Monuments & Melodies

1. Monuments & Melodies Ryan Gleason

2. Table of Contents • No Good • Anger • The Guide • To Get to New London • Spring In this place • The Square and Circle of a Song • The Rusky Dusky Jazz Club

3. No Good My friend says I can do no good You see I say I see He says Try as I may But no good I can do I say I knew Even when something good would happen I would turn that good into bad I do not know why I sigh He says the last time I tried good I say the last time I did good He says the last time I did good I helped a friend They told me about their Life which was in need So I helped them Get help to plant a new seed Oh I say I felt as though I had helped them through He says but that was Not the case at all I had only hurt them more Doing no good again I say I see But they moved on Feeling I did no Good for them Just because I was there I say nothing He says perhaps And maybe I am not meant to do good Perhaps I should Just give in and let go I look out the doorway My friend has years on me He says I tried to help I left him there Doing no good of my own You see

4. Anger I feel you building up Inside me From down Deep you come up Holding you down Is much harder Like stopping Tsunami that is Rushing forward to wreak havoc On everything it can possibly touch You erupt Like a volcano Dormant for years, but now ready For destruction of all in your way Friendships, memories, moments shared Not one feeling or bond is safe Everything is against me Everything offends me Everything I am in power of becomes powerless Everything holding me back snaps in a fury of reckless abandon KABOOM You explode Breaking Arms, legs, necks, fingers But really what does it matter what is broken Now there is nothing left but The hot uncontrollable fires of feelings

5. The Guide Today is the day you made Mistakes made that Change opinions of me and My character But with you I am calm, Relaxed. I feel free from harm Like a red-tailed hawk soaring high above This dangerous ground full of Trees and the unseen forest floor Where predators lay There is a cool breeze from the sky A sign that you are there Guiding me through life Blowing me through successes and Faults I have shaped I need not fear your presence For you are there for me to Help show me the right path And what I can really do in this Life I live everyday flying through Troubles and triumph

6. To Get To New London If you want to get to New London Take highway 89 to exit 11 Travel past the white, fenced-in neighborhood Past the local pub Where local men have a drink and watch the game And local families enjoy food in the relaxed atmosphere of a small town pub Where the local drunks get their fill of warm whiskey Only to slowly watch their distaste for the college grow Like a bitter drink that a new, outsider bartender prepared Take a left turn at the 4-way intersection Past the longing of the college students as they search for their destination Soon to be doctors or lawyers, only to someday return to this place to create a new life Waiting for their chance to make something of their lives A life so similar to the one they led years ago in college Roll down the window and breath in the small town air Imagine it’s summer and people are swarming the town green If you want to get to New London Think of college kids Think of old folks Think of a small New England town A town that seems trapped in by white fencing

7. Spring in this Place At a small New Hampshire boarding school A group of students sits in the cool spring air As I watch them I think of my life in this world Cut off from the hustling reality of the Outside. The chill air blows my hair in the soft spring sun I think of years past when I would sit there At that same bench on that same hill Wishing for the best for my future Waiting for what’s next in my life It feels like the times grow smooth In front of my eyes Then the wind blows the page right from my pen I pull it back to continue Reminiscing. Now I truly appreciate The spring. Now I truly love the life I’ve led

8. The Square and Circle of a Song To you I owe Just about everything I know Of happiness Though you are but and inanimate creation You are square but far from un-hip Like a struggling artist who In reality is a force to be reckoned with Inside you spin in circles of brilliance Portraying thoughts of unseen sound And audible expression Unwilling to hear “No I will not Dance” Weeks ago you renewed my obsession Years ago you molded this obsession Taking on many musical forms I had yet to explore But now I’m hearing you yet again I have to listen to what you offer I have to hear what you Have to say, because though you are Lifeless you SCREAM Life

9. The Rusky Dusky Jazz Club In a smokey club An orange hued double bass Glistens in the pale light Of a jazz masters dreams His brown powerful hands take Control of the bottom of the Tune thumping walking grooving Through a set of jazz standards Those hands command, Those big black Powerful hands command music as They pick up that gorgeous orange Ancient bass it’s growling tone Walks the band through places it’s Never seen nor heard much like a King lion leading his pride to new Ground obsessed with constructing the Perfect bass-line for the tune he Smoothly moves his fingers across the Jet black fingerboard the audience Grooves on his energy and his grasp On the tune as they sip martinis And highballs in the Rusky Dusky Club the music takes away Troubles of the fast city life For both him and his audience Creating a moment of complete Synch for all who partake in The infectious groove of that Beautiful orange bass with it’s HUGE thumping tone The set ends as does the Night and the compelling groove He sits at the bar and Waves those large commanding Hands in the air demanding A drink to celebrate and A smoke to commemorate the Long night of Bird, Diz, and Duke flowing from his aching fingers