poem by Dave Morrison

I’ve been listening to
the dark for
hours.

At first it was
fine sand sifting
over old stones,

then warm wind through
a rusted screen,
then heavy mist

falling on the
roof of a
convertible.

The night was an
aquarium filled with
stones, each one a

worry, and the sound of
the darkness was
black ink poured in,

until there was nothing
but the sound of
the darkness, like the

hiss of a radiator in
the memory of
another house.

Editor’s note: Dave will be releasing his ninth collection of poetry with a reception and reading this Friday, February 28 at the Camden Opera House. All are invited, especially “those who are convinced that they don’t enjoy poetry.” The official press release: 

Downtown Poetry Party

Camden poet Dave Morrison invites you to a Downtown Poetry Party to celebrate the release of his ninth collection of poetry Stethoscope. Festivities will take place on the 3rd floor of the Camden Opera House on Friday February 28. Doors will open at 6:30 pm, and the reading will begin at 7 pm. Signed copies will be available for sale after the reading, and literary lubricant will be offered. Admission is free.

“A stethoscope is a device,” says Morrison “for listening to ones pulse and breath, for making sense of complex inner mechanisms – a poem can be the same kind of device. Of course, a poem can also be a song, a joke, a painting, a prayer, a dance with words.”
Morrison’s poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured in Writers Almanac and Take Heart.

Writer/editor Dana Wilde says, “In Stethoscope, Dave Morrison the poet has fully arrived. Few people participate as fully in the musical awe beaten out in these poems as Dave Morrison maintains naturally all the time. “I’m transcribing as fast as I can,” he says of words given to him in a dream, “but / they are disappearing in the / morning sun.” Luckily for us, he has trained his ear to pick up the pulse no matter how faint, and amplify it with practiced skill. In this book, his transcriptive powers have hit full blossom.”

Morrison spent years playing in rock & roll bands in Boston and NYC. Alice Persons, poet and editor says, “There is no voice quite like his. What shines in every poem is musical sound and rhythm, grittiness, reality, humor, and the rare ability to tackle serious subjects without taking himself too seriously. There is a wonderful, refreshing lack of pretentiousness and self-pity in all his poems and books.”

All are welcome, especially those who are convinced that they don’t enjoy poetry. “Morrison’s readings are much akin to performances;” says Ken Gross of the Camden Public Library, “ his presentations are dramatic and lyrical and betray his years as a rock-and-roll musician.”

For more information about Dave Morrison please visit his website.

The Camden Opera House is located at 29 Elm street Camden Maine. The 3rd floor Gentlemen’s Club and Gallery is accessible by the elevator in the Elm Street lobby.