This week's Poet of the People is Marv Ward. Marv has three books of poetry, but is best known as a blues musician in the Piedmont tradition. I first talked with Marv at the old Utopia Bar. He was sitting at the bar killing a drink and started regaling me with stories of carousing and playing music. Years later, I had the privilege to write the introduction for his first book of poetry. Since Marv has retired and settled down, he is more often seen sipping his favorite caffeine beverage, but still enjoys regaling folks with his stories about playing music up and down the east coast in every venue and gin joint that enjoys good live music.
Complacency
Complacency
is the end point of existence.
The fear of change holds us in a death grip,
and prevents evolution and growth.
Only when we step out of line,
alter the norm,
or challenge the expected,
can we find true fulfillment.
Life needs nourishment.
Stagnation kills the soul.
Dreams can only become reality through action.
Why dream if complacency is your mantra.
Live life,
and relish the probability of your dreams.
LAST TRAIN LEAVING
When the probability of departure
changes from if to when,
the perspective of the excursion
leaves little hope,
for a change of destination.
Once the Conductor
has punched your ticket,
your only resolve,
is to pray,
for a smooth journey.
It’s best to leave your baggage,
at the station.
No round trip fares are accepted,
and being unencumbered
will make the ride more peaceful.
LONESOME WHISTLE
The mournful bellow of a freight locomotive
singing through the silence of the dawn,
reminds me
that I still live in the South.
And as I roll in my bed,
I can hear the echoes of
Jimmy Rogers’ and Hank Williams’
anthems in my head
and I rest easy in the company
of compadres who have eulogized that haunting symphony.
PURPOSE
A question I wrestle with is the enigma of purpose.
Often, late at night,
while lying in my bed, before I fall into Morpheus’s arms,
my soul twitches with doubt.
Do I have one?
Have I or will I ever fulfill mine?
Is it real, or just a manifestation of human frailty and guilt?
If we have a “purpose”
are we meant to know it?
Or are we just pawns in some ethereal game,
used to obtain an objective,
then sacrificed to advance the celestial strategy?
Being sentient and reasoning beings,
I must believe our existence means more than propagating the species,
perhaps our continuation has more to do with species evolution than proclivity.
But we seem to continue to produce an abundance of lost souls.
Lingering uncertainty propels our lives,
the search for an answer, is our driving force.
We invent religions to satisfy our misgivings
and dogma to ensure our trepidations have cause,
but faith is merely “the blind leading the blind”.
Some have developed a manic obsession with “finding my purpose”
as if it were a child who had wandered away at the fair that we must meet at the “rocket”
to regain our mental stability, but no one knows where “the rocket” is.
Philosophers and gurus avow that just “being” is the sole essence of living
and there is no other impetus to the daily grind.
So why does my soul keep twitching through the night and filling my dreams with despair.
Even when I am “here now” I am constantly musing my predicaments.
Perhaps purpose is its own destination, you can’t get there from here, but you are already there.
I don’t know if I will ever have an answer, no realization is forthcoming
and I am starting to call the constant twitching a “dance”.
Ward’s Bio
Blues and Americana singer, songwriter, guitarist and poet "Reverend" Marv Ward has performed throughout the United States and shared the stage with some of the most well-known artists in music today. The Rev. has played his original and visionary blues stylings in venues all over the country and has shared stages with music legends such as Aerosmith, Joan Baez, The Vanilla Fudge, Dave Van Ronk, Paul Geremia, Maria Muldaur, Nappy Brown, John Hammond, Steve Goodman, Bob Margolin, Big Bill Morganfield, Mac Arnold, Mooky Brill and many more. Listed in An Encyclopedia of South Carolina Jazz and Blues Musicians, Ward writes poetry with the same passion that he composes his songs. He has three collections of poetry “One Lone Minstrel, “Healing Time,” and his latest “Bar Stool Poet”, to go along with his six published solo CD’s. A native of Lorton, Virginia, Ward lives in Columbia, South Carolina. He previously served in the United States Naval Reserve and has worked in broadcast and educational television throughout North and South Carolina. At age 76“, The Rev.” is still going strong performing with local ensembles “Wallstreet and The Blues Brokers,” Jelly Roll and Delicious Dish,” and occasionally with the “Shrimp City Allstars” and still writing. A holiday CD and perhaps a fourth book are in the works.