15th & 16th September, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rod at Dos Vidas. Photo by Thomas Kist from the 2006 Arjan Vlakveld film “Rod McKuen: A Man Alone” for Netherlands Public Television. Photo ©2006, 2007 by Stanyan Audio Video Archives. All Rights Reserved.

A Thought for Today

The poem is in the skin, it is a blemish that will not rub out.

 

FROM the¨BOOKS

SUMMER EVENING

Thunder some where.
Like drummers striking the sky.
It'll rain all right
         but I'm prepared.

I've closed the windows,
taken the furniture off the porch,
the dog's inside now.

And outside? You're outside.

Outside my life somewhere
running naked through somebody else's July
too dumb to come in from the rain.

Who takes care of you now?
Who wakes you up?
Who loves you to sleep?
Who cares as much as I cared for you?

I'll tell you something,
no one cares for me the way you did.

Summer evenings are different now.
Being without you is like getting ripped alone
                nothing or everything... I'm never sure.

- from the album "Summer", 1975

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ROD McKUEN CONCERTS

ROD McKUEN APPEARANCES
notable birthdays

Saturday 15 September

Roy Acuff o Cannonball Adderley o Richard Arnell o Robert Benchley o Ann Berzinsky o Agatha Christie o Jackie Cooper o James Fenimore Cooper o Norm Crosby o Henry Darrow o Milton Eisenhower o Louis Frémaux o Prince Harry o Tommy Lee Jones o Dan Marino o Kathryn Murray o Jessye Norman o Merlin Olsen o Gaylord Perry o Jean Renoir o Rin Tin Tin o François, du de la Rochefoucauld o Bobby Short o Oliver Stone o Penny Singleton o William H. Taft o Rin Tin Tin o Bruno Walter o Fay Wray

Sunday 16 September

Jean Arp o Lauren Bacall o Tina Barrett o Elgin Baylor o Ed Begley, Jr. o Alexis Bledel o Gwen Bristow o Charlie Byrd o Rosemary Casals o Matt Chanoff o George Chakiris o David Copperfield o Peter Falk o Anne Francis o Allen Funt o Piero Gamba o Linda Kaye Henning o Kenny Jones o Jack Kelly o B. B. King o John Knowles o Janis Paige o J. C. Penny o Harrison Francis Parkman o Mickey Rourke o Reverend Robert Schuller o Ben Shields o Jennifer Tilly o Robin Yount o Madeline Zima
Rod's random thoughts Take a book to lunch.

Honest labor is the best profession in the world.

Temperance is a great idea. But a good Martini is an even better proposition.

THE OUTER REACHES OF THE HEART

 The outer reaches of the heart 
are never fully tracked
but I have seen the limits
of my own heart
in the distance
and I now know its boundaries
to be unlimited.
I had begun to feel
that sorrows fought & conquered
could not touch or threaten me again,
but this new grief is wider
than the sleep of reason.
I have moved through solitaire
to some new unnamed place
                                  beyond alone
and I am standing here without a map.
I wish that I had not gone
swimming in the distance
without an island or a raft
as harbor or safe floating place.

The afterwish
is always harder to make so
than the dream we call a starting place.
Safety always lies out there.

How to get from here to there, 
                                   the question.
The answer, wait for transportation.

- from "The Sound of Solitude", 1983
 
     
 
© 1970, 1986, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 by Stanyan Music Group & Rod McKuen. All Rights Reserved
Webmaster: Ken Blackie • Birthday Research by Wade Alexander • Poems from the collection of Jay Hagan •
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