“Of Bob Dylan“ | |
There are those who do not imitate, | |
Who cannot imitate | |
But then there are those who emulate | |
At times, to expand further the light | |
Of an original glow. | |
Knowing that to imitate the living | |
Is mockery | |
And to imitate the dead | |
Is robbery | |
There are those | |
Who are beings complete unto themselves | |
Whole, undaunted, a source | |
As leaves of grass, as stars | |
As mountains, alike, alike, alike, | |
Yet unalike | |
Each is complete and contained | |
And as each unalike star shines | |
Each ray of light is forever gone | |
To leave way for a new ray | |
And a new ray, as from a fountain | |
Complete unto itself, full, flowing | |
So are some souls like stars | |
And their words, works and songs | |
Like strong, quick flashes of light | |
From a brilliant, erupting cone. | |
So where are your mountains | |
To match some men? | |
This man can rhyme the tick of time | |
The edge of pain, the what of sane | |
And comprehend the good in men, the bad in men | |
Can feel the hate of fight, the love of right | |
And the creep of blight at the speed of light | |
The pain of dawn, the gone of gone | |
The end of friend, the end of end | |
By math of trend | |
What grip to hold what he is told | |
How long to hold, how strong to hold | |
How much to hold of what is told. | |
And Know | |
The yield of rend; the break of bend | |
The scar of mend | |
I’m proud to say that I know it, | |
Here-in is a hell of a poet. | |
And lots of other things | |
And lots of other things. | |
— Johnny Cash | |
From the liner notes for Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album | |
[Johnny was not a bad poet, himself… — KMAB] | |
. | |
Archive for March 25th, 2013
Where Are Your Mountains
Posted in My Journal, Poetry, Quotes, tagged Album Notes, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, My Journal, Nashville Skyline, Of Bob Dylan, Poems, Poetry, Quotes on March 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »