Here is my album, "Songs of the Oxford Hills." It was written and recorded in one 24-hour period beginning on May 22, 2005 as an Album-A-Day project. Though I retain copyright to the songs, please feel free to burn them to CD to give as gifts or to share in other ways. You may not charge for them. Agnes Gray (3.2 meg) Artemus Ward (5.8 meg) Coming Home to Hebron (4 meg) Opera House (3.4 meg) Oxford Fair (4.3 meg) Paris Hill (2.7 meg) Wooden Houses (5.3 meg) Yard Sale (2.8 meg) Here are the lyrics to all the songs. Two-Part Invention Number One A love story set at Bates College. The Tree An artist, who spends ten years painting nothing but the oak tree in his yard, develops an unusual talent. Chase and the Magic Sword Written during Desert Shield for the son of a friend. (Read the letter that preceded the story: Chase) Heart-Popping Blues It was at Poets on the Porch that I heard Lisa Moore read her work. I enjoyed everything she read, but one little number in particular knocked this blues right out of me. 04268 As opposed to 90210. The Unknown Soldier Written for Memorial Day 2002. Resilience This post-9/11 poem is a broken sonnet. The missing line was written, but when I added the poem to this site, all I could find was an incomplete draft. I have no idea what the eighth line (which should rhyme with "smiles") is. The poem, inspired by our efforts to clear the Trade Center site, is, I'm sad to say, based on an actual experience. The Boy Who Learned to Spell by Sitting on the Dictionary Really. The Opera House is a landmark building on Main Street of Norway, Maine. Questions While thinking about my childhood in Oklahoma, I remembered a weekly job I'd had. That memory led to a realization which led to this poem. Agamemnon is a Jerk This is my first attempt at translating ancient Greek. If I've gotten it wrong, I'm sure some Greek scholar out there will set me straight. Jimmy Webb Plays Lovell Jimmy Webb, who received the Johnny Mercer Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2003, recently gave two benefit concerts in Lovell, Maine. Were they any good? I attended one and have an opinion. Poets on the Porch Baron Wormser, the Poet Laureate of Maine, came to our town to take part in Poets on the Porch. Here's what happened. Memorial Day 2003 I was most graciously invited back to Bryant Pond for the 2003 Memorial Day service. Here is the speech given there on May 26, 2003. Oxford Hills 8k Run to the Lake We can't all run like Kenyans, or can we? Memorial Day 2002 Speech given at Bryant Pond, Maine on May 27, 2002. Agnes and Walter Thoughts on a true story of love-gone-wrong. Bozo Move over Oscars and Emmies, there's a new award in town. Challenge Small town baseball circa 1898. Zephyr Even a hundred years ago, people just wanna have fun. The Human Comedy A book review written for the Friends of the Norway Memorial Library newsletter. Proem Some poets have made a name for themselves (and in some cases a good living) writing nothing but formatted prose. I call this type of writing Proetry. Though I have written my share of proetry, at heart I am Robert Frost's doubles partner. Orono A song from the early 1970s that has been rewritten several times because I kept forgetting the words then having to re-invent them. I still consider this the best song I ever wrote. Youth's Companion In the latter part of the 19th century, the Youth's Companion was the most popular magazine in the U.S. The most popular (and prolific) contributor to the Youth's Companion was a man from Maine named Charles Asbury Stephens. His stories included many tales about life on a Maine farm where six cousins, orphaned by the Civil War, had come to live with their grandparents. These stories are as delightful and readable today as they were when first published. Halstead In C.A. Stephens' writings, Halstead (one of the six orphans living on the Old Squire's farm) disappears. After a long time, a cryptic letter arrives from Texas. The letter seems to concern Halstead. Here, in a song, is what I imagined Theodora's second letter of reply might have said. Back to Maine I carried the line "My rainbow's broken, its colors are running in the rain." around in a notebook for about fifteen years before it ever blossomed into a lyric. The Quilt is the longest song I ever wrote and one so unsuited to my voice that it has never been sung in public. A thank you to Suanne Singer for answering my quilt questions. I had at first imagined this a patchwork quilt, sacred because of the materials it contained. Suanne helped me realize that that wasn't right. When I changed the quilt type, the story took off, becoming much more than I had first imagined. Miss Smith C.A. Stephens was such a prolific writer that he often published under pen names. When he wrote Wintering in a Dugout, it was published under the name of Charlotte Smith. The story was so inspiring and the heroine so appealing that "Miss Smith" received numerous letters of proposal. Eliza Here's a song about the poet Eliza R. Snow. My oldest daughter is named Eliza Snow in her honor. When my daughter was small, I had a t-shirt made that said, "You're such a rainbow, you make me laugh, Eliza." Queen Anne's Lace My most famous song, thanks to the Blake Brothers.
John Governale's
Maine Writing
Album-A-Day / Stories / Poems / Essays / Lyrics / Book
These writings may be used for non-commercial purposes.
Contact me: john at mainewriting dot com.
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ALBUM-A-DAY
STORIES
POEMS
ESSAYS
Lyrics
Reading lyrics is boring, particularly if you haven't heard the songs. Here are a few, though, that read well and may hold your attention.
BOOK
Unless specifically noted otherwise, all works posted on this Maine Writing web site were written by John Governale. Copyright 1995 - 2005 John Governale