Rod McKuen - Flight Plan


THIS ONE DOES IT FOR ME!		A Thought for Today To love is to lie down with the angels. Ken, Found myself reciting........"no more the young heart leaping in the dark".....while in the shower this morning along with contemplating retirement alone......... Ed Gohn A sobering thought, Ed, and I sincerely hope the part about being alone is only temporary. The poem your quote is taken from, "Kearny Street", is one that features here pretty regularly as do most pieces from "Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows". The last person to request it could only remember the line about "marmalade and oysters for breakfast one morning" and the line that sticks in my mind is "for love is only moments here and there". I guess the poem means different things to different people which is precisely how it should be. Thanks for writing, Ed, and all the best in your retirement. If you have a favorite McKuen song, poem or story you'd like to share, please drop me a line at kenb@mckuen.com and I'll make sure your letter takes center stage one Wednesday soon. - Ken, Johannesburg, November 20 Click on the heart logo to buy Rod McKuen books, CD's and lots more Click on the Stanyan House logo to subscribe to the McKuen Mailing List Catch Rod McKuen live! Click on the link below for details. ROD McKUEN CONCERTS & APPEARANCES



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		Being in and out of one another's favor and embrace causes each of us to try the longer stride next time. Greatness lies within the individual, not within his comprehension of it. A lie is more trouble to remember than the truth.

KEARNY STREET		The house on Kearny Street where I came and went on weekends is the same. The hill above is summer green the sky a foggy blue and children still march by each day at three o'clock foraging back from school. The hill and Kearny Street are still the same but I have changed. No more the winning smile the hasty song the happy stare of love the young heart leaping in the dark room. And no more the wild young man who talked to quickly and too loud of love he owned and wished to give away. Seldom the sun catches me lying in bed late anymore. Seldom the pigeons gargling in the grass see my form stretched out upon the lawn. I pace unfamiliar streets now attempting new solutions to old problems and the answers seldom come. But there was a time in the fall and winter of the year when the sun's bright yellow mingled with the fog and Kearny Street in San Francisco was the whole world. Sometimes I'm sorry for love once known it doesn't justify the years you spend remembering. I was always timid about your loving me anyway knowing the eagle doesn't hunt flies and that worlds were larger than our love. But I am happy still that even for a moment you laughed in my direction and chased my nakedness down a lonely beach. For maybe six months of love is worth the lifetime you spend looking, and marmalade and oysters for breakfast one morning and knowing you tried to love me is enough. For love is only moments here and there it comes and goes quietly I think. You hear it like silver bells tied about the throats of cats (now near - now sounding far away.) I was loved on Kearny Street. But no more the young heart leaping in the dark room. - from "Stanyan Street & Other Sorrows", 1967

Birthday research by Wade Alexander o Poetry from the collection of Jay Hagan o Coordinated by Melinda Smith o Sound & Fury Dr. Eric Yeager o Webmaster Ken Blackie

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