'S H' (14.1)

THE MUSICIAN
by John Daugherty
04/25/2004; copyright 05/10/2004

Music, heard, experienced by a receptive ear,
And consciousness in tune with perceived emotion,
The breech of expressions, oft stillborn, a tear,
An abstract of an abstract less than truth I fear,

The conception of a talent to express a thought,
A rhythym, a rational moral code, a vibration,
Of existences' internal fiber, starlight like quicksilver caught,
Will it slow the run of my life’s clock?, alas, I think not,

Yet, to live as maker of life’s force and will, in deed,
To groom the wellsprings of one’s feelings and ideas,
Crystallizing expression of personal value, a seed,
And from the depths of character, do proceed,

To forge the golden ingot of self-consciousness,
Narcissus-like, to revere the very foundings of existence,
Yet with singularity of purpose, explore, express,
And receive and grant all gifts of sight and kindness,

For is not consciousness of reality our only goal,
And self-consciousness as well our only means,
Of validating, assessing, confirming cognitions very role,
Integrating less contradiction, conceiving character’s whole,

And the sight we seek, directed not by fear of actuality,
Rather guided by an eagerness to see our abstract confirmed,
Is that broad spectrum’d panorama of reality,
Not the brashly displayed gross-self of the less-than-conscious;
In his nightly escape from thought and responsibility,

by John Daugherty 04/17/04

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER II (EXTRAPOLATION OF BOB DYLAN'S AATWtwr)

--“THERE MUST BE SOME WAY OUT OF HERE, SAID THE JOKER TO THE THIEF,
THERE'S TOO MUCH CONFUSION, CAN'T GET NO RELIEF.
BUSINESSMEN, THEY DRINK MY WINE, PLOUGHMEN DIG MY EARTH; NONE OF THEM ALONG THE LINE KNOW WHAT ANY OF IT IS WORTH,

--“NO REASON TO GET EXCITED, THE THIEF HE KINDLY SPOKE, THERE ARE MANY HERE AMONG US WHO THINK THAT LIFE IS BUT A JOKE, BUT YOU AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH LIFE AND THAT IS NOT OUR FATE,...LET US NOT TALK FALSELY NOW, THE HOUR IS GETTING LATE.”

-“LATE INDEED, REPLIED THE PRIEST (POLITICIAN), AS HE JOINED THEM ON THE TRAIL,
“YET A WAYS AHEAD I SEE A TOWN, AND THERE WILL BE OUR BAIL,
COME YOU MEN, WE’LL CONFUSE THEIR THOUGHTS, DEPRIVE THEM OF OUR WORTH, FOR MEN WILL GIVE MOST ANY THING TO FREE THEM FROM THOUGHT.”

--“ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER, PRINCES KEPT THE VIEW, WHILE THEIR WOMEN CAME AND WENT, BAREFOOT SERVANTS TOO,...OUTSIDE IN THE DISTANCE A WILDCAT DID GROWL,...THREE RIDERS WERE APPROACHING AND THE WIND BEGAN TO HOWL”

--“COME ALL YOU MEN AND WOMEN HERE AND LISTEN TO MY PLEA,
THE WORDS YOU HEAR ARE NOT THE ONES I WISH FOR YOU TO HEED,
CONSIDER THEM AND DISCARD THEM, IN FAVOR OF YOUR OWN,
FOR YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR SOUL AND OTHER SHIPS YOU OWN.