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Posts Tagged ‘Willie Nelson’

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“Whiskey River,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Creativity, Humanities, Poetry on July 22, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

Whiskey River

Willie committed to stay after every show
on stage, signing autographs until the last
item was signed. My wife’s merch hat cost dough.
“50 bucks?!” She was mad at my gift. I sassed
her stinginess, hurt, sipped my pricy whiskey.
Our tix, an in-law’s X-mas gift. Will ancient,
but Shotgun stepped on stage, nailed a couple nifty
licks on Trigger. T-shirt black, skin crepe. Patient,
the packed, tiered casino venue breathed as one.
Then his voice, his band and Whiskey River broke
open the roar. The room lifting: people up! Cheering his runs
on that battered guitar. The troubadour smoked
out riffs like Hendrix would’ve in his eighties. Will played long.
My wife, joyous, alive! Will signed her hat, then was gone.

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“Branson,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Creativity, Humanities, liberal arts, Poetry on July 15, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

Branson

The Live Music Capital of the World wasn’t good.
“We were stuck in one spot. Artistically,
it sucked,” said Mickey Raphael. Willie should
not have committed months without simply
talking to Mark, his business advisor,
but Tillis brought tequila, weed, smiles. Shotgun
signed to play the venue-town for guitar survivors
in need of steady short sets, repeat forever. Fun
for some, sure, merchandise, tourists, but for outlaws?
No freedom. Still is still moving for Will, but no bus
was a cell. In the Ozark motel, Mark saw
the sleeping bag, the tent pitched on carpet. This deal’s a bust;
rust, not freedom. “Get me out of here!” Willie blamed
the road for his pain, but Branson was prison, just loss, just fame.

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“Pancho & Lefty,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Humanities, liberal arts, Poetry on July 8, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

Pancho & Lefty

Willie and Merle were compared to bookends. Look
at the two brothers…and their shelf of music history!
They had a tour planned before Merle shook
off the world on his birthday. Penitentiary
life marked him early, double pneumonia stole
him from fans and family, 79. The Hag kept
on the fighting side until the end: playing shows,
recording Django & Jimmie with Will. His lungs ripped
from hard-living’s disease. Back in the Eighties, sleeping
in his tour-bus, Pedernales studio, 4:00 am, Will knocks,
needs Merle for a last tune. Not later, now. One take. Meeting
Shotgun the next day, Merle thinks about his vocals, talks
to Willie. Can we do another take, get it perfect? Will grins
The tape is sent. Townes Van Zandt’s song hits #1, wins.

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“Mentors & The Road,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Humanities, Poetry on July 1, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

Mentors & The Road

Willie Nelson and the Record Men drove
from Stamford to Los Angeles, thirty-two
hundred miles for one gig — sixty-nine hours. Rode
fifteen-thousand miles in eighteen days, tunes
on the AM dial in the Merc’ station wagon.
Willie promised Paul, “I’m going to make it
up to you.” Cash did TV with Dylan.
Waylon sold more. Willie played sad tunes, no hits.
Sinatra fan, he chose shifting beats, tried
jazz-style vocals to country crowds. Proven band
guys mentored unproven: “…that shit ain’t gonna fly.”
“We were learning cool tunes.” Bee said. “…jammed
jazz. Older guys taught the younger guys.” Soon
Will bought an Open Road Camper. They kept paying dues.

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“The New Path,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Poetry on June 3, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

The New Path

In the middle of the night, he saddled up his pony
& went for a ride. Willie’s Red-Headed Stranger,
1975, burns with vengeance, loss, hate. The story,
blended tunes, sparked on the road, compiled at home. Murder,
a preacher tormented. “Love is like a dying ember…” Crying
blue eyes, a now famous cover from the 15 tracks.
Raw production worried everyone. Who’s buying
this? “That album isn’t going to sell shit.” It’s a fact.
“Did he make this in his living room?” Career-ending
mistake! But outlaw Willie trusted himself. Bee Spears,
bassist, believed the boss’s instincts, not second-guessing
the man. Blue Eyes was a smash! Willie had traveled, performed; years
of living hard. Booze got him mean. Couldn’t quit tobacco. His fate?
Filled his empty cigarette pack with joints. Lung cancer took his dad in ’78.

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“The Lamp & the Rider,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Poetry on May 27, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

The Lamp & the Rider

Out my window is San Jacinto, the snow
sharp, peaked, crisp-white at pandemic
lockdown, Day One. Five weeks later: the peak glows,
pale white, at dawn, past my curtains. Anthemic
sirens insist someone has another crisis:
fire, crash, crime…our other tunes of bad news.
My wife said only 26 in our town, so far, have the virus.
This COVID concept album won’t stop the blues
of yellow desert birds in Coachella. They fly,
sing: “Eat, live, Saturday!” Tuesday, my sons camped
in our backyard tent — just boys. Me on the lawn under the sky,
old, but happy & know I’m lucky with Sherelle. The lamp
I lift as people die? Teach, write, help young heroes fight failure.
But who is the rider that cries like a baby, screams like a panther?

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“Lost After Willie: Post-Show,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Uncategorized on May 20, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

Lost After Willie: Post-Show

I rambled in ’80. No college, would start UCSC
That fall. Hungry to live, fought thru being stuck,
& lost. Squinted one lit eye to see poet-rebel Willie.
Post-show? An hour or two later, woke up, still drunk
On hood of the Pinto. In Universal Bar, asked for Roger,
My missing friend, asked myself, “How did the concert end?”
Me & Roger must’ve drank Jack. We sure did in September, the theater
Window at UCSC, broke by a rock, a gossip said was in my hand.
“It wasn’t me!” I insisted to Kira, the dancer from my dorm.
A guy in the bar found Roger asleep under his parked car,
After Willie. Mad, I pushed Roger in a fountain & stormed:
“Where’d you go?! Thought I lost you!” Later, Roger parachuted into war.
We fell away as friends. Different lives: soldier & writer. Outlaw
Music our faded flag. 2018: Roger killed himself. Facebook the last of him I saw.

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“Lost After Willie: The Show,” A Poem by Bruce Craven

In Arts & Letters, Creative Writing, Poetry on May 13, 2020 at 6:45 am

Bruce Craven is a member of the Columbia Business School Executive Education faculty in New York City. In addition to directing and teaching in a variety of executive programs, he teaches graduate business students his popular elective Leadership Through Fiction.  His book Win or Die: Leadership Secrets from Game of Thrones, was published in March 2019 by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.  The book is currently being translated into Russian and Turkish. He wrote the novel Fast Sofa (1993) which was published in Japanese and German. He also co-wrote the script for the film adaptation, starring Jennifer Tilly, Jake Busey and Crispin Glover. His collection of poetry, Buena Suerte in Red Glitter will be published in 2019 by Red Dirt Press. He lives with his wife and two sons in the Coachella Valley in California.

 

Lost After Willie: The Show

Roger drove us in his Pinto to Universal
Amphitheater, North Hollywood, to see Willie.
1980, before Roger’s second year in the universe
Of Texas A&M. Two women from New York City
Sat beside us. We were drunk, Roger & me.
Forty years later, I still remember bugging
the women, who were quiet, distant, looked Jewish.
“New York?! Really? Hilarious!” Forty years later, judging,
Is what I think I never did, remembering innocence.
How could north eastern women get references
Of the West? I was blind to my blindness, nineteen.
Roger and I must’ve talked ‘bout College Station. Hurt
The enemy! Roger wanted Apocalypse Now. He’d seen
The future. War. He wore creased Wranglers, Western boots, ROTC shirt.

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