Wabi-Sabi

No music this Monday. I wrote this thing, and against my usual instinct that I developed, which is to keep the deepest parts of me out of the eyes of strangers whenever I can, I wanted to actually share it. I used to be so open, and now it's so hard to get me to share more than the superficial. Maybe it's just that, before, I was nothing but superficial.

Wabi-Sabi

Nothing is perfect,
Nothing is finished,
And nothing lasts.
That’s why it’s beautiful,
That burning
Tugging
Heart-hurt of remembering
Your fingers tangled in my hair,
Your lips on my shoulder,
Not breathing
For fear of breaking the way the air crackled
And living tears hovered in hundreds of eyes
As we finished the song,
“I’m not sorry I met you,
I’m not sorry it’s over,
I’m not sorry there’s nothing to save…”

The quiet completeness of moments,
Trying hard to press into my memory
The way your eyes move under their lids
While you dream in the almost-dawn.
I try to remember these things,
Just as hard as I try to forget how much I don’t want you to go.
It’s easy to wish we could stay here
Wrapped up like a cocoon
In cool, green, flowing lines.
But to never hatch,
To never fly,
To hold you here would be the height of cruelty.

And I’ll lay my scarred, shy body
Naked beneath your gaze a hundred times,
But I’d die before I let you see these words:
You only need to ask, and I would follow you
To the coldest, harshest corners of the world,
And the fact that you would never
Just lodges you deeper in my chest.
And however long before the cocoon breaks,
It will be too soon.
I hope the blue in the atmosphere you touch
Warms you, teaches you, satisfies you,
And brings you loves far greater than mine.

I hope you treat well
The chunks of me that you will keep
When we reach our separate paths.

(c) 2012 Leah Barr (except the lyrics to "Your Ex Lover is Dead" by Stars (c) 2005)

Music Monday: I'm Just Me

So, I went on Thursday night to see Stars, California Wives, and Diamond Rings at the Egyptian Room. Stars are absolutely my favorite, favorite, favorite band ever. I could listen to their discography on repeat for days. They didn't disappoint. Far from! In fact, I'd say it was more of an experience than a mere show. My friend, Tony, was there with me, and we were that funny overly-physically-affectionate couple. Even though we're totes not a thing. Stars is just the ultimate music to have on for cuddling, kissy moments. "It sounds like sentimentality and nostalgia" is the way Tony described it. And I mean. I'm still in awe. I was close enough to the stage, I could have touched Chris or Torquil. Every single musician in the band has so much intensity. And when Torquil and Amy put their microphones out and had the audience finish "Your Ex Lover is Dead" for them? I was teary-eyed. I'm not even ashamed to say it. It was one of those moments so beautiful, you're afraid to move or speak or even breathe, you so badly don't want to break the magic of it. This post is about Diamond Rings, though. The dude's a force to be reckoned with.
 

 And such a sweetheart too! His new album, Free Dimensional, comes out on October 23rd. And since Tony and I are both apparently in love with him now or something, this week's Music Monday shall be dedicated to his most recent single, "I'm Just Me."



 Thanks, all three bands, for showing Indy a fantastic time Thursday night. And thanks to My Old Kentucky Blog for having them on at the Egyptian Room.

Music Monday: Don't dream it, be it!

In honor of the Rocky Horror Picture Show this past Friday. Photos at the SMG Evansville facebook page . Everyone had a seriously wicked good time! It was nothing short of tragic that Mesker Amphitheatre was closed, because it's just not the same. But it was nice being indoors. Freezing your tail off in fishnets for several hours gets a bit taxing.

 Hot patootie, bless my soul: