Saturday, March 01, 2008

Your dreams are safe now.....

I took an empty coffee can with me to the club. Barreled through the front doors looking like all of a beggar. Set it up on the bar. And waited. One by one the bottle caps arrived. Heinekens, Michelobs, Coors, Red Dog, Buds, obscure beers I've never heard of. In half a set, the can was full and I sealed her up. Secured the little plastic lid. Done Deal.

Every now and then a new cap would plunk down on the countertop. Some hit the lid, others like stray cats at a dumpster, loitered close and then fell behind the bar, on the floor, or just disappeared all together.

At midnight, I swept the bar with my eyes. Scanned their faces. And then gathered up their bottled stories and daydreams and brought them home with me. I plunked through my treasure chest of colored caps, my fingers listening to them tink.....metal sea shells.....And went to sleep.

This morning I knew.

I started hammering at first light.

The neighbors, out for coffee, hollered over....."Hey, Sing, there's a damn woodpecker on your porch!"...... "Mmmmmmm,hmmmmmmm" I mumbled to the morning air, barely aware they had spoken, hammering.....66 bottle caps, 207, 303 and more.......each little trinket getting three hearty and soulful bangs for good luck....

And then she was done.

Peace.
That's what I wish for you my friends.

26 comments:

savannah said...

what more can we ask for, sugar! *hugs*

skinnylittleblonde said...

Peace to you, my beautiful, powerful, woodpecker of a sister! ILY & if I could bottle it up, I would. I'd send it to you so you could unscrew the top, hammer the lid & keep some peace for yourself.

singleton said...

savannah...peace, girl, peace. It's what it's all about! Hugs, to you Sugar!

SweetSLB....Oh, I know you would, And when I opened the lid, a zillion yellow butterflies would free themselves......and I would remember.....that peace is freedom....and freedom is peace....ILYSVVM......

peace~love
My wish for you.....

Maithri said...

You sing the song of my heart dearest friend...

I imagine God
in a half lit bar
gathering
bottletops

of sorrows
drowned and drowning

of the sweet dews of friendship

of effervescent joys,
brewing fears,
icy indifference,
bubbling love

Then I see God taking them home
and hammering,
wood pecking,
them all together

into the ensign of
the quiet river....
the candle flame...

Peace...

Then turning
I see
that God
has
Golden hair
dripping
like sunlight
from her face...

and calls herself
a hippie.

May the butterfly
and the mermaid

and the whole free world...

join together to sing these words...

"If I had a hammer...
I'd hammer in the mornin...
in the evenin...

all over this world.

One world.
One dream.

Peace.

Love to you, M

Unknown said...

That is a wonderful creation and a grand story. Thanks.

Peace, my friend!

i beati said...

did you tell the cap heads what you were making or the pile just appeared. I love it by the way . sundays for me are pure peace - no phones..

singleton said...

Maithri....
And had I left
that
can of
broken dreams,
promises,
yesterdays and
"what will be, will be"s....
on your front porch,
abandoned there like the
morning paper,
I just know that
if you ran your fingers
through them,
you would hear the stories
they ache to tell,
the song of the conch washed ashore,
and
somehow,
by first light,
you'd be hammerin' in the mornin'....

And the circle

would be born again......

Peace~love my Friend....
Around the world

singleton said...

Saintly....
And my wish for you.....Peace...My Friend.....

Ibeati....And yes, Sundays are for peace....Unplug those phones....And suddenly the birds become an orchestra....the sky becomes a blue on blue etch~a~sketch....the simplest of things, the grandest..... (And no, they weren't sure exactly what I was going to do with them....but as the collection plate grew, I had a feeling that a lot more than bottle caps were getting tossed into the can....And on Saturday when I opened it, spilled them out on the floor, and touched them....I knew....There were wishes here, dreams, days gone by and yet to come, last dances and laughter, missed chances and change, and most of all....hope) Wishing you a beautiful Sunday, friend.....

Peace~love
May the circle be unbroken

justacoolcat said...

Hammering for Peace.

I love it.

karoline in the morning said...

if i had a hammer....

peace to you sweetsong..

maithri...i luved it..

k:)

Scott from Oregon said...

Wood... pecker...

hmmmmmmm....

Were you punching holes in all them caps?

kj said...

i HAVE a hammer but these days i'm using my little chimes instead...

:)

Shimmerrings said...

Too cool... and beautiful... you find it, wherever you are... whatever you are doing... Peace reigns supreme...

singleton said...

suchacoolcat....
:)My neighbors didn't find it especially peaceful.....
Until, they saw here, on the walls,
their bottlecaps,too.....And then they knew! Sometimes Peace has to make a big sound to be heard!

Karoline....Maithri has that magic, doesn't he? Peace to you, too sweet friend, all over this world....

Scott....With a passion! Probably took a good Nine hundred Bangs to get this baby strung together! Peace!

KJ....Just keep saying the words....from a whisper to a billboard....Peace, anyway you play it!

Shimmerings....She rocks, She rules, and she's as elusive as the yellow butterfly....It's taken me a lifetime to learn to catch her by the coatails and ride the wave, to dig for the tiniest semblance of peace in the aftermath, to replace my dreams for all that hoo~hah they fill our minds with, with just this one dream....Peace..

Peace~love my friends
Say the words.....

SpongyBones said...

Hammer away. Saving my caps now for tle Black Eyed Woodpecker!

~Babs said...

re-cycling at it's most creative!
I know those caps are happy to be reincarnated and not in the land-fill.
Good for you,,,and good for us!

singleton said...

spongy....I am sooooooo counting on you to really truly do that! I swear I won't count them!

Babs....Landfills are for lost dreams....these were real...I could tell by their eyes! Hope you girls had a rockin' time this weekend......I loooooovvvve that Musical!

Peace~love and save those bottle caps my friends~

skinnylittleblonde said...

ILY...PLS

singleton said...

ILY2SVVM....PAL little wings.....When you're free, you can fly......

skinnylittleblonde said...

Lol, yes ... into the light. Not just any light though, the flashing blue light! LOL...ILY...PALS

Me said...

Best, peace sign, ever!

Shimmerrings said...

A lifetime to find... and a lifetime to hold onto... ;)

SHE said...

singtome: ...metal sea shells... how beautiful is that!

the most original art manifests through your spirit thanks to your open, loving, creative heart..

i'm inspired by you as always,

much love, ~s.

singleton said...

skinny....have I told you today how much I love you! Right here, behind you, in the rear view mirror, every step of the way!

Orhan....We'll collect seashells when you're in Florida....oh, the souveniers........you'll go home with!

Shimmerings...Clink!

She...Girl, you find seashells everywhere....in words, signs, the passage of time.....And remind me always, to do the same....

Peace~love
May that one little wish come true.....And bless us all.....

Unknown said...

And each cap has a story, a reason for being separated from its bottle. Whether that be to cement a friendship, or soothe a worry, or drown a sorrow, or celebrate a reunion or just the end of a long day. All united now in a common purpose. And a most fitting one, might I add.

singleton said...

electric....you sooooooo get it! Peace, friend.......