ending the partnership
At first he thought the drinking just enlarged existing traits. His partner had always been suspicious of institutions, drawn toward grand theories about power and hypocrisy. In the early years […]
Collapsing
She lived as though someone always was grading her. Somewhere behind every chord she played there seemed to be an invisible examiner with folded arms and impossible standards. If she […]
noticing life after automation
He lied recreationally. Like a jazz musician adding extra notes because silence made him itchy. He claimed he almost joined Frank Zappa’s band but “the astrology looked hostile.” He informed […]
come make noise
Playing Hugh’s Room next weekA strange gratitude about TorontoIt has been less a backdrop to this lifethan asprawling rehearsal hallevery decadeleaves one more ghostleaningagainst the wall smoking A unique listening roomstill standingwhere songs still have a chanceto arrive intactinstead […]
his royal highness
He moved through life like a man perpetually arriving at the scene of a crime committed by others, forever explaining that his disappointments had been engineered by his ex-wife, directors, […]
the memory loss
She remembered everything except the songs. Never the chords. But the words, the things audiences came to hear, suddenly vanished mid-performance as if someone quietly removed pages from a script. […]
Lorenzo Bartolomeo Giuseppe Francesco di Cremona
The violin began speaking during rehearsal, which at first was blamed on exhaustion. The conductor froze when the instrument, resting innocently in its chair, sighed and said, “Could we perhaps […]
the way rain knows rust
The monkey played harmonicabeside the highway diner sign,small hands gripping metallike a secret he could almost translate. Truckers stopped laughing first.Then the children.Then even the waitress carrying coffeepaused beneath the […]
made of sound
Bart heard it in voices the way others hear pitch. A kind of emotional dissonance. At first he ignored it. Then he started writing songs about it. Observational ones. Fragments […]
just enough to notice
It disappeared in Vancouver. One minute it was there, leaning where I left it, case with familiar scuff. Next minute not. No witness step forward. Someone said it was probably […]