MAKING IT
C Ra McGuirt
my friend allen's little brother andy used to ride
his big wheel around the green garage
while allen&me&david&phillip
practiced becoming progressive artistic
seventies classical rockers. 18 years later,
andy's rolled over us all: a $20,000 contract with
a major record label. visions of MTV flicker in his eyes,
& andy is busy deciding
which of his songs will make the best soundtracks for commercials
after he's bigger than jackson, george michael,&maybe elvis.
allen's working for the state during the day. he plays at night,
& andy just can't understand why allen continues to choose to use
moog&mirage, software, soul, masks&dancers, movement, mime,
silence&color&darkness&light
to make such chump change at his art
when he could be playing something that
a whole LOT of people would like.
allen understands he can't make andy
understand whole lots of people like
what they hear because it's all they hear,
& all they're likely to be allowed to hear
without some sort of effort on their part.
allen's producing a tape for me--
mostly songs,&some poetry,
so i'm frequently at his place
& i saw andy the other night
for the second time or so
since the big wheel days.
'congratulations on your career',
i said,&added that it was good
to see that success was possible.
andy said: 'it isn't hard.
it's only a business, after all.'
we promised to exchange our final products.
he went on,&i went in
to get to work on mine.
now i come before you with my art,
wondering if&how
anyone will remember
allen, andy, or c ra
a hundred years from now.
i'm not sure it's important,
so long as I remember
all the words
tonight.