Lockdown Lemonade #43 by Duff Ferguson

FOR WHEN FRIENDS RETURN

Instruments don’t know what is happening
Who is winning and what is getting worse
Guitars still sound the same, still
Gush their waterfalls of melody.
Everything collapses, they still need dusting
Still need tuning
That doesn’t change

The instruments don’t feel what is happening
Though friends no longer gather
The guitars keep speaking
Whispering notes, just out of hearing
Coming ever stronger, so you can’t ignore them.
While you are crying about other things
They resonate from somewhere tears don’t touch

The instruments don’t see what is happening
Someone has died and left too soon
These guitars just play on, fat with melody
Beckon idle fingers to life
Despite scary distractions.
They don’t need crowds and applause
When sound is all an instrument understands

So I play on too
Sing to no one: write for nobody
See the guitar and say
“Just five minutes”
but an hour has gone by.
I’ve been walking outside in the wind
Gathering fresh chords for when friends return

~Duff Ferguson

Duff Ferguson is a folk pop crooner with 7 FAR-West conferences proudly under his guitar strap. Duff’s most recent record ended 2020 as #30 on Roots Music Reports’ Top Alternative Folk Albums, and he plays regularly in southern California at live events and house concerts for people who dig the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Paul Westerberg & Dave Rawlings. Duff has his 3rd solo acoustic record in the works and will be appearing live here and there in 2021.
Website: allduff.com

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Lockdown Lemonade is FAR-West’s response to the dramatic and drastic shifts of 2020’s global health and economic crises. For many, this cultural reckoning and political upheaval spurred a period of personal reflection and the discovery of coping mechanisms some of us didn’t even know we had. Lockdown Lemonade is a look at the bright side. With this collection of flash creative nonfiction, brief personal essays, recollections, and musings from members of our community, we hope to shine a light on the best things that can and have come out of the most challenging of times. This column will continue on a weekly basis and postings will be released at 10 AM Pacific every Monday, so watch for them! For guidelines and submission details, please contact Julie Zipperer at julieZ@far-west.org or Marlynn Block at marlynn@far-west.org Submissions will be posted based on approval from the Lockdown Lemonade Committee.