& Each Friday night when I see one of those cartons--as I cannot help but do when taking out
        things to our mutual hallway to recycle, too--
What I find myself imagining first thing, is that for reasons I think I can understand
My next-door neighbor has been celebrating!

Celebrating first of all, finishing up yet another all-too-tedious waitressing week at what she terms
        her "regular, straight-world-gig"--a job which she insists (like so many other young artists who                     perform such secondary work to make a living) is "only a temporary, back-up-type job"
--Temporary since as she told me once in passing, in a voice wrenched
        with bitterness & pain, she can't yet find full-time work as a musician;
& Celebrating second of all, the immediate prospect of finally getting away (hooray!)
        from the things in her regular weekday routine which bore her,
        in order to perform the more fulfilling work on weekends

Which according to my ears at least, she sounds born for!

3.

And what I also imagine from some of the songs I've heard my talented young neighbor sing,
        which echo through our mutual hallway & thru my doorway weekday mornings,
With lyrics declaring that "Rock-&-Roll Will Live Forever" & that Rock can "change the world"
        & maybe even "revolutionize" it
Is that young as she is, my gifted neighbor already realizes full well
That some of the things which can happen to talented people in this world

Are unfair & sometimes seem almost intolerable!

4.

I realize of course that my description of my young neighbor's lifestyle, replete with speculations
        on her mostly unspoken hopes & dreams & aspirations
May involve all kinds of Fantasy on my part, replete with lots of guesswork &
       wild & rash assumptions; & that I may be saying all this at the risk
       of crediting my young neighbor perhaps just a bit too much
By presenting her here--what with her apparent disappointment in "The Real" & her apparent
       yearning for "The Ideal"--as some kind of profound Greek or Roman thinker
Or maybe American-style, rough-hewn Transcendentalist Philosopher

--Someone who goes into action sort of like a soldier, making raids on the boring status quo
        to earn an uninspiring if modestly sustaining living, week-nights Mondays thru Fridays
Between temporary "cease-fires" when she performs her music & practices her art
        & when the world seems relatively right to her
--On weekends, at her Rock-&-Roll club-dates, nightly on Saturday & Sunday

--Yes, I realize full well that some of my ideas about my talented, struggling young neighbor's
        life in NYC & its related Folonari-carton mystery
May just be pure Fantasy on my part & maybe even just plain baloney
& That what's really going on across that hallway is that my talented young neighbor just may
       (albeit perhaps somewhat inordinately)

Simply like the taste of "Folonari" !

5.

Anyway, whether or not I'm "projecting," speaking for myself
I must confess that sometimes I feel the same way about life--an artist's life especially!--
        that I think my neighbor does
& Sometimes wish on virtually any terms & however temporarily
That I too could find some easy escape or egress or exit by some side-corridor
         from the injustices & the tedium & the indifference & the sheer disorder
Which dominate this world as it now stands
--Especially when it calls for people of talent to perform work to make a living or
Simply to survive, which they're not best suited for...

& Though I myself dislike the taste of alcohol, including wine as well,
        I try to take the long view & avoid being judgmental
About what comforts in life may sometimes be taken by worthy people
        held back by financial necessity or mere circumstance
--But talented young artists especially,
Who, remembering my own struggling young years, my heart especially goes out to...

And I suppose that--if taken in moderation--that relatively inexpensive, mild red wine called "Folonari"
      is among those things which offer
About as harmless & handy
A temporary vacation from this harsh world as any.

Folonari Red Wine.  Poetry about a young rock vocalist & about  the temporary, straight-world gigs artists often have to take.
 With sympathy for talented young artists of all kinds in relation to their struggles in a non-virtual & often harsh reality.
Within this poem is a vignette in verse of one aspiring young musician's life in NYC. Also present: Arts Advocacy perspectives.
Poem drafted in 1990. Webversion © 2002 by Michael Benedikt. Revisions, 2004 & 2005.  Top