This week's Poet of the People is Jeff Gregory. Before the printing press, poetry was carried to the people by balladeers and singer/songwriters; Jeff Gregory writes and performs as a twenty-first century balladeer, singer/songwriter.
I have known Jeff for several years. First from afar and later sharing the mic during his performance at a house concert and then between sets for a concert with several bands, He has featured at Mind Gravy and I am honored to call him friend.
You may find him performing with his band, The Runout or with his wife, Kelley in The Run Out Duo. He also generously contributes his talents to performances of several bands and musicians both on stage and in the recording studio. Visit his website.
Bones and Stars
There are bones in the ground, and a wheel rolls on ‘cause it’s round
If you take all that you’ve found, where will it leave you, in the end.
Every bit of us was something else before.
And we stare across with open hearts and wonder what’s in store
And the layers to it all make it so much more mysterious….that I found you
There are stars in the sky that shine on us from back in time
And leave the questions in our minds but I’ll never find the answers
When I wake up and the sky had all turned grey
And I wonder if the stars I saw last night had gone away
Then I looked into your eyes and it seems that they sparkle the same way, the same way
We can do it if we want to. We can let our starlight shine
We can do it if we want to. We can let our starlight shine.
Currency
There’s pattern of thought and pattern of form
And where they break off is where we go wrong
If something is human and we choose to speak it out loud
The next breath we take is closer to working it out
There’s love in the arms of someone like you
There’s barking dogs, setting suns, rising red moons
When the bottom line fades so far out of view
What currency matters to you
A new baby cries and old man does too
For all of the life that passes by you
So cast out your nets and see what the haul will bring in
And when the going gets rough let it out and bring it back in
There’s hope in the future for when we’ll share time
There’s laughter and music and stars that align
When the bottom line keeps us distracted and blind
What currency eases your mind
There’s love in the arms of someone like you
There’s brow sweat and birdsong on a cliffside in June
When the bottom line fades so far out of view
What currency matters to you
Ghost
The air is thick
Just like a dream
As if something happened here last night while I was still asleep
But now you’re gone or whatever that means
Cause your words echo inside my mind I feel you in my heart and I can see you in my dreams
And your ghost is so close to me
Even if I made you up in my mind ultimately
Your ghost is so close to me
Way down that road
The moon on the hill
Thought I felt your hand on mine the window’s down the other’s on the steering wheel
But you’re not there
I can’t take it anymore
There was a time we were together now I’m drinking and not even keeping score
And your ghost is so close to me
Even if I made you up in my mind ultimately
Your ghost is so close to me
Bio
Jeff Gregory is another wonderful former educator who the South Carolina public education system has run off. He and his wife, Kelley, are raising two children and two dogs somewhere between Lugoff and Columbia while he works at Anson Mills and pursues a creative life in music. "I take joy in the small stuff, and the things that memories are made of." (Jeff Gregory)