I Forget ( Reposted this as it fits the theme. )

[Bob Pacey]

I Forget

This world can be a frightening place , from pain there's no relief
I watch the news each evening and it can fill your life with grief
Carnage on our highways, the ravages of war
Sometimes I have to wonder mate ,what are they fighting for.

Then there's the terror of just living, like spiders nearly make me S--T
Or a sudden boot of lightning can bring on a frantic fit.
But of all the things in life that happen, though I'm not the one to whine
there is nothing like the fear you see when a bush poets lost his line.

It may not happen very often but its always in your mind
you just stop and stare so blankly, your whole memory's gone blind.
And it can happen to the best of us be you first or second rank
You cruise along in full flight and then your bloody mind goes blank.

I've done this poem a thousand times, I know it page by page
But that's small consolation when your standing centre stage.
The sweat pours from your beaten brow, your eyes begin to roll
Your pray to God to let you please just crawl into a hole.

You look around for inspiration and you wish that you were dead
Does another poet know the words? but they just hang their head.
Now it takes hours to memorise them, you can practice day and night
In the bathroom or the toilet, cause it has to be just right.

They go round and round inside you head, there is no peace at all
You just can't find contentment, till you've memorised it all.
So you shrug and make some lame joke " I haven't done this for a while"
You fumble through some papers, or stand with a vacant smile.

Sometimes you can recover, skip out a verse or two in time
Or mumble incoherently and hope the words all rhyme.
Or perhaps it's gone forever, taken off in flight
Was it stored inside those brain cells the beer killed off last night.

Perhaps the crowd will never know, the error of your way
But you always do and it steels your nerve, to fight another day.
Despite the trials and tribulations, all the heart ache and the rage
We still take every opportunity to get up on centre stage.

Its just like some dammed addiction, it courses through your blood
When the crowd bursts out in laughter, the high, it hits you like a flood.
So pity the poor bush poet with that vacant gaze and stare
and think of the all the practice that it took to get up there.

Give them a clap for trying, recognize the courage in their heart
it took a lot of effort to even make a start
And when the show is over, and you might think this insane
when someone pulls a mike out mate, we'll fight to do it all again.

Bob Pacey ( C )

[DollyDot]

Hi Bob

So true! I've been on both sides of the stage and it is horrid.
[quote][Does another poet know the words? but they just hang their head.
/quote]
I do remember hanging my head when sitting in the audience I think I was praying that they would hurry up and remember them and /or thanking God it wasn't me!

Cheers

DD

[Bob Pacey]

Yes Dot

I had the same last week at a show and the guy on the stage went blank, lucky he chose a poem i knew so a few short wispered words and he was off again.


Been there done that, If i can not recover I simply say " Well that was a great poem till i killed it anyway if you want to hear the rest you will have to buy a cd or a book" .


Cheers Bob