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Thread: Lennon Triptych (CTG)

  1. #1
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Default Lennon Triptych (CTG)

    Hello all

    Well I didn't make it into the slam final of the Liverpool Lennon Performance Poet Slam Final to be held in Liverpool on November 6, boo hoo. Finalists have just been announced. In any case, here now is the full three-part poem.
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    .
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    Lennon Tryptich
    .
    .

    I. O, Johnny-O

    O, where have you gone, Johnny-O!
    Where have you gone, O, Lennon-O!

    You left us too soon, so long ago
    -- although we saw you, back then,

    in the clubs of Liverpool: the Cavern,
    at the Mardi Gras, at the Jacaranda,

    or else supping with your mates in Ye Cracke
    or The Grapes. Aye, lad, we grooved

    hearing you, O Johnny lad, as you stood
    with your legs-apart stance,

    thrumming your old '58 Rickenbacker geeee-tar,
    raunchily singing for us, mugging

    for the birds.... oh, what a flirt!
    Oh, aye, we know what took you away:

    Sex, drugs....... and, yeah yeah yeah,
    Rock and roll! Segs, dregs, and drool.

    "The Smoke" drew you from us -- a date
    with fame. The world yearned for you,

    you and your mates. And you and Paul had a ditty
    or two or three to write, anthems for the universe,

    for better and for worse. O, such dead-on lyrics!
    Said so much -- dead good, yeah, as any poet's verse,

    the sound of your generation... and who will
    deny that you two Scousers often said it best?

    Aye, but we were your fans first
    -- in the damp and grimy streets

    of the 'Pool, within hearing
    of the foghorns on the river.

    O, Johnny-O, you were a giver and taker!
    Listen to that Managua-bound freighter!

    O, Lennon-O, you left your mark on us
    -- and Liverpool left its mark on you.
    .
    .
    .

    II. Julia

    I stand over Julia's grave
    in Allerton Cemetery, sense
    some of what you're about:

    an unmarked grave, just like my
    great grandmother's in this same
    cemetery; faded teddy bear tribute.

    The night that the car took Julia
    away from you, liquor stinking
    on the off-duty cop's breath.

    Julia -- knickers on her head
    -- adult and child all in one.

    Leather-clad rocker's mum gone
    but not! -- not! -- not forgotten!

    No room for sentiment, except
    in your songs -- somehow;

    the girls scream anyhow.
    .
    .
    .

    III. Here and Yet Not Here

    strawberry gooseberry
    strawberry gooseberry
    strawberry gooseberry

    walrus
    songs for us
    listen to the chorus

    strawberry gooseberry
    strawberry gooseberry
    -- sirens in the night

    broken spectacles
    flecked with blood

    Here and yet not here

    rags to stem the blood
    rags to stop the bullets

    Here and yet not here

    The same greased-back hair
    the same leather jacket
    sweat on the ceiling of the Cavern
    rocking in the warren
    rocking in the womb

    Here and yet not here

    Something else inside
    something else driving
    the gum-chewing ted
    slouched against
    the smoke-black wall.

    Here and yet not here

    Not just a snide word
    a mouth full of knuckles
    circles encircle eyes
    crazed squiggled figures
    words encircle thoughts
    in a Lear-nonsense tongue

    Here and yet not here

    Inside the black leather
    behind the hard eyes later
    dreams from one to nine
    a dream of guns stuffed with rags
    quiet over the fields of war

    Here and yet not here

    One of four singing love
    to the virgin world
    yet the orphan the poet
    the renegade for peace

    Here and yet not here

    Christopher T. George
    Christopher T. George
    Editor, Ripperologist
    Editor, Loch Raven Review
    http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/
    Chris on Flickr and on MySpace

  2. #2
    Senior Member dazza's Avatar
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    Well done Chris, and thanks for posting.

    Very good, all different in style to each other yet related. I really liked the tryptich approach, and trying to reconcile the paradox of being there, and not being there. Also there's a surrealness behind Julia's accident [knickers' on head] which seems oddly apt and fitting, given her troubled relationship with John.

    You must be interested in viewing the other poems submitted? Are they intending to eventually publish them all?

    Daz
    "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."... ... ... Mark Twain.

  3. #3
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Thanks, Daz. Yes of course I am curious about the other poems that are being recognized in the competition. I recently became more active again in terms of sending my poetry out for publication. I have a poetry collection under consideration in one contest and have submitted some separate poem to different places. I might try the Lennon Triptych in either a magazine or as part of a collection. Thanks again for your interest and encouragement, Daz. It's most appreciated!



    Chris
    Christopher T. George
    Editor, Ripperologist
    Editor, Loch Raven Review
    http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/
    Chris on Flickr and on MySpace

  4. #4
    Senior Member dazza's Avatar
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    You're very welcome Chris, I enjoy reading them.
    "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."... ... ... Mark Twain.

  5. #5
    Senior Member John Doh's Avatar
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    'Knickers on head' - not aware of this reference... Is anyone going to explain?

  6. #6
    Senior Member dazza's Avatar
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    Julia's antics.

    Among the more notable examples was the time she met the two boys in public, wearing a pair of knickers (bloomers) on her head in place of a scarf. Pete Shotton remembers, "They were the old-fashioned kind of knickers, you know, so the legs were hanging down over her back. People were staring, but she was just so cool about it, it was hysterical!
    "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."... ... ... Mark Twain.

  7. #7

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    Well, interesting poems and good stuff.

  8. #8
    Senior Member lindylou's Avatar
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    Brilliant ! I don't know how I missed this post Chris. Hadn't seen it before.

  9. #9
    Senior Member ChrisGeorge's Avatar
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    Thank you, April and Lindy.

    Cheers

    Chris
    Christopher T. George
    Editor, Ripperologist
    Editor, Loch Raven Review
    http://christophertgeorge.blogspot.com/
    Chris on Flickr and on MySpace

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