A line of royals
traveling lazy Susans
some kind of magicians
we learn to stutter
use hand signals
stretch wide as wings
in the open wind
our fleshy transmitters
pick up signals
from Sky King
or King Kong
there is no wrong
side of the tracks
only rock, paper, scissors
we ride around like sultans
meaning no harm
Tess Kincaid
August, 2011
Recorded by the most competent R.A.D. Stainforth. Check out his excellent blog, Black Dogs.
More Magpie Tales here
I found this unidentified photo in a stack of ephemera in a Missouri antique shop.
Oh nice one!
ReplyDeleteThis just rolls like a cigarette...it reminds me of Tom Waits
ReplyDeleteWow! Intriguing... I especially like the last five lines.
ReplyDeletenice...used to listen to radio shows back in the day...that is how i first heard star wars actually...this has a great feel to it tess...
ReplyDeleteThis has a great feel of "back in the day" to it and the invincibility of the young.
ReplyDeleteDon't they just look like they own the world?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteyou are the best, renaissance girl. wow.
The photo, perfect...the poem , divine...time on your blog, priceless ;)
ReplyDeleteGod, Sky King--haven't thought of that in years! Wonderful, and the photo couldn't be more perfect for this.
ReplyDeleteThis has such a lovely and easy feel. Terrific.
ReplyDeleteWe used to "cruise" back in the day...fun memories. And we were just playing rock, paper, scissors : )
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when 'going for a ride' was a Sunday treat. Nice evocation, Tess!
ReplyDeleteSorry my tale is a downer but that picture looked so familiar. Amazing piece of writing, of course,
ReplyDeleteQMM
BTW do you know when we will receive our books. I ordered one early on.
ReplyDeleteQMM
QMM, soon now, on the books...they are running several weeks behind schedule...
ReplyDeleteimages of people from Delaware ended up in Missouri?
ReplyDeletewe ride around like sultans meaning no harm - how true this is in those days we called our youth (I'm old enough to say that)
ReplyDeleteJack Armstrong, Captain Midnight, and me, riding my two-wheeled motor vehicle
ReplyDeletecalled a WHIZZER. All over the city--Cincinnati. None of us meant harm. And we WERE sultans.
PEACE!
Love the way you captured the photo as if you had been there....the last two lines are awesome Tess!!
ReplyDeleteWhich came first; the photo or the poem? I'm sure those two girls must be sisters.
ReplyDeleteUnidentified photos can intrigue, as this one does. Great poem to match, Tess!
ReplyDeleteOh for those days when were sultans, Tess. Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteA most evocative piece this. I read it over several times: it has a nice sound quality and I agree with Rene – it just rolls off the tongue. The final line was a particularly intriguing choice.
ReplyDeleteEasy smiles, thrown away miles in adventurous content.
ReplyDeleteI also like the ghostly apparition of the photographer in the dusty paint between the windows.
Lovely poem Tess! Cheers!
Love the poem, and that picture is flippin' AWESOME. Something about the girl in the front seat reminds me of you.
ReplyDeleteLike the double entendre of sultanas!
ReplyDeleteTess,
ReplyDeleteBefore the world was too much upon us.
rel
"there is no wrong
ReplyDeleteside of the tracks
only rock, paper, scissors" -
a good natured innocence that travels through time like radio signals through space.
Final two lines for me!
ReplyDeleteMasterful evocation.
Ah yes, hand signals. I remember those.
ReplyDeletePerfect!I enjoyed this very much Tess...I liked the last two lines best!
ReplyDeleteNo harm! only 100% fun- right you are.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun. I like to imagine what their names were and how they lived their lives. Did they remain friends? I like the image of "wide as wings in the open wind".
ReplyDeletethe guy in the back is the king...
ReplyDeletehow about the guy reflected inteh paint? There is a poem.
Yes, I think the reflection of the guy taking the picture is very intriguing...
ReplyDeleteCro, the picture came first...
ReplyDeleteDear Tess: The "kings of siam" is pure magic!
ReplyDeleteour fleshy transmitters
pick up signals
Twas the time of the radio and new fangled tv and the new unseen saves penetrating and maybe seering flesh.. Aye, royalty all!
Tess -- teen-age-hood! Let me count the ways we have changed since your photo was taken. Yesterday the focus seemed to be outward -- while today's teen-age-hood seems to focus inward. Cute photo -- barbara
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of the Sultans.
ReplyDeleteI too thought the girl in front was some relative of yours until I read the footnote.
Everything about your poem takes me back to those days .. Sky King rocked then, still does.
ReplyDeleteYou rock too!
Great poem...I just really love how you put it all together!
ReplyDeleteThe title is one of the best parts
ReplyDeleteof this whimsical beauty, back
in the 50's and 60's when five
of us, mostly guys would go out
and cruise all over Seattle, looking
for girls, drag racing, hollering epithets
out the windows; and yet we never
won a race, got the girls, upset
anyone, and did no harm. Besides
learning to stutter we learned to
talk with a hair lip and talk backwards:
it was sery vimple to igger it fout, just had
to clisten losely.
Love the way you integrate more oldies into the text - fun prompt
ReplyDeleteI like it!
ReplyDeleteas ever, Tess, loving the way you spark off your ephemera-- such a poignant and eerie photo in so many ways-- lovely write-- I remember the phrase kings of siam...xxxj
ReplyDeleteLove this - particularly the end-line. Wish I'd written this (said in an amiable, non-jealous way).
ReplyDeleteYou speak of a world I never knew but I enjoyed the image of it.
ReplyDeleteso loved
ReplyDeleteso admired
so charming
so fun
I thought
Don't cry for me Argentina
Evita Peron
but what do i know
a jot from the country
reading words
ode to joy
Ludvig himself
could not employ finer
in a caravan
of Symphony #10
the unwritten.
Sky King King Kong
sent my jillies jollying
at full pop.
Anon, I'm glad I made your jillies jolly.
ReplyDeleteLove the nostalgia that pours out of this!
ReplyDeleteMagical, for sure!
ReplyDeleteOn the road we could be anything. Agreed. "Sky King" brings back wonderful memories!
ReplyDeleteI like how you capture an innocence of mind when we ride and ride an ride with only the moment at hand. Love this poem, Tess!
ReplyDeletewait a minute, what's this about Susan's being lazy. LOL.
ReplyDeletewonderful feel to this poem and great prompt.
I think I adore R.A.D. what a voice! what a wonderful interpretation of your poem!
Like Penny in the Songbird, this piece took flight...
ReplyDeleteThis is a Pleasure, Tess. Let's hear it for Sky King (and Penny)
ReplyDeletei'm still trying to get Christopher Walken for a reading
ReplyDeleteha
it is pure enjoyment, seeing the picture with your work, I can almost see things moving. :)
ReplyDeleteSure makes me wish for a time machine to just for a moment experience those moments, sensations, again.
ReplyDeleteAh, nostalgia! It evens out the rough and makes kings of commoners!
ReplyDeleteThat's beautiful. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the title Tess, so evocative in itself...kids, not a care in the world. They are kings!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Riding around always was big fun at that age.
ReplyDeleteThe picture was a real find, Tess. And I find your Magpie close to real (reference to Sky King...love it).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gentle Readers, for your kind and generous comments. It is a pleasure to share my poetry with you. xx
ReplyDelete