A decade’s worth of versified observations, collected together for the first time
Herein lies the early verse output of Stewart Berg, collected together and appearing in print for the first time. Ranging from the personal to the parody and from the serious to the satirical, these poems present a decade’s worth (2014-2024) of versified observations of the world and its worldlings.
One morning ‘fore the sun was up, Down my street came sweaty jogger, And in his hand, there did stand a cup Of the coffee most bitter; Saw me there, he did stare and asked If I’d be for joining: “I’m going to that land of news, masked By the mists of writing; Full’s it there of the fair and glee Beyond the Candy Mountains, So come with me, we’ll go and see The Evergreen Crystal Fountains.
-from “The Evergreen Crystal Fountains,” a view of the media’s misty-eyed Eden, in the vein of Harry McClintock’s “Big Rock Candy Mountains.”
I hear the cheers, Even the chewing of the feast, The palates ticking like counting clocks, Though quicker, quicker, Running like angels’ feet, And my certain, internal ticker Says time and I cannot retreat; There will not be space in my Love Song For moments short of moments long: To plot an action, And act a plot; I must instead attack with little thought.
-from “The The Inner Being of Phineus of Aethiopia,” a conclusion to the Perseus-Andromeda myth from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” as seen through the eyes of Phineus, brother to the king
Back in the days of steep decline, When stealin’ and dealin’ was fine, I said: “I sure can live like this, In ignorant and bountiful bliss;” ‘Cause I don’t mind beggin’ bread, And I don’t care what’s done to my head, Just scoop what you want and leave me ease, So I can still do all the things I please!
The day they drove Gilded Cali down, And all our hands were wringing; The day they drove Gilded Cali down, And all the humans were singing; They went: “Hah, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, hah!”
-from “The Day They Drove Gilded Cali Down,” a sympathetic view of collapse, in the vein of The Band’s “The Day They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down.”
I’m not an average man, with no average life; Sure, I work a nine-to-five, but just to pay the price; All I want’s to be seen on the screen, Of every device that’s ever been.
But, sometimes it feels like Nobody’s watching me, Even though my posts are free; O woe, O! Yeah, sometimes it feels like Nobody’s watching me, Not even to disagree; O woe, O!
-from “Nobody’s Watching Me,” a lament at the lamentable state of non-notice, in the vein of Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me.”
