, my friend, and we rode that train 'til it rusted into the ground. Music, poetry, thoughts, feelings and memories were ours.  They're on the shelf for safe keeping.  Behind the wall, this karmic bond remains it seems -- for how many lifetimes more, one can only wonder. In the amber eventide at the gate -- solitary, silent, listening, waiting  --  all that might have been.


***
















"Forgetful Heart" by Bob Dylan (video no longer available)

So beautiful!

I pay in blood, but not my own"
Bob Dylan




 September 2012
 5/6/ - Bob Dylan "Tempest" Review moved to "Lyrics on my Mind" blog below.






From the master's hand ("Tempest")

"They waited at the landing
And they tried to understand
But there is no understanding
On the judgment of God's hand"

***

9/25

Last night I was scanning the radio, as sometimes on sleepless, restless nights I'm prone to do...thinking and wondering how relatively few of Dylan's songs get played....AND lo and behold
"Duquesne Whistle" came on. (Strange how different it sounded to me without accompanying video)
I liked it a great deal.
____________________________________________
                                          
"It's soon after midnight
And I've got a date with the fairy queen"

Bob Dylan

_____________________________________________
Art by AlexRa 2011- "The Fairy Queen," 16" x22" multi-media

_____________________________________________ 
"Forever Young"
  "...my handsome friend


Note:  Bob Dylan videos moved to Rumblings and Ramblings (below)


 (blog author age: 69)









Woodland Bride by AlexRa, May 2012

__________________________________________________________________ 

The Chimera of Our Satisfactions




When we witnessed astute merchants deplore missed opportunities and impotent citizens grieve for complacent youth -- when priceless art was acquired by insatiable consumers and the outrage of malfeasance made itself felt...
          We acknowledged humanity's disgrace

When despots took on a court of law and a treble key announced a misheard note -- when hard-earned privileges evaporated into the void and salvation seemed at hand but left us to our own devices...
          We were in the same boat

When coincidence was no longer valid and we thought ourselves immortal but prepared to die the next day -- when we no longer held fate or madness responsible, but owned up to our deficiencies...
          We embraced a new morning

When love and unalloyed proclamations of suppressed emotion invited us to an inexplicably denied embrace -- when we remembered how striving for liberty our unabashed candor was exposed...
          We held together 

When evocative echoes were unable to return to their source and ancients visited their present reincarnation -- when ephemeral melodies caressed our ears, then promptly disappeared...
          We experienced uncertainty

When we spoke to one another without sound and terrorized our hearts with unmet demands -- when untended earthly obligations and virtues of faith, love and righteousness trembled by a thread...
          We had reason to bemoan our fates

When clarity enlivened and rekindled our days and unfettered feelings, like a purified spirit, answered the stillness -- when foolish words and feverish imagination burdened our dreams with what would not be...
          Our recourse was to endure

When forever silent erstwhile companions were apt to remain and naught but wishful thinking was in charge -- when redemption was imminent but unexpectedly vanished...
          Our clamoring minds had to admit defeat

When we had to acknowledge that our hands, once so dutiful, neglected their obedience and backward glances resulted in turmoil -- when affirmations that once graced a winning but wayward heart were absent...
          We shared our sorrow

When our daydreams were naught but dross and our memories like capricious phantasmagoria -- when  bright days acquired a dark patina and mirrors no longer reflected who we thought we were...
          Your songs survived


***

If you were born while all around you lives were being destroyed, if mortar and debris graced your basinet and one of your earliest recollections is walking through bombed buildings -- if your innocence was violated at an early age and the infamy of your origins is considered your birthright...
          You would discern adversity isn't just a concept

If you believe I passed by your forbidden door without reflection, know that I applauded my good manners but cursed my cowardice -- if the fury of a virulent galloping wind of idiocy was the result of my festering blood spilled frustration...
          Understand anguish was at the wheel

If the vehicle that takes you from here to there is a deathtrap and the clothes you own once belonged to someone else --if your neighbors are clannish and remote and your friends act as if you're in their company on sufferance...
          You'll walk in my shoes

If old lovers appear like so many surreal escapades and places that shattered your senses with glory have become an unrealized paradise  -- if  those whose loyalty you've earned have no consideration for you and every escape is barricaded...
          You'll get a taste of my life

If your talent were ever unrecognized and your assets negligible -- if  your internal climate is one of gloom and despondency and you have no option but to pull yourself up by your bootstraps...
          Welcome to the club

If your ancestors question your common sense and you experience the burn of dissent and the gross injustice of silent spectators -- if all that you saved for a rainy day seeps sieve-like to nothing...
          You may speak to me of distress

If your heirloom silver is tarnished and all the things you pawned add up to major inventory... if the people you've misplaced censor your thoughts and you discover that instead of being the main event in another's life you were only a subplot...
          You'll experience humility

If you recognize that exquisite beauty can be cruel, insensitive and miserly and you've been simultaneously honored and exploited --  if you realize you've served merely as a symbolic metaphor, a poetic device for someone's inspired work...
          Disillusionment will be your lot
         
If implacable, not easily recognized envoys of supernatural omens, cease their importunate beseeching and their authority results in doubtful declarations -- if prayers for compassion and understanding seem like an exercise in futility...
          You'll know where I've been

If the hours you spent creating you judge to be a waste of time and there is little to salvage or aspire to -- if hope perishes and you feel as if there is nothing worth caring about...
          You're not alone
         
If the seraphim you believed would rescue and protect the blameless and helpless fail-- if there's no one to fantasize about and even old standbys leave you contemplating the chimera of your satisfactions...
          You too, will wonder what went wrong

***


When the laughter of your detractors reverberates in an empty room and on a lifeless gravel road you  have to admit your helplessness and insignificance -- when you play the fool since it's expected and you tiptoe through conversations like a mine field because you want to be loved...
          You'll value the necessity of accommodation

When your sphinx like countenance and your immortal work reminds the world forever of your iconic history, but your productivity has become trifling, your popularity unremarkable and your vision grows stale....
          You'll comprehend what the gods want to teach

When you've observed enough degradation to educate even the most ignorant -- when a virgin represents nothing but a token of regret and you seek to be forgiven, nay redeemed from past wrongdoings, but none will absolve you...
          Desolation will be yours

When misery stalks your corridors and a gargoyle mocks your efforts to capture freedom -- when your words seem to convey nothing  but meaningless nonsense and there remains no one to write sonnets for...      
          You will cherish the past

When the status symbol you advertised is outdated and the naked angels who were paid to play with you are no longer interested -- when only those who frequent dark underpasses and dank tunnels seek you out and neither joy nor pain alleviates your apathy...
          You'll see the folly of it all

When you've become indifferent about what others would die for -- when you realize you've immortalized someone's name but the honor you bestowed was blithely taken for granted...
          You will have "gone down the line"

When you've provided yourself with every convenience but have derived no comfort -- when performance is the least of your worries and nothing you can have -- you want...
          A merciless north wind will chill your bones

When make-shift arrangements result in a pretense of joyousness -- when your life gives rise to a carefully constructed façade to protect you from everything but the appropriation of the crowd...
           You'll pay for promises not kept

When you recall how you followed the line of least resistance in tinsel town while your heiress of misfortune despondently yearned -- when denounced and rejected she was filled with foreboding but had no choice but to bow to circumstance...
          You will revisit regret

When self-lacerating memories and iniquities reside silently in ascetic chambers  -- when the fortification of your “couldn’t care less" declarations fool no one but yourself...
          A tragic heart alone knows itself

When your eloquence is remembered and celebrated but your assumptions are revealed as misapprehensions -- when every project you put your hand to is jinxed and gold trophy so proudly displayed has lost its luster ...
          Your luck will have run out

When the silver crested harbingers of good fortune pass by your door and strangers auction off your belongings -- when the sister who had your back reclaims her good will...
          May you be long gone

When winning becomes naught but a gnawing possibility and crystallized sugar sand and shattered bones are irredeemably ground together -- when reverently we are awakened by the second coming of the Lord...
          We may meet again

When sleepless avowals that heretofore graced an endearing soul tremble and submit to disgrace -- when love won and lost is a forgone conclusion and nothing and no one will be there to keep your warm...
          Know I would have welcomed you

When neither fish nor fowl sates your appetite and lilacs drop their blossoms before they bloom --  when hard earned accolades lose their meaning and neither kith nor kin gives a tinker's damn...
          True wretchedness will be yours

When the cistern in your fields yields only tainted water and a lonesome owl's cry is the only sound answering your words -- when  targets fail to remain steady and gods fall short of their abilities...
          You will experience grief

When trouble takes up residence in your meeting hall and mice gnaw through the battlements and run off with your sack of gold -- when moths nourish themselves on your poet's mantle...
          May you have gone to your sweet reward

When the fox in his den refuses to hunt and bears in their lair seek not spring -- when lions cower and wolves desert their pack...
          All will be lost

When naught but wishful thinking remains and a shadow passes for your former self  -- when you fear the unrelenting fact of eternity and question what the universe had in mind for you...
         
          Then, Pilgrim, your race is run, your deeds are done and you'll recall how a delicate orchard oriole championed a splendidly vibrant blue jay's song... and a mighty downpour swept it all away.


Queen of Swords

*** 

In Praise Of Bob Dylan - Poetry by Queen of Swords
ART by AlexRa on MySpace (Photos)  NO LONGER AVAILABLE


"....Not Dark Yet - Poetry Odds and Ends by Queen of Swords
http://rockreelinride.blogspot.com/

The Light and Grace of Starless Wanderers -Poem by Queen of Swords
http://rockinreelinrideagain.blogspot.com/

"Til The Wheels Fall Off" -- Fan Mail from an Admirer
http://blogger2sillytobetrue.blogspot.com/

Long Have I Desired - A Medieval Tale by Queen of Swords
Same Place, Same Time - Poetry by Others
"...with one hand waving free" - this and that philosophy, etc.
Rumblings and Ramblings - Dylan music and others
"All I Want To Do" -  Authors' "Bon Mots"

http://rockrealride.blogspot.com/

Lyrics on My Mind - Bob Dylan lyrics, videos and photos of blog author
http://rockinreelinride.blogspot.com/

For whatever it's worth -- 2014 Selection of blog author's interests, mistakes, odds and ends.
http://worthathousandwordsbob.blogspot.com/


_____________________________________________________

     
1/23/14
Workingman's Blues #2 -- another marvelous song by Bob Dylan

Message:


"I'd love to be in your company, old as old can be, total escape is not possible, but a slow, stately walk west of Eden is now not only an option, but a privilege and old ghosts will take this trainload of troubles and send them down to where never again will they pass this way again."
Queen of Swords
_________________________
"Render me willing to return to a measure of untainted clarity before our willful natures asserted themselves and expectations dominated, before insubstantial potent potions, that initially transported the senses, eventually made inroads and caused a dereliction of spirit. Again to come unto the world with unsullied idealism and the courage of ignorance, before hope was relied upon to aid belief and we strived against all odds to circumvent the collusion of worldly power."



(Above,a segment of "Render Me Willing" by
the "Queen of Swords")




New Year's Day 2014



"Well the future for me is already a thing of the past" Bob Dylan

In addition to two novels, (one written for mass market under the nom de plume Rebecca Rockwell) a small sample of poetry in this blog is from an anthology of poetry inspired and written for Bob Dylan from 1968 to 2013)  by "Queen of Swords" a.k.a  Hazel Brock, Hazel Badger, Peggy Day, (as posted on ExpectingRain) Stephania Badger, et al (copyrighted.)



As far as the public is concerned, only Mr.  Dylan  knows my real name from my first and then my second marriage (my current  name being the only thing salvaged and  retained --my "maiden name" actually came to me from my grandfather, a European opera star who performed a dozen or so  times at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City the 1920s. His name is virtually unpronounceable in the U.S,.)



P.S. d.m. 4/24/2014 message at the lonesome lovers site