18th & 19th October, 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

Without some 'think time,' we relinquish our quest for knowledge to others and are forced to accept their opinions as our own.

 

FROM the¨BOOKS

COMFORT

If we could do it all again
    motor bike through Roman cities
in the rain
   watch the cats chase lizards in the forum
     and drink bad wine from mouth to mouth
I probably would try
to love you harder than I did
I probably smile a smile
much better than the ones you knew
for I was just rehearsing then
imagining what easily might happen
in years to come.

It is not just you I love
      (or even Roman rain)
or all the times you rattled on my window
after twelve o'clock.

I love the smell of rooms-
Where you have been
The foreign touch of things I never knew
Until you came along.

I even love your enemies
Because they drive you to my arms
For comfort.

- from "Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows," 1966

Click on the Stanyan House logo to buy Rod McKuen books, CD's and lots more

Click on the heart logo to subscribe to the Rod McKuen mailing list

Catch Rod McKuen live!

Click on the links below for details of concerts and appearances.

ROD McKUEN CONCERTS

ROD McKUEN APPEARANCES
notable birthdays

Thursday 18 October

Chuck Berry o Pam Dawber o Mike Ditka o Jesse Helms o Miriam Hopkins o Fannie Hurst o Klaus Kinski o Lotte Lenya o Wynton Marsalis o Melina Mercouri o Martina Navratilova o Laura Nyro o Anita O'Day o Lee Harvey Oswald o Waldo Salt o George C. Scott o Vincent Spano o Inger Stevens o Bobby Troup o Pierre Trudeau o Jean-Claude Van Damme o Wendy Wasserstein o Dawn Wells o Rebecca Westphall

Friday 19 October

Jack Anderson o Robert Beatty o Amy Carter o Divine o Sean Garrison o Jean Genet o Omar Gooding o Lloyd Haynes o Jennifer Holliday o Evander Holyfield o John LeCarre o John Lithgow o Tony LoBianco o Walter Mathews o Peter Max o Lewis Mumford o George Nader o Troy Parker o Robert Reed o Jeannie C. Riley o Johnny Stompanato
Rod's random thoughts See all sides of everything before making up your mind on anything.

While the fast lane gets you there the soonest, you see and learn more by choosing the outside lane.

I'd gladly go down in a whirlpool if all day I had ridden on a friendly wave.

TWENTY SIX / BROWN OCTOBER

 Leaves fall down now
         brown and beautiful
     brittle to the touch
lying on the ground or filling public fountains.
Swirling down the street,
catching in the gutters
             and diverting little streams of water.

Brown October leaves
          trampled under foot
banged about by brooms that sweep the gutters 
                    clean.

I remembered today
that among the silly things you saved
                was a brown and yellow leaf
pressed between the pages of a book somewhere.

We found it in the park, remember ?

I shook out every book I owned to find it. 
                                   Still it's lost,
or owned these days by Hemingway or Whitman.
Maybe even Gertrude Stein.
Would she know what to do 
                with a brown and yellow leaf ?
And would she give it back ?

- from "Listen To The Warm", 1967
 
     
 
© 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 •
Sound & Fury Dr. Eric Yeager • Editor at Large: Bruce Bellingham • Emeritus: Melinda Smith
Want to comment on today's Flight Plan?
Send e-mail to Rod McKuen or post a message at the Rod McKuen Message Board
home page   today's flight plan   flight plan archives   search this site   site map
stanyan