St. John wrote one of my all-time favorite poems – “Guitar” (The New Yorker, December 18, 1978; included in his 1980 collection The Shore). It’s so good, I want to quote it in full:
I have always loved the word guitar.
I have no memories of my father on the patio
At dusk, strumming a Spanish tune,
Or my mother draped in that fawn wicker chair
At dusk, strumming a Spanish tune,
Or my mother draped in that fawn wicker chair
Polishing her flute;
I have no memories of your song, distant Sister
Heart, of those steel strings sliding
All night through the speaker of the car radio
Between Tucumcari and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Though I’ve never believed those stories
Of gypsy cascades, stolen horses, castanets,
And stars, of Airstream trailers and good fortune,
Though I never met Charlie Christian, though
I’ve danced the floors of cold longshoremen’s halls,
Though I’ve waited with the overcoats at the rear
Of concerts for lute, mandolin, and two guitars –
More than the music I love scaling its woven
Stairways, more than the swirling chocolate of wood
I have always loved the word guitar.
I have no memories of your song, distant Sister
Heart, of those steel strings sliding
All night through the speaker of the car radio
Between Tucumcari and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Though I’ve never believed those stories
Of gypsy cascades, stolen horses, castanets,
And stars, of Airstream trailers and good fortune,
Though I never met Charlie Christian, though
I’ve danced the floors of cold longshoremen’s halls,
Though I’ve waited with the overcoats at the rear
Of concerts for lute, mandolin, and two guitars –
More than the music I love scaling its woven
Stairways, more than the swirling chocolate of wood
I have always loved the word guitar.
God, I love that poem! Those last three lines are inspired. The whole gorgeous assemblage is inspired – one of the best poems ever to appear in The New Yorker.
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