Bouncing Back with Remembrances

W

e may be down…but we are not out!

We all know that feeling…thinking that all is lost. Our favored team will lose. We are
not up to the task. 

We are put down. 

Considered out for the count.

But then something happens.

Like a phoenix, we eventually arise from our depths of despair.

We soar. And we become better for the arduous task that we finally overcome.

Simply, from someplace down deep, from the crevices of imagination, we triumph.

Hold on.

It is coming.

A

lready in our presence is a prior aaduna contributor, Allen Forrest. His visual work has
enthralled our readership and now he brings a poignant combination of words and artwork.

"Indigo Man," ink on paper, Allen Forrest, artist

"Indigo Man" is dedicated to blues-man Weldon H. "Juke Boy" Bonner, known as Juke Boy Bonner.
He was one of the most original blues artists and his lyrics spoke of hard times and politics of the day.

Indigo Man (for Weldon “Juke Boy” Bonner)

Trouble all around, trouble morning 'til night,

Trouble for the Indigo Man, he don't get no rest.
The doorbell ringin'? A hand a knockin'?
Ain’t no good on the other end of that.

Indigo Man, you so blue, so true,

they weren't ready for you man,
like Vincent a hundred years ago.
Your problems they just pile up, Indigo Man.

Went to England to sing for some bread and they lost your clothes instead,

Parents died when you're young, wife divorced, left you some,
put down the guitar and pick up the mop, dismal jobs never stop making ends meet,
You just couldn't get no rest, you know that ain't right.

Indigo Man, you so blue, so true,

Real blues, no cerulean, no sapphire, or lazuline,
but the blooooozzz, those hit by hard times and couldn't hit back.
You were singin', you kept singin', but they weren't listenin'.

Traveling blues, riding that dog town to town, chasing a break down,

You'd arrive and find it gone, now you got troubles all around.
Indigo Man just trying to get ahead, to get things right,
You made a better living overseas than in your own hometown.

Funny how it goes,  funny how it gets you down, funny all the way around.

Lonely without your woman, sun almost down?
Gotta find a better place to go, all aboard the dog headed out of town,
More troubles for Indigo Man on the road he's bound.

Indigo Man, you so blue, so true,

they weren't ready for you man,
like Wilhelm decades ago,
Problems keep piling up for the Indigo Man.

Today your spirit's departed, but the records remain,

A legend of hard times singin' the blues,
A poet with rhythm all his own, why you sang by yourself, alone,
Oh, you could play, so keep playing Indigo Man, cause now we be listenin'.

Allen Forrest is a writer, graphic artist, and filmmaker, the winner of the 2015 Leslie Jacoby Honor 

for Art at San Jose State University's Reed Magazine, he lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 

* * *

D

uring this month of poetry, aaduna will recognize the plight of fellow citizens struggling 

against the unbearable cloak of CLOVID-19.  

While I am NYC born and bred, I have a familial connection with New Orleans, the birthplace of my Dad and his siblings….the home of my paternal grandparents…my place of a delayed honeymoon…a mecca for Jazz. (Did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation Month, commonly called “JAM?” But more of that celebration will be shared, later.)

So for each daily blog posting, we will remind our readership and poets of the spirit and tenacity of the people of New Orleans who have faced streams of adversity more than other cities…and who now face the same challenges rampaging communities throughout the world.

So with visuals from another time in place…

While New Orleans and a global future is on hold just for a while, we must continuously remind

ourselves as to what is ahead….

We will not be put down or defeated. 

Word Up!

~ bill

* * * * *

aaduna - an online adventure with words and images - a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010.  Visit us at www.aaduna.org where we put measurable actions to our words.

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