poetry love
looking back
the most important book i ever read
the one that had the most influence on my writing
was not
the journey to the east
nor
the little prince
nor
slaughterhouse five
nor
anything by buk
it was
bob dylan lyrics
i read that book from cover to cover
a thousand times
before i ever heard a single song by bob
i was given that book
by a stripper who worked at the blue waters hotel
where my mother worked as a receptionist
and i used to come home from school
durban preparatory boys high school
and devour that book
like it was manna
and imagine to myself what the songs would sound like
and it was only years later that i first heard blonde on blonde
and fell in love with blood on the tracks
as a teenager i discovered james joyce
but nothing i read
ever displaced bob from poll position in my estimation
not even leonard cohen
certainly not ezra
who sometimes
came close
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