Sorry, y’all, but turns out I have one more folk-related post in me. This one’s fun, I swear!
I’m in a creative writing poetry class this quarter, and a couple weeks ago we were assigned a “resolution” poem. I had just gone on this folk kick, so I wrote a poem about how one day I’ll be the best banjo player in the world. Don’t judge! I ain’t much of a poet.
—
G-G-G-C-G
My clumsy picking is slowly
blossoming into something sturdier
since grabbing up that banjo
(just last week).
I suppose this is the sort of
ease with which kings and queens
catch on to polo and the like;
they with their rolling green lawns,
and I with my foothill kingdom of melting pot folk and
twangy aspirations.
Soon I shall become so exceptional
that I’ll have to spit out stale cigarettes,
ash clutching at the filter,
before I can even pause my crazed clawhammer to take a (dirty) breath.
Passers by will discreetly scoop up the butts and
slide them into their pockets and purses,
yellow souvenirs from that
spirited spring day back in ’09 when they saw the girl with the superhuman fingers.
My porch will be my post and throne and they’ll all come to me,
hemming and hawing.
Should someone holler (distastefully)
I’ll simply have him flogged with the spare strings that idle at my feet.
I’ll win every duel –
just like Billy Redden.
—
FYI — Billy Redden is the actor who played the “banjo kid” in Deliverance, and GGGCG are the opening notes for dueling banjos. Check out the iconic dueling scene below:
Tags: Poetry
October 27, 2009 at 12:43 pm |
I loved the poem! Also, have you taken the folk music class offered at the university? I’ve always wanted to play a musical instrument, but after a 5th grade violin horror incident, playing music became a little daunting. Haha.
And, I think you’d be an exceptional banjo player!