Saturday, September 1, 2012

River of the Air



image borrowed from bing


River of the Air

“I came upon a child of God,
he was walking down the road
and I asked him,
where are you going?
And this he told me.....”
--Joni Mitchell   1969


Thunderous eruption, rain squalling,
shutter slamming, car crashing beat
with raunchy rhythms crashing through everyone
like blue ice lagoon waves washing
over the brilliant white sand
between our naked toes.

Shaggy minstrels maneuvering melodies
drawing a quivering throng of humanity
tight together at Sky River 1969;
cacophonous current without water
perched on a shimmering laser-lit Zeus stage
thrusting reverbed electric sobs
mellifluously out over the multitudes

who were talking, praying, singing, crying
about love, and loving out there
in the red dust that settled on a
many thousand-lipped smile.

Hosted by a stoned bearded Buddha
begging for a blow job, and braying:

“Yes, there is misery in this world,
but there is also the get high of happiness!
Which do you choose?
There can be freedom, equality, brotherhood;
just look around you!”

And we did,
and there was.

Strangely absent 
was that jagged junta, 
the bristling laurel of pigs
usually prevalent at such joyous events;
gone even was the threat of sober steel,
that vicious arm-in-arm lock-stepped
riot shielded helmeted Hessian terror--

present instead
was a great iron train on towering tracks
that slowed while people waved
and slipped away.

Sure, there were some among us
who were spaced out, super-stoned
as drugs were vended like peanuts,
and there were some who ran naked
through the crowd, mostly ignored,
drowned out by the mighty music,
just silly naked asses dancing
off the beat while spilling their beer.

For most of us the loftiest rapture
materialized from just being
a single intimate cell
in that sublime creature
we had all become,
fucked up, freaked out, free as birds;
blended, weaved, woven, sewn inseparable
into one enlightened cosmic being,
one great throbbing entity
with a hundred thousand limbs
with ten thousand mouths
with the strength of millions
singing one common song
of rebellion,
of liberty,
of youth,
of love.

When the light on the earth passed on
and the sun sank into the horizon armpit
like poppy wine smearing the sky,
three giant screens behind the musicians
exploded with manufactured color,
extending the sunset long into the busy night
as we hugged, swayed, kissed, and dreamed
of a time when brotherhood would replace nationalism,
and the land would ring with freedom.


Glenn Buttkus

August 2012

Posted over on dVerse Poets

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?

15 comments:

Brian Miller said...

just being
a single intimate cell
in that sublime creature
we had all become,


smiles..there is a part of me that wishes that i was around back in the day of these music festivals....just experience that feeling...did my dance with the drugs and stuff way back in the day...even worked stage crew and security for some concerts...been to a slew of them...but just being there among all those people wow that would have been overload in a good way for me...smiles...

Claudia said...

there were some festivals like this back in the time...only heard about them..think they had great and honest dreams, changing the world and hoping for a better future.. it was a revolution of a special sort...

Susan Daniels said...

Love the becoming into one beautiful creature here. Stunning.

Mary said...

I felt as if I was right at the festival with you, Glenn. You really made the festival come alive with ALL of the details you shared. I find myself wondering why they don't have such festivals anymore....

Anonymous said...

I love this...totally love it. To share in your experience? well...you panted it so well I could feel it... god-damn I wish I could have BEEN there though... I'm sure festivals are not like this any more!...this echoed so much (in a good way) of that free form beat generation radical flow

fucked up, freaked out, free as birds; blended, weaved, woven, sewn inseparable into one enlightened cosmic being, one great throbbing entity with a hundred thousand limbs with ten thousand mouths with the strength of millions singing one common song of rebellion, of liberty, of youth, of love


SOOOOO GOOOOOODD

Anonymous said...

Took me right there - I was only 3 at the time! Whatever happened to all those rebels?

Tony

Maude Lynn said...

"just being
a single intimate cell
in that sublime creature
we had all become"

That is the greatest feeling in the world!

flipside records said...

I love these sections:

"with raunchy rhythms crashing through everyone
like blue ice lagoon waves washing"

"Hosted by a stoned bearded Buddha
begging for a blow job, and braying"

"Strangely absent
was that jagged junta,
the bristling laurel of pigs"

"and the sun sank into the horizon armpit
like poppy wine smearing the sky"

I always love the hippie vibe that you share with us, Glenn.

Jessica said...

The truth is we are always, "blended, weaved, woven, sewn inseparable into one enlightened cosmic being." And for some reason we need music, a common purpose, and becoming "fucked up, freaked out, free as birds," to realize it.

Truly, this is an awesome poem! So much to learn.

sharonlee said...

Sigh...swept me away from this temporary state of conforment I find myself in.

Man I enjoyed this!

Gemma Wiseman said...

I intended selecting one particular image that I loved, but found too many wonderful choices in this exotic feast for the senses! Take one ingredient away and somehow the feast element collapses! So overall, here is the spirit of rebellion pulsed to life by the beat of music! Beautiful!

Orange UaPoet said...

Well done, Maestro. Right there with you. A generation of concert happenings, experiences of just being. Those were the days, my friend, I thought they'd never end...for some of us, they haven't.

Dana Dampier said...

You've really put that generation in perspective for me. I love how blunt you are.

Anonymous said...

Oh I am really liking this first I read it then I clicked the button and you brought it to life

Alex Shapiro said...

BRAVO!!!
I love it!

:-))
Kelp Grrl