Words & Music

by Mike Power

latest

  • The Further Adventures of Joe & Skirl

    Joe hated the name Peggy because it was his mother’s name. One of his more specific social malfunctions was the inability to hide his disgust when he was introduced to a Peggy. In the throes of drug-induced paranoia, Joe sometimes accused Skirl of seeking out Peggys, just to torment him. Skirl, to his credit, never… Read more

  • Relativity

    Here’s an interesting observation by Bertrand Russell, talking about Albert Einstein: “He is more fortunate than the artist. When the public cannot understand a picture or a poem, they conclude that it is a bad picture or a bad poem. When they cannot understand the theory of relativity they conclude (rightly) that their education has… Read more

  • Annabel Lee

    One night last week, at a poetry workshop, I wrote something that isn’t ready to post. Cowards get a bad rap but sometimes we spare others as well as ourselves. Instead, for this final day of National Poetry Month, I’ll post a posthumous poem. It’s the last one ever written by Edgar Allan Poe. Annabel… Read more

  • Little Pink Shoes

    I played this song last night at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn. I wrote it last summer; it was the first song I wrote after quitting Late Model Humans. It’s called Little Pink Shoes. Any time she hears bad newsShe just puts on her little pink shoesAnd this world of decayTurns into one she can… Read more

  • Making the Adjustment – FHONY #6

      Joe had never felt so unsure. Each step he’d taken, from the very first ones into his mother’s arms, seemed to make perfect sense. Until now. He found himself in the middle of a wide open field with no indication of the direction his feet should follow. What would the lion do, Joe wondered,… Read more

  • Too Old to be Too Young to Die

    There’s nothing wrong with getting old. The alternative, obviously, is dying before you get old, which sounds great in a rock’n’roll song but kind of sucks for the people gathered around your casket. I’m too old now to be too young to die and there’s something to be said for reaching that milestone (even if… Read more