The Sadness At The Heart Of The Nation - Jack Crimmins

[Larry Robinson]

The Sadness At The Heart Of The Nation

Waking up after bad dreams,
loss, grief, unable to reach you; 
I think of the sadness at the heart 
of the nation. Where song fades out. 
How there is a train to prison 
that young men ride each day. 
We are torn from each other, lost, 
some rageful, as we dive down 
into our unconscious wounds, awake to 
our present reality. There is
no one here in the darkness. 
The great storms carry thunder snow. 
New rains cause flooding in the west. 
There is a sadness at the heart. 
The painters will show us colors 
and textures of our inner life.
We hope for vibrancy, movement, 
our shadows illuminated. 
In the distance, musicians 
begin to write, sing, chant 
of our dark mystery, our protest, 
and we honor and embrace 
a sadness that will not end soon enough. 
There are drums, now, to be played. 
We are the strong, grieving, drummers 
of our American world. And so I go 
downtown early, for a cup of coffee, 
5:30 in the morning, and driving,
hear Dave Carlson's band, 
Tazmanian Devils, on KRSH radio,
"Roots, Blues, Americana", 
playing a live version of "Not Fade Away",
as good as it gets rock 'n roll, 
magical in the early dark, 
the crowd cheering at the end. 
And I think I'm going to be all right again, 
even with this sadness at the heart of the nation. 

	- Jack Crimsons