Kirk Judd
My People Was Music (Reprint)
by Kirk Judd
Includes QR code for MP3 download: Powerful spoken word performances, featuring some of West Virginia’s Finest poets and musicians.
ISBN: 9798985524284 — $20.00 ($4.63 US Shipping per order)
Also see Porch Poems!
Kirk Judd has lived, worked, trout fished, and wandered around in West Virginia all of his life. Kirk was a member of the Appalachian Literary League, a founding member and former president of West Virginia Writers, Inc., and is a founding member of and creative writing instructor for Allegheny Echoes, Inc., dedicated to the support and preservation of WV cultural heritage arts. In addition to his two collections with Sheila-Na-Gig, Kirk is author of two other collections of poetry, Field of Vision (Aegina Press 1986) and Tao Billy (Trillium Press 1996), and a co-editor of the widely acclaimed anthology, Wild, Sweet Notes – 50 Years of West Virginia Poetry 1950-1999.. Kirk is internationally known for his performance work combining poetry and old-time music, and he has performed poetry in Ireland and across West Virginia at fairs, concerts, and festivals for many years.
Better Listeners
The dead are better listeners
Or even the living
If they’re not there
They will argue
But they are patient
They pay attention
Words have many meanings
We don’t know what we know
Until we speak
Feel the weight of the word
Lift from our tongues
The spare outward push
Of air across our lips
And the words become real
Hanging iridescent
In that beautiful
Open space
In front of you
Until they hear –
Your long dead mother
Or Darwin, or John Muir
Charlie with his banjo
Steve from Junior High
Who died in a car crash
Or even your wife
Your golf buddies
That great poet you heard last week
When those words are heard
They change
They don’t belong to just you anymore
They become something given
Not just something you said
Something you are – you were
You are changed
And all those riding with you
As you drive the back roads alone
Those listeners
Smile, and nod, and say
You’re welcome
