Stevie Ray

(My memorial piece for the great Stevie Ray Vaughn. This is what actually happened, how I heard about his passing.)

the line kept running through my head,
clouded.
Jim Morrison, fading in and out,
scattered by static;
"let me tell you about Texas radio and the big beat;
soft driven slow and mad like some new language."
then Stevie Ray would blast in,
riding the atmosphere,
bouncing in from some two-bit border station,
driving, wailing, splashing, like fire in the fog.
i reached out to grab a swirl of cloud
and tune him in, but he kept scattering
in the fog.
it was salty and sharp, tasted like
a thousand nights of sweat
and back-alley clubs in heat,
tasted like tears and spilled gasoline
and scrambling newshounds.
and Jim would run his line again
over Stevie's fret pounding:
"let me tell you about Texas radio
and the big beat!"
and i woke up,
and the news had just come on.

Reviews

[TTBoy28]

It took you to another place! Thank you for sharing your true experiences, Larry! Also, thank you for reminding me about Jim and Stevie Ray. You make me wanna get their stuff out now! Your language is awesome!