Sitting in a cafe in NYC, my arm in a sling
I busted my shoulder a few days ago got permission
From my ortho to play still - the show must go on
A few days ago my dear neighbor passed away
Suddenly I heard the news while onstage
Be careful checking your texts
Before you go on your mind should be as clear
As possible allowing the muse the magic
To fuse with the backbone of your spirit
I fell in a pothole in Nashville my semi-platform shoe
Hit the hole and I went flying spread eagle
My hand broke the fall but couldn’t keep the rest
Of my left side from conspiring to pound the pavement
Literally how fragile each movement is we make
In this mad, violent world when we least expect it
Bones break, friends pass we lack answers it hurts to stop
Moving is something I tend to take for granted
The tour life a roller coaster of emotion, expectation
Fueled by devastation’s sweet relief Music wraps Herself
Around us an ace bandage a sling a cast of concern,
Mindfulness, invention, compassion, uplift
I think to myself, meeting eyes with the doctor:
“He has no idea how to factor in my secret superpower”
They don’t teach us in school how to adjust equations
Of recovery from mourning, from injury, from insobriety
When music and art are involved the power
Every audience has to heal is it equal to or greater
Than the sum of my heart’s rapid breathing
Divided by a loved one’s untimely tenuousness
My travel itinerary stretches out before me
A prescription from a village, a reverential community
Where night is designated daytime and showtime
Is the difference between mundane and make believe
What will be the consequences of embarking on this journey
Fragile as I am with sadness and one limb’s duress
Coloring my perspective? Bring it on, new song.
I am tearful and I am ready
To connect these disparate dots
