Ode to Jamwall
on his birthday
this 207th day of the calendar year
on his birthday
this 207th day of the calendar year
i. første vers
In a landscape of 10,000 frozen lakes
and snow upon snow upon snow
a rare and precious gem appeared
seven and thirty years ago.
Fiery red, it blazed and burned
with peerless gifts and talents
in the soul of the boy;
to emerge as he grew,
lending wit, and vision, and balance.
No ordinary boy was he
nay, never.
Not to this day!
His eyes bear the spark
of vivid untiring imagination.
His mouth utters only kindness, humor, and love;
his heart is a drumbeat of loyalty.
Oh!
Your heart, your little heart …
it knows not how it sounds.
for it is the drum of drums,
it is the song of songs.*
Thumping in the rib-cavern of that
beautiful spirited child
for all the days
that came before I knew you.
iii. tredje vers
On a distant shore I lived
and wandered alone and wondered
whether in all my days I’d find a match
for the silly and lively spirit inside.
... A spirit that needed taming and compassion.
A spirit that compels with its fierce humor.
A spirit that sometimes does not brush its hair
and eats things it finds on the floor
and wears a box instead of pants
and draws oddly
and writes poems about raining noses
and cannot spell the word scissors.
Who would ever come home
to a spirit like that?
I had stopped looking;
I did not realize.
I did not know, I mean ...
... that you were there.
Nobody told me.
iv. fjerde vers
One day, suddenly, you appeared, beating your gong.
Verbally jousting with me
in the back-rooms of this virtual world.
Your writing tickled my funny bone
and brought out my inner feisty beast.
My true colors were fully unfurled!
Nothing was sacred, nothing was safe:Runways and hoo-hahs and relish,ice cream flavors and gobstoppers …
all of these we’d embellish.
in the back-rooms of this virtual world.
Your writing tickled my funny bone
and brought out my inner feisty beast.
My true colors were fully unfurled!
Nothing was sacred, nothing was safe:Runways and hoo-hahs and relish,ice cream flavors and gobstoppers …
all of these we’d embellish.
When you said you "loved my guts" I fainted, a little.
There was once a secret blog;
a playground we kept on the side.
Some of us would take comfort there
and lower our guard for a time.
In that hideaway long gone, you first
unveiled your face to me, and to the others.
I will never forget reaching out
and touching your face with my hand
on the flat-screen of my monitor.
That puckish dimple in your chin
has inhabited my dreams
every night hence.
Even now, two years since.
vi. sjette vers
One summer’s day in Boston-town
four bloggers were united
for a weekend of frivolity
and extensive monkey-business.
On the trolley, you touched my knee.
vii. syvende vers
(Angelic Chorus sings to the tune of Don’t Fear the Reaper):
Her knee! Her knee! You touched Spinnerina's knee!
The kneebone’s connected to the lipbone!
The lipbone’s connected to the heartbone!
viii. åttende vers
(Man with Cowbell clangs instrument three times and shouts):
Silence!
Let me explore the space now, baby.
[mellomspill] --- Bare ku bjelle (Cowbell solo) ---
ix. niende vers
Jamwall, thanx fo' show'n me T-H-to-tha-izzat you love me in all tha shawty ways . Ya fuck with us, we gots to fuck you up. I started yo' shit, and I'll end yo'shit. You is always there fo' me so jus' chill. I love you so mizzle fo' sho'! I cizzay imagine gangsta day going by wit'out you in mah life. Throw yo' guns in tha muthafuckin' air!
x. tiende og siste vers
Well, then.
Nothing sweeter
or simpler and truer than this,
so still your jibberish and listen:
I cherish you.
You are a comet that streaked into my life
and landed.
Happy birthday, sweetiepants.
Happy now, and always, and then some.
or simpler and truer than this,
so still your jibberish and listen:
I cherish you.
You are a comet that streaked into my life
and landed.
Happy birthday, sweetiepants.
Happy now, and always, and then some.
(final strike of cowbell)
(curtain)
p.s. I didn't get you a card, so bask in this meager tribute. Jeg elsker deg!
*with thanks to Annie Lennox
p.s. I didn't get you a card, so bask in this meager tribute. Jeg elsker deg!
