*04.26.07—Jon Gutwillig—North Star Bar, PA*

—for Doc F

wrest                                           [eccentric]
music incrediblencia

freed                                            [dreaming]
dig what a song can lead you to see

calloused slides                               [over strings]
scratches from chord to chord

a certain                                        [sign language]
shapes swept over by a pick

acoustic                                        [truisms]
briquettes of plastic explosives

music of             let’s-not-just-kick-it-to-the-chorus,
baby, but of       fret-board finger painting

                        and then, the wonderful

*08.10.08—Wilco—Grand Opera House, DE*

it’s how i keep listening.

one’s letting me know
what happens

when strings of certain
tautnesses

are made to shiver
for specific licks

and distances.

[from some]
[came some]

another uncovers
what puddles are muddled

when tubs become
percussed.

it’s how i keep dancing.

but from some
thought

came some through:

for it’s how
it all gets translated

into how i keep singing,

with how the music
gives me

something to reveal—

something i didn’t
even know

i wanted to put into words,

that makes it all so

[thought]
[through]

it’s how i keep writing.

Paul Siegell is the author of jambandbootleg (A-Head, 2009), Poemergency Room (Otoliths Books, 2008) and the forthcoming wild life rifle fire (Otoliths Books, 2009). He is a staff editor at Painted Bride Quarterly, and has contributed to The American Poetry Review, BlazeVOX, Coconut, Rattle and other fine journals. Paul has also been featured in the Philadelphia City Paper, Paste Magazine, Relix Magazine and Bookslut. Kindly find more of Paul's work at ReVeLeR @ eYeLeVeL.