Alex+McGrorty

"Ode to the Pearl Necklace"

Smooth milky white stones on a seemingly invisible thread the much loved gift given some years ago for a now forgotten reason the opaque lily white pearls seem to capture the moon within their shining depths gift of the sea, from an oyster clink and click together and settle at the base of my throat they're worn so often they seem a part of me and I find myself forgetting what I even look like without those little sphere beads that are cool to the touch

Praise Poem Packed in an overstuffed car. My brother and I sprawled across the back seat Among boxes of possessions Our whole entire world in that van We travel down the dusty yellow highway Though innumerable states Roadside restaurants and motels were our refuge Heavy southern accents, something I’ve never heard We travel restlessly, like modern day gypsies Many chaotic months spent this way Always landing somewhere new, and leaving just as quickly No set destination in mind, travel wherever the road takes us

Nighttime Sonnet A steely cold winter night The only time you can truly see the stars The black abysmal sky is devoid of light Except those cold distant orbs so far The sun sets and all fades Shadows scatter and flee The soft light of the moon Illuminates small bits of the ground But it’s light is gone all too soon As it is shrouded by the cloud And the night wears on The moon waxes and wanes And then suddenly it’s gone Light has returned as dawn breaks

Three Poems: Mirrors and Fevers by Conor Oberst

I was cold in a dream somewhere close to the surface Between the ice and the stream there is three inches of air So I swam towards the light I let my breath get there first When I opened my eyes I saw myself in the mirror And I knew I would do like my father has done Yes, we will never break from these chains Your life is gonna course like a history book Don't be frightened of turning the page Cause it's is all the same It will always be the same

Easy/Lucky/Free by Conor Oberst

did it all get real, I guess it's real enough they got refrigerators full of blood another century spent pointing guns at anything that moves sometimes I worry that I’ve lost the plot my twitching muscles tease my flippant thoughts I never really dreamed of heaven much until we put him in the ground but it's all I'm doing now listening for patterns in the sound of an endless static sea but once the satellite's deceased it blows like garbage through the streets of the night sky to infinity but don't you weep, don't you weep for them there is nothing as lucky don't you weep there is nothing as lucky, as easy, or free

don't be a criminal in this police state you better shop and eat and procreate you got vacation days then you might escape to a condo on the coast I set my watch to the atomic clock I hear the crowd count down 'til the bomb gets dropped I always figured that there'd be time enough I never let it get me down but I can't help it now looking for faces in the clouds I got some friends I barely see but we're all planning to meet we'll lay in bags as dead as leaves all together for eternity but don't you weep there is no one as lucky honey, don't you weep there is nothing as lucky, as easy, or free

Train Underwater by Conor Oberst

You were born inside of a raindrop I watched you falling to your death And the sun, well she could not save you She'd fallen down too, now the streets are wet

Body of water Toxic and timeless Atlantic ocean New York skyline I always get lost When I leave the village So I couldn't come meet you In Brooklyn last night

But I sing glory from my lowest And I will say peace to the people I meet While the world waits for an explosion That instant of life That wipes the slate clean

So don't be fooled No don't get lied to Love was always cruel

And don't act strange Don't be a stranger It happened to me, now it's happening to you

But if you take that train under water then we could talk it through

Well if I could tame All of my desires Wait out the weather that howls in my brain Because it seems That it's always changing The winds indecision The sorrowful rain

Yeah, I was a postcard I was a record I was a camera Until I went blind

And now I'm riding All over this island Looking for something To open my eyes

But I still sing glory from my high rise And I will say thanks if you're pouring my drinks While the world waits for an explosion That moment in time, when we'll be set free

So don't stay mad Just let some time pass And in the morning you'll wake feeling new

And if I don't come back I mean if I get side tracked It's only cause I wanted to

I'm keeping up with the moon on an all night avenue

This poet draws a lot on memory and emotion as basis for his work. He brings together strings of vague memory, and he puts them together in lyrical verse. Many of Conor Oberst’s poems seem very pessimistic, some bordering morbid, but also point out underlying positive thoughts regarding the situation that he is singing about. The first poem I posted “Mirrors and Fevers” seems kind of pessimistic, but it talks about how you have to keep trying to overcome the barriers that are set for you. Break free of the chains that hold you, even if it seems hopeless. The second poem was more about death, accepting it and not allowing the thought of it to consume you. It also seems to be apocalyptic; talking about the world ending (I set my watch to the atomic clock/I hear the crowd count down 'til the bomb gets dropped) The final poem seems to once again talking about when everything comes to an end, and even though everything he’s done will go to waste, he might as well make the best of it while he can. The themes of apocalypse and just “living one’s life while they can” are both predominant themes within this artist’s poems. Oberst seems to somehow fear and embrace the future at the same time. He uses his poems as an outlet, expresses his fears and true feelings through them. Most of the poems have a vague feel to them, but that vague feel is always pessimistic.