a passion, unrelenting...grumble grumble

He'll laugh as he reads this...but can I hate him now?

We're in the middle of finishing touches on two books ("Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite" and "Psalms of the Monster River Cult") and two CDs ("The Naked Reads" and "Nemicorn") and what does William F. DeVault do? He sends me a soundfile...a new interpretation of one of his works, set to music...done in his "spare time".

It's called "A Passion Unrelenting" and was inspired when, right after his separation from his second wife, an old lover called to check on him and offered comfort he could not take, as he was not going to violate his marriage vows ("expect the apocalypse"...remember? Say what you will, this guy road that pony to the end of the trail.).

But he wrote a nice poem and put it aside...

flash forward two and a half years later...he still hasn't broken his vows (what is this lunatic made of, anyway? I've seen him with women...)...and he writes a lovely, almost bluegrass, track to it and records it. I'll see if I can get him to use it in tonight's podcast, but here is the text of the poem, anyway. His dear friend Mari Laureano went nuts over this piece, comparing it to John Donne (not the first time he has been invoked in a discussion of the Amomancer, mind you).

A Passion, Unrelenting

If time was to my bending
and hearts were to my mending
then I would be with you this night
reweaving intimacies now frayed.

For love and passion do not end
but sometimes lose their way, my friend,
and in us there is so much right
to earn our truth in hearts displayed.

So let the fool and critic roar
and let the clouds of cold rain pour
while we are lost forevermore
and find ourselves here, unafraid.

To find ourselves in token kiss
that pulls us into ardent bliss
when skin becomes the currency
of bartered, battered hearts we bring.

Take me in and share the touch
that, once surrendered, means so much
in fires thrust where we cannot see
but feel an honest kindling.

We shall seek and slake the thirst
that by our sins we have been cursed,
but offer actions unrehearsed
to prove a passion unrelenting.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.

I hate overachievers. Especially when they make it look effortless.