Two days ago, William Joyce (also writing as Guillermo O'Joyce) wrote a poem for me. I can't begin to tell you how honored, humbled and thrilled it has made me. William wrote a book, that for me, was the best novel I've ever read. He's one of the true rebels in literature and in life. He walked with the kings of literature and was one of royalty himself.
Just want to share it with you here. Of all the awards and honors I've received this ranks up there at the top, along with Anthony Neil Smith's book dedication and Joe Lansdale naming me as his favorite crime writer.
William Joyce
Poem
Poem for Edgerton
There's you, there's me,
there's Crotty.
That's it
in the whole world.
Fire, water, wind.
You, me, Crotty.
But say this
to anyone
they will get angry,
scalding angry,
some will want to fight.
People think they have
options,
lots of options
that keep them
free
of the treadmill.
In 1928 it was the same.
all sorts
of voices
Pound, Hemingway, Fitzgerald,
Thomas Mann,
Pearl Buck and Huck
Finn, Little Sparrow,
The Duke, the Count, the Satchmo.
Culture was everywhere
as Germany paid off
its premium
to the victorious nations.
Oct. 24th, 1929, the bottom
fell out of currency
and not even
J.P. Morgan cranked up
his victrola.
No one read
anything.
They just screamed
at their mates.
Oct. 24th, 1929, a lot more
than currency
got ditched.
Three years later
there was Celine
romping
like a feverish gazelle
over the broken belly
of Europe,
and Miller leaking
out of a tiny bookstore
in Paris,
then Chaplin delighting
in the catastrophic
breakdown
with "Modern Times".
Now it is 1928
all over
and people are still
running in place
in over-priced
weight-control centers.
In 100 years
they haven't learned
a thing.
Haven't learned
there's fire, wind, and water,
there's Edgerton, Crotty, and me.
Thank you, William.
Blue skies,
Les
P.S. Crotty refers to a close friend of his and mine, Ger Crotty, an Irishman who toils mightily to get William's work read and appreciated.
This is the novel that Neil Smith has dedicated to me. If I die tomorrow, these three honors will be more than enough...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment