A Sour Note

So I’m laying in bed 
Trying to sleep 
Yet my mind is all wanderin’ 
With the cranial creep
 
Tonight it’s composin’ 
Stuck on a groove 
I’m feelin’ a beat
And a bass run to move 
 
This tune keeps on keepin’ on 
Session players in my head
They’re booked for the night 
At the foot of my bed
 
The tempo is upbeat 
Guitar melodic and tight 
I think I’ve got something 
Even this late at night 
 
Well now, background singers 
now that’s something new 
Like where this is goin’ 
I’m really thinking this through 
 
Why not bring in some strings 
Add more bottom and class
The rhythm’s contagious 
Hell this tune’s kicking ass..
 
Conceptually nailed it 
Now compose and create 
My mind’s fuelled by fumes 
When it’s running this late 
 
Fulfill the urge 
to crawl from the bed 
The only laying down now 
Are the tracks in my head 
 
My gear sits in waiting 
Guitar, amp, keyboard, laptop, virtual instruments and effects 
I’m a band of one at this ungodly hour 
Maybe one more than one would  expect 
 
My mind’s got this sorted, 
Fictitious artists settle in, find their place 
Queued to record soon
before rising sun will erase
 
I’ve made the assumption 
I’ll take the lead on this tune
No one else is here
as blurry eyes scan my room
 
I count myself in 
Tap my toes, feel that beat
Right hand staccato 
Melodic chords will  be sweet
 
Then, in an instant…
 
A swift bird of prey 
my mind’s choice for a hand
Clutches the fretboard
Not as I planned
 
Sweet chords are now muted
fluidity, promptly lost
fingers choke to express passion
Frozen claw-hand with a cost
 
Six strings are now trip wires 
Finger instinct now impaired 
As disease’ symptoms aggressively surface  
Pleas of innocence are not spared
 
It’s subtly consistent,
Takes no prisoners, acts in haste
My creative moments in solitude
It aims to convince me, are to waste
 
My mind acknowledges those gathered 
who took the time to join in, 
Virtually assembled, cuz they matter
they’re not here on a whim
 
Oh such are the nights, 
when sleep is oh but a tease, I’ll attempt to compose and to play 
Music puts me at ease, so to create, I’m quite pleased 
Though this night it appears to not be the case…
 
So, even then, when at rest 
When this world’s fast asleep 
and my creative will, is here by my side 
This selfish beast steals, what it sees brings me joy
yet my willpower won’t stop burning deep inside.
 
So this round we’ll call it educational 
Or more specifically, a life ‘lesson learned’
I’ll sustain, I’ll commit, carry on and not quit
If this thief gets too close it’ll get burned.

 

 

Used by permission of the author.

Shane McPhee

Diagnosed with Parkinson’s (PD) in October 2011, Shane, since then,  has found a growing interest in writing stories or poems ...more