B&P’s Shadorma and Beyond: Bob Dylan – October 22, 2016

 

Bob Dylan, (c) Telegraph

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Greetings, friends of MindLoveMisery’s Menagerie!

For this week we will look at the poetry of Bob Dylan – who was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016“for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.    Hopefully you will indulge me as we look at his lyrics once again and use his works to inspire a shadorma or shadorma series.

A shadorma is, of course, a poem written with a syllable count of 3/5/3/3/7/5. It can be one stanza or several – so long as each stanza follows 3/5/3/3/7/5.

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The first Dylan song is “Masters of War“, performed by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam:

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Masters of War 

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion’
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead.

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The second song is All Along the Watchtower, performed by Jimi Hendrix:

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“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief,
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Businessmen – they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth.”

“No reason to get excited,”
The thief – he kindly spoke,
“There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour’s getting late.”

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl.

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Here is my shadorma inspired by Masters of War:

 

little man 
may all our nightmares
bury you 
under this 
avalanche of severed limbs 
rising behind you

– Paloma, 10/22/2016

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After you’ve written your Shadorma post it on your own blog. Tag it B&Ps Shadorma and Beyond and MindLoveMisery’sMenagerie, then link it here so we can all read and enjoy your work. Don’t forget to visit and comment on other blogs!

See you again in two weeks!

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