Poetry: My Friend Bill James Played The Blues...Kinda. By John Yamrus

my friend Bill James played the blues...kinda.

 

mostly,

 he drank beer 

and smoked weed, 

 

but,

every 

now and then 

he played the blues. 

 

it 

was the 60s 

and the old blues guys 

were having a revival of sorts,

 

and 

Bill played 

songs by really 

obscure guys like Yank Rachell 

and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. 

 

when 

i first met Bill 

he was fresh in from New York,

 

where 

he tried to 

make a name 

as a musician, but 

the only thing he ever got 

 

was 

beat up, 

and a real 

love for the blues. 

 

i remember the time 

Bill got drunk, 

 

and passed out in his car. 

 

he 

spilled a 

quart of milk 

on the seat, and 

he slept all day in the sun 

 

and 

the milk 

turned bad 

and stank for a month. 

 

and 

Bill was 

one of those 

guys who came to mind 

when you heard that old song 

 

that 

called someone 

a walking contradiction, 

partly truth and partly fiction...

 

except old Bill 

(who was probably all of 26)

was all fiction, but he was a good guy,

 

right 

up to the end, 

when he locked his car 

and took his guitar out into the park 

 

and 

hung himself 

from a big old tree.

 

i wrote a poem 

about him 

once, 

 

a 

long 

time ago. 

i’m writing 

another for him now.

John Yamrus is one of the most prolific writers of poetry on the scene today, He is widely considered to be a master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. The relaxed style of his writing can be seen as a continuation of the oral tradition of literature associated with Allen Ginsberg and The Beats, and his poems are best appreciated when read aloud. The unlikely pairing of often dark subjects, combined with humor and irreverence has become something of a trademark of his work. His nearly 50 published books, which include not only poetry, but also novels, memoirs and a children’s book, are beginning to appear in translation, and he is a frequent guest on podcasts and television programs. His acclaimed memoir, The Street, is a look back at his early years, growing up less than wealthy, in a Pennsylvania coal town in the late 1950s. His latest books include: seriously! and Doing Cartwheels on Doomsday Afternoon.