changes.....................

Last night, while sitting in front of the fireplace with a friend enjoying a glass of wine a song popped up in our conversation. I don't even know where it came from or how it wound up being retrieved from the past. Surprisingly, neither she nor I knew anyone else at this juncture in our lives who knew the song. Also surprisingly, it turns out it was our favourite folk song sung when we were young attending different summer camps. Of all the folk songs we were taught, this one resonated the most......she at her camp in her life separate from mine. We have only known one another for a couple of years..........

When I was 10 or 11 years old, my camp counsellors were heavily influenced by the folk songs of that anti-war era.........many were shared.......many were taught....many were sung around a campfire. I remember them all fondly........ For some reason, I couldn't for the life of me remember the words to my favourite. The tune has been nestled in my brain for a long time with no means of connecting to the words. Sometimes, a snippet of the song would pop up and as hard as I'd try, I couldn't dredge the rest up from my memory. I asked others if they could remember. I tried to find it on the internet, but had no luck. I didn't know who wrote it until last night..........it was Phil Oches.

A touchingly beautiful end of summer lament returned. A gift. Wish I could hum it for you. But I think the words hold up as poetry. No need for a tune.

Beautiful pictures of starry night beach gatherings, of glowing faces lit by the light of the campfire, and of one special summer love whom I also know holds this song close to his heart............these are my pictures filling in the grace notes between the lyrics.............

Changes

Sit by my side, come as close as the air,
Share in a memory of grey;
Wander in my words, dream about the pictures
That I play of changes.

Green leaves of summer turn red in the fall
To brown and to yellow they fade.
And then they have to die, trapped within
The circle time parade of changes.

Scenes of my young years were warm in my mind,
Visions of shadows that shine.
Til one day I returned and found they were the
Victims of the vines of changes.

The world's spinning madly, it drifts in the dark
Swings through a hollow of haze,
A race around the stars, a journey through
The universe ablaze with changes.

Moments of magic will glow in the night
All fears of the forest are gone
But when the morning breaks they're swept away by
Golden drops of dawn, of changes.

Passions will part to a strange melody.
As fires will sometimes burn cold.
Like petals in the wind, we're puppets to the silver
Strings of souls, of changes.

Your tears will be trembling, now we're somewhere else,
One last cup of wine we will pour
And i'll kiss you one more time, and leave you on
The rolling river shores of changes.

Phil Oches.