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| outside the Thunderbird, lead singer of Oriental Blue Streak being serenaded, arts & craft fair, photo: Bob D'Alessandro |
Thunderbird Flight
when wonder worlds and worlds wonder
what time gone by
what turning of the hour of energy
into the hour of reflection
where is everybody who got lost in those times
beaming health turned to sickness even death for some
and for all of us eventually, but the music
and above all dance, dance, dance
you know what it’s like to dance your heart out?
shaking wonder
holding up the world you thought each to each
would never come crashing down or burn up
in bitter rage . . .
what would keep the war off and spirit up
but a tender heart, a circus atmosphere
protests walking down Central in Albuquerque
and dancing in Placitas, the Thunderbird taking off
like a ship with no course but enjoyment
or dancing in Rosa’s Cantina in Algodones or Raphael’s Silver Cloud
where they cut your tie off and stuck it to the ceiling
if you dared to wear one
but here at home a friendly realtor or mutual enterprise
caused that bit of land to be bought and round house, domes
zomes or friends piling adobes
as all kinds of bitterness and questioning of what is going on
with all the noise, the invasion, the place become
a mecca
kids arriving in spangles & big city hippy togs
but immediately getting into the dirt of real subsistence living –
who didn’t know how to get their own truck going
if they had one, but there was always a platform, sound equipment,
and Fourth of July or birthdays, music līve, Cadillac Bob
Oriental Blue Streak and an enormous potluck
dope and dancing, beer and forever
and the Thunderbird
the centerpiece being a place for performance, for pool
for locals, for visitors, for poets to read
for musicians, the venue, the support, a real gig
famous or not, too loud or not, the drama
of an evening building to a cooking climax
whatever that was, if even remembered,
it would all take its toll as war seems to determine
everything in America, and time, ruthless thief,
turns dancing into reflection, but music again
survives and those who stayed stayed
and the golden dream many had, turned gray,
and the help-each-other-out-and-live-on-almost-nothing
faded away into the selfish and more wealthy . . .
when wonder worlds and worlds wonder
what time gone by
what turning of the hour of energy
into the hour of reflection
larry goodell 11Feb2012
for the Thunderbird Bar Show Placitas Community Library
a duende press broadside
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| an opening night in the Thunderbird Bar, Placitas, New Mexico, ca 1970 |
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