I’m sitting here listening to Crosby, Stills, and Nash singing Southern Cross. One of the best songs of all time, really. I love this song so much. I never tire of it. It makes me think of high school football games and chilly November nights and Atlanta smog. This song singlehandedly made me beg the question, “where in the heck IS Papeete?”
Thank God for Google Maps. Now I know that I have to go there before I die.
Got out of town on a boat goin' to southern islands.
Sailing a reach before a followin' sea.
She was makin' for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to Papeete.
Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of waterline, nicely making way.
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away .
Think about.
Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me
Cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world
Lookin' for that woman-girl
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will.
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way.
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small,
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day.
So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dyin',
And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain.
I have my ship, and all her flags are a flyin'.
She is all that I have left, and Music is her name.
Think about.
Think about how many times I have fallen.
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'.
What heaven brought you and me
Cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world
Lookin' for that woman-girl
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will.
And you know it will.
So we cheated and we lied and we tested.
And we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.
You will survive being bested.
Somebody fine will come along
Make me forget about loving you
At the Southern Cross.
I love words. I’m a quote fanatic…lyrics included. Being a part-time writing professor, I’ve learned that the written word is becoming an art that’s truly taken for granted. Not to sound like an old school hag, but kids today don’t read anything that can’t be read online in about 2.5 seconds. They abbreviate things; they butcher the English language. They don’t take time to really THINK about what they’re saying before spewing a bunch of words on paper. Many of my kids turn in papers without using spell check, for chrissake. It makes me nuts. It’s disheartening. I think the deterioration of the English language is something that’s on the horizon, actually. But I’ll remain steadfast in my optimism. I am a true cheerleader at heart. Words are becoming belittled, beaten, on the verge of being extinct in some sectors of the world, but I remain hopeful. I’m slightly worried, mainly because I’m a complete dork, but also because I think words convey who we are. They convey the vulnerabilities, the realness of a person. Words, as we know them, are fading into abbreviated text messages. IM’d fragments. Branching off into a new genre on t-shirts…
Ah, message-bearing t-shirts. The new form of haiku.
I’ve been known to wear an “I love Nerds” and “Get your Geek on” t-shirt. But I’ve seen some really good ones lately in the city. The infamous “I love Jake Ryan” shirt struck a 13-year old nerve with me. Emotions ensued, so it did act like a poem. It served its purpose, conjuring up memories of how I felt as a prepubescent girl, watching Jake and Samantha on that kitchen table, leaning over her 16th birthday cake to engage in a kiss. How I wanted to marry Jake Ryan. I thought it was my destiny. Boy, was I mistaken. And my roomie’s “Bitter” t-shirt explains, in such simple terms, the angst of a newly divorced 30-something. Yep…t-shirts are the new poetry. Sad as it may seem, it’s true. How apropos…wearing your emotions on your shirt…for all the world to see. I wonder how long it’ll take for universities to jump on the bandwagon, teaching “T-shirt Poetry 101”. What’s the symbolism in this “Ditch Him” shirt? What does she MEAN by that?
When I go to Papeete someday, I’m going to wear a shirt that says, “You know it will."
