Sitting at a small table in the Automat, I have a pen and pad of paper. Looking around at a room full of strangers, if you dare to strike up a conversation, you are asking for trouble. So I write and I dream and I wonder how the hell did I wind up in New York City; sleeping in a flophouse and nothing in my pockets. I’m 700 miles from where I boarded that train.
Once upon a time.
Gem was chatting with The Spiders,
about a theme,
for their Autumn Gossamer DreamScape event.
“Gather ‘round people. As this year’s Festival Chair, I am soooo excited and honored to announce that the new theme for the Tapestry Competition is Catch The Wind. So, everybody, the time is now. Let’s get busy people!”
My home: High up. A window. A radiator. A Sink. A chest of drawers. A twin bed. My stuff; everything I could carry on and off the train with two hands. I would play my electric guitar with no amp; sitting on the edge of my bed, and write down song lyrics as I composed them.
“And now to honor the first place winner in the Creativity category, the winner is the group we all know as Sam the Sham. Come on up here everybody! So can you tell us what your inspiration was for this monumental tapestry?’
“Sure, we’d love to...we were trying to really emphasize the figure/ground relationship in our piece. We were so excited to see that our Gossamer Tapestry seemed to work so successful in the river with the sky and clouds reflecting in the water. So we called it Catch the Wind in honor of the theme.”
I explored mid-town and downtown Manhattan on foot with my camera always along for the stroll. A camera, a notebook, and a guitar; tools of my art in New York City. Walking around legendary Broadway, I happened upon a makeshift store. It was the demolition of the Crown Jewel of 19th century New York City; The Old Met.
Living on a food budget of thirty five cents a day at the Automat certainly gave me pause to reflect, and trim my sails. And sooner than later, the train that brought me to New York City, took me back home again to spend the rest of my life creating songs and stories and art that emerged from my grand adventure
“Attention everybody. It’s time for our gala awards ceremony. In our Sustainability category, our first place winner is none other that the Thompson Twins Group. Their fanciful use of irony in the creation of their Gossamer Tapestry, is nothing less than breathtaking! Their amazing work of art is entitled “Mellow Yellow. Come on up to the stage TTG; and let’s give them a rousing ovation!”
A “Well Gem, we got a Harvest Moon on the way.”
G “I know”
G “There is a place where the moon is still silver and dreams can come true”
G “Wanna dance in the clouds with me up there?”
A “Sure”
