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Forgiving Time

Todd Clouser

Wall, Mexico
Photo credit: spicybrocc
He calls me kid
I’m almost 34 now
And have forgiven myself for getting older

I walked past and hopped down to the crooked street
Where the short man with baby dark skin sells balloons
And blue telephones hang lonely
And lost my balance

My ankles timid
My mind many places
Not here
There are so many tasks that require tending to, if not completing

He calls me Señor
I think, hope maybe, because I haven’t shaved
Or maybe more because my face seems angry this time of morning

I asked him to take me home
So I could rest, and shower, and sing a little, maybe
In the little hole in the big city cement I pay to sleep at
Where my guitars sit around the radio, like Friday families in Casco Viejo, Panama City, and sometimes I make love

He calls me old man
Because I am his teacher
Someday he will understand
Like what the old men, now younger, told me

I am a child, forever to the new
Forgiving time, our hands tied together, for what we do to each other, sometimes
Like any good lover

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Todd Clouser

A young, genre-defying guitarist, composer, and writer, Todd Clouser is an accomplished musician across the creative music spectrum, leading a unique path to recognition as an act to watch, finding his own voice performing with musicians from Keb Mo to "downtown" NYC jazz legend Steven Bernstein. Clouser's impassioned performances run from piano balladry to dense jazz and groove, exciting audiences with an approach meant to bend the rules of artistic labeling. "A Love Electric" documents Todd's most aggressive ensemble yet, an energetic group based in the stylings of 70's era electric musics. The February 2013 release of The Naked Beat, Clouser's third album of the year, marks the first record to feature his wildly engaging vocals. Think Zappa meets Burroughs with the songwriting sensibilities of Beck and Hendrixian guitar heroics. Clouser is an original, always evolving, and always honest to the spirit of the imagination. In addition to Todd's website, you can find him on Twitter and YouTube.

Author: Todd Clouser Tags: poetry Category: Poetry February 17, 2015

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Empty Mirror

Established in 2000 and edited by Denise Enck, Empty Mirror is an online literary magazine that publishes new work each Friday.

Each week EM features several poems each by one or two poets; reviews; critical essays; visual art; and personal essays.

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