JANIS IAN IS MY MUSE

Almost four decades ago, she brought

“Tea and Sympathy” to my apartment

and stayed long after midnight

because we were both too tired to ride the

Milk train any more – I knew then that

there was another soul inhabiting

space on the planet with whom I felt

truly simpatico, and it would not matter

if we ever met, as long as I had her

writing to see me through, and through

As happens with muses, mine would flit

in and out of consciousness; sometimes her

writing often mirrored my life patterns

so closely I could not stand to listen

and would stack her vinyl out of sight

Until I could not bear its absence – then pull

out “Stars” and “Hunger” and put them on

the turntable, letting both tears and empathy

help my aching heart expose itself to

the light, listening again and again to

“Getting Over You” and “Jesse” and of course

sharing “Tea and Sympathy” once again,

a song that seemed to be our anthem.

Just recently, my muse came to the town

which I now call home and performed

in a smallish theatre with some cafe-style

seating down near the stage – which is where

I was fortunate enough to sit.

Oh my, Janis Ian is every bit as wonderful

as I had hoped—in addition to playing

one of the meanest blues guitars you’re

likely to hear anywhere, and I do mean

anywhere and from anyone,  including

slow-hand Clapton, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy,

and Jeff Beck ...

In person – she is as gifted a story-teller

as one could wish for; a natural raconteur,

With a self-deprecating way of recounting

anecdotes that fill in bits of her history

that never seems rehearsed or boring ...

I was entranced; and imagine, in her fifties

her voice is clearer, more resonant, strong

and pitch-perfect than ever ...

I purchased her autobiography that night

—customs wouldn't allow her to bring her CD’s

across the border for some reason but the

book was already being sold here —go figure;

I began reading the book that night and could not

put it down, “Society’s Child” is mesmerizing

and held me in its thrall completely

Now, not only is she my muse, she

has vaulted into heroine status as well

As I join her legion of fans that work

within her organization for freedom and

social justice – in fact parts of her activist life

ring so familiar, I'm not sure she and I haven’t

been leading somewhat parallel lives at times;

It’s almost eerie – but in a good way.

The capper to my enthusiastic and continued

embracing of my muse as one of the best,

in all senses of the word was this – when she

realized how disheartened we were that we’d

be unable to buy any of her CD’s at her show,

she made this offer – if we ordered any of her

stuff off her website, all we needed to do was

scrawl “Canada” anywhere on the order form,

and she would see that we got a free

DVD of one of her recent performances –

Buying anything from Ian is a win-win proposition

since a portion of every sale goes to her

Foundation, Pearl, named for her late mother

Well, I did – and she did; not only did she include

the free DVD, she also sent along two signed

guitar picks,  a nice touch, I thought – tokens

I carry everywhere – ready inspiration.

  

Yeah, Janis Ian is definitely my muse

More than once I've tried to deconstruct

one of her songs and rewrite it as a poem

and realized her true brilliance when I

discover just how difficult that task is ...

Right now the song in question is “Shadow”

For she is just someone standing closer to

The sun and I am just the shadow by her side

Yeah – I wish

S.E.Ingraham©