I got tight lipped
trying to play those chords,
singing into
that dusty mic.

If I sang
the right song lyrics,
this is what
I would have said.

I hear you
drifting off to sleep.
What do you think about
when you dream?

Do you pray
your soul to keep?
I think of you
when I dream.

I dream only
good things for you.
I’ll always be there
for you, dear Emerson.

The song was
supposed to be happy,
but my clunky chords
made it sound spacy.

My messing around
with the pedals
made it sound fuzzy
and trippy.

Lots of feedback
with my Ibanez acoustic
sounding a bit
choppy, dissonant.

Meant to be
a lullaby,
sounded like a rant
from a lunatic.

I will try and
be better on the spot
with the chords
and the thoughts I got.

Maybe learn some
chord progressions
hat sound lighter
when I write about you.

Maybe in the key
of C, or D,
or something bright
like you.

Damn, you are
so cool.
You are not an
E minor somber song.

I might have stayed
on the downbeat too long,
made the song dreary
and not a summer sing along.

But I meant well.
I will try harder,
think better,
write smarter lyrics.

You deserve to
hear something,
maybe when you
can understand it,

a small look at
what your father did
with his time
on the planet.
 
 

Jason Wright is the editor and founder of Oddball Magazine. His column appears weekly. His third book, Train of Thought 2: Almost Home is available now at the Oddball Book Store.