Consortium of Seven

I have included lyrics to some of my favorite Dylan songs. They are pure poetry. No other singer-songwriter has transcended his prolific work. I am not qualified to analyze his work, so I won't. I haven't spent my life studying him and his work like others have done. I will only express how he has affected my life, all of my life really. He was among the first to influence me musically. I was into folk music in my youth and his early work was everywhere. We even sang his songs, among others in a church youth group I attended when I was about 15 years old. I was born when Bob Dylan was 13 years old and by the time I was nine or ten his music was affecting me deeply along with the other great folk singers. None of them lasted like Dylan, though.  I was fortunate enough to see him at the Desert Trip concert in Indio, California in 2016 the same year he won the Nobel Prize for literature. It was an amazing 3-day outdoor concert that included Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stone...

In the end we were happy we could lie down and sleep in safety In the end we were pleased with simple soups, water, fruit In the end we were happy when there was a way to communicate with loved ones In the end we were pleased to do work that was necessary In the end we were happy with a shelter that kept us warm and dry In the end we were pleased that some among us could fix broken bones and pull teeth In the end the still runner was highly valued  In the end the tribes were voluntary and pragmatic In the end the offering of your hand in peace was equal to your water purifying skill  In the end the midwife regained her rightful place, though fewer and fewer gave birth In the end roombas and venmo and the internet wove through our dreams In the end many told the story of when they first knew the world had become changed Is it the beginning of the end?

  On Monday, I heard myself say the words we all dread in Scotland. “It feels AUTUMNAL.” My partner replied, “It begins.” Because although there may be some more lucky days of sun, perhaps even a miniature heatwave in September, we understand that once “it feels autumnal” we’re on a one-way track to the apparently endless season of perpetual night. Autumn is my favourite season however, not least for its choice of colours & if one colour bridges the gap between summer & autumn, it’s yellow. In different cultures, yellow is a symbol of wisdom & intelligence, is often used in religious art & is emblematic of gold, divinity or light. It is used in the wider world to represent freedom & for high visibility in health & safety equipment & clothing. We use it in idiom to denote cowardice & to advise slowing down. Think of the use of yellow in art & we might picture Vincent van Gogh’s various sunflower paintings or Andy Warhol’s Velvet Undergroun...