{"id":2611,"date":"2023-08-18T15:51:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T19:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/?p=2611"},"modified":"2023-08-18T15:51:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T19:51:56","slug":"sympathy-for-sir-mick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/sympathy-for-sir-mick\/","title":{"rendered":"Sympathy For Sir Mick"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

                     I<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now you\u2019re allowed to introduce yourself
\nAs a man \u2013 nay, shining knight \u2013 of wealth and taste,
\nThe question\u2019s whether all that fame and pelf
\nHas laid your heart and precious soul to waste.
\nIf not, is it due to well-learned politesse,
\nOr to some secret, bourgeois self-restraint;
\nOr is your shadow (the trait you most repress)
\nA sou-less troubadour, indeed a saint?
\nAnd when, as a bold Trickster, you seem to laugh
\nSo nonchalantly in the Devil\u2019s face \u2013
\nWhile never lifting your own on his behalf
\nOr anyone\u2019s \u2013 is this persona or grace?
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad you\u2019ve made a name.
\n++<\/span>Profound, Sir Mick, is the nature of your game.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

                           II<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not your art that causes me to pry
\nInto your private, spiritual state:
\nTo sing about the Devil\u2019s a far cry
\nFrom sealing one\u2019s own, or any other\u2019s, fate.
\nExcept at Altamont (when Sam engaged
\nNaively those Hell\u2019s Angel bodyguards,
\nWho killed a man, uprooted \u201cflowers\u201d, and raged
\nAgainst \u201cthese faggy, mock-satanic bards\u201d),
\nBy acting out on stage our own dark side \u2013
\nThe fact of whose existence many fight
\nOr else attempt from other souls to hide \u2013
\nYou have but helped to keep us in the light.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad you are a Sir.
\n++<\/span>How puzzling the details of your jigsaw were!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           III<\/span><\/p>\n

I have no doubt that art lets heads be tails,
\nSheep wolves, cops criminals, and sinners saints,
\nWithout society going off the rails
\nOr introducing violent constraints.
\nJust as Lucifer (when shadow) can bring light,
\nSo can the little red rooster calm the geese;
\nA monkey man make philistines polite;
\nA strutting, rutting, rancid goat cause peace.
\nMy query, though, is: How are you at home,
\nOffstage, with children or your loving spouse;
\nLike the midnight rambler would you rather roam,
\nOr do you snuggle up in your own house?
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad you are a thane.
\n++<\/span>But, tell me: Is it the knight that drives your plane?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           IV<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike those Peter Pans, you wisely sell
\nMore than one image to the pagan crowd;
\nYou\u2019re bound to neither Never Land nor Hell,
\nYou can look gentle, tough, humble and proud.
\nNot only does this entertain, it gives
\nYou room to grow into the state that\u2019s due:
\nMellow, autumnal ripeness, where peace lives \u2013
\nDon\u2019t let the surgeons your chiselled face renew!
\nMeanwhile one image with your life has merged,
\nNamely the skinny fat-cat, flying high;
\nDo you assist the underdog that\u2019s scourged
\nOr wash your hands, like Pilate, and deny?
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you feel some shame.
\n++<\/span>If not, Sir Mick, you\u2019ll never fit this name.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           V<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say you changed from rebel youth to boss
\nBecause of Altamont, where chaos reigned:
\nYou needed shelter from the sharks and dross
\nWho stalked the real-life world you entertained.
\nIf it was ever only rock and roll
\nOr art for art\u2019s sake, in the dark that day
\nYour negative capability missed the goal
\nAnd Death was indeed just a shot away.
\nEnsuing shows you managed with great skill,
\nAnd in financial matters you were shrewd;
\nThe U.S.A. became an easy kill:
\nYou were the shark, and its rich burghers food.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope I\u2019m not too stark,
\n++<\/span>But would you let your daughter marry a shark?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VI<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed you can look pure, and who denies
\nThat in the early Sixties you often did?:
\nYour natural grace and beauty stole our eyes,
\nAmazed our souls \u2013 the goat was once a kid.
\nIn fact, one could describe the Rolling Stones
\nOf those first years as new romantic bards:
\nKeats Richards, Shelley Watts and Byron Jones,
\nLike you, provoked both love and snide canards.
\nBut when you donned the togs of a Yankee jock,
\nAnd in some songs inclined the weak to slam,
\nThe role you took was a man of steel or rock \u2013
\nIt seemed you had been bought by Uncle Sam.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad that you were dubbed
\n++<\/span>By one who by the mean is always snubbed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VII<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel it\u2019s not the masks but simply you
\nThat have so many bigwigs mesmerized:
\nA royal flush, they say, you often drew;
\nAnd presidents and p.ms fantasized
\nIn Petersburg or Prague of being thrall
\nTo you, the master-mistress of their passion \u2013
\nWhite blackman-panther, with a Cockney drawl,
\nWho\u2019s set for forty years, at least, the fashion.
\nBut time which waits for no one\u2019s getting short
\n(You\u2019re in your early sixties, as you know);
\nThe colours of chameleons can\u2019t be bought,
\nYour riches won\u2019t come with you when you go.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad you are a knight.
\n++<\/span>Time to dispel the view that you\u2019re too tight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           VIII<\/span><\/p>\n

To do you justice I\u2019ll in truth assert
\nThat, hand in hand with your hard-hearted pose,
\nYou\u2019ve written telling songs about the hurt,
\nOr wounded-hearted, lover and the throes
\nOf passion which can wreck a general\u2019s plan,
\nCan blind a Samson, and a king dethrone;
\nIn short about the anima in man,
\nOr image of the Eve that can atone
\nFor all his macho pride, if given voice,
\nBut will unman, if given leave to snipe
\nAt reason and the exercise of choice \u2013
\nSaw you the gentle face of this archetype?
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you\u2019re reading this.
\n++<\/span>For maybe it will point you to your bliss.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           IX<\/span><\/p>\n

That you have known the tender Eve is clear,
\nFor certain songs describe a loving she:
\nAn angel in your heart, you plain revere
\nAnd try to win again with humble plea.
\nAnd since one\u2019s anima is not contrived
\nBut, ere projection, comes from deep within,
\nYour famed androgyny may be derived
\nFrom a profound connection with this twin.
\nWhich means potential empathy is great,
\nProviding ego can be well controlled
\nAnd the ringmaster we have seen of late
\nAllowed to show his burnished heart of gold.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you\u2019ll drop the mask
\n++<\/span>And face your soul, which knows your highest task.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           X<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not wish to nose out reckless facts
\nYou may have perpetrated as a boy,
\nNor, I repeat, do I condemn your acts
\nOn stage, which are inspired and give us joy.
\nYou aren\u2019t a soulless robot in a skin;
\nComputers couldn\u2019t make your songs, for sure,
\nIncluding one in which you fail to win
\nA goddess standing sadly at the door.
\nYour smile was never Californian,
\nBut that of Joker, Jester, Jack, or Knave;
\nAnd far from abusing your great power when
\nYou stun a crowd, its souls you help to save.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you get my gist:
\n++<\/span>Your own sweet soul is waiting to be kissed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XI<\/span><\/p>\n

Over four decades you have been on top,
\nA lonely star, like future men on Mars;
\nYou have endured the probes of many a cop
\nAnd animus projections in dark bars.
\nBut faith and trust are keys to psychic growth,
\nStarting with the goddess standing for your soul:
\nSince she\u2019ll reveal the shadow you are loth
\nTo integrate, but which can make you whole.
\nYou wrote God gave you everything. It\u2019s true \u2013
\nYou only need to find it, then to share
\nIt with humanity, as one like you
\nCan really make a difference if you care.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope the Self you\u2019ll know.
\n++<\/span>For then you\u2019ll add the leaven to the dough..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XII<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel I have to say that, if you fail
\nTo see the light and thus your knighthood use
\nAs a poetic license to prevail
\nAgainst reform, you will us Brits abuse \u2013
\nUnless, of course, we\u2019re too far gone and like
\nDark knights (which tells we\u2019re by our shade possessed
\nAnd Satan\u2019s waiting patiently to strike,
\nWhile the god we made fills up his treasure chest).
\nIf so, more cause to break the spell and prove
\nYou\u2019re neither lord nor slave of the collective,
\nBut a free spirit, with the power to move
\nThe Devil with benevolent invective.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope to God I\u2019m right
\n++<\/span>You want no more to harbour our black light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XIII<\/span><\/p>\n

Let individuation be your goal,
\nThe reason why you\u2019ve laboured hard and long;
\nThat state in which potentially one\u2019s whole:
\nThe writer and the singer and the song.
\nBut first your shadow you must integrate,
\nWhich, if I\u2019m right, is generous and good:
\nHave you seen your mother standing there of late?
\nWould you like to be more like her if you could?
\nBy doing this, you\u2019ll help us to withdraw
\nOur own projections and, instead of black,
\nTo see in you a rainbow and, what\u2019s more,
\nTo face the darkness we ourselves don\u2019t lack.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you\u2019ll pay the price,
\n++<\/span>And consummate this vision of paradise.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XIV<\/span><\/p>\n

O hear the voice of conscience linked to God,
\nAnd let the inner figures play their part:
\nIn time you\u2019ll find the path you\u2019ve bravely trod
\nWill lead you to the matrix of your heart.
\nYou\u2019ve known Mark Antony and Romeo,
\nGreen-eyed Othello and hen-pecked Macbeth;
\nYou\u2019re due, I hope, to meet with Prospero,
\nWho\u2019ll show you how to greet with grac your death.
\nBut till the day you are released from bands
\nYou\u2019ll spend, I\u2019m sure, your twilight evenings dancing;
\nAnd helped by many good and willing hands,
\nYou\u2019ll, as Sir Mick but not Jack Flash, keep prancing.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad I can you tell
\n++<\/span>That like old Shakespeare you could prosper well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XV<\/span><\/p>\n

Lest our true project (soul salvation) fail,
\nWe need to look beyond the private realm
\nTo Mother Earth herself, whose tragic tale
\nShould every proper conscience overwhelm.
\nThe hated truth, as the Green Prince well knows,
\nIs that human greed has made her very ill;
\nYet are you, there in Richmond, one of those
\nWho cannot see why man must pay the bill?
\nEnough! To lecture you hereon would mar
\nThe optimistic note I\u2019ve duly struck:
\nYour salad days are over but you are
\nEntitled to dessert, with any luck.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you\u2019ll cease to roam.
\n++<\/span>Your knighthood means you have a place called home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XVI<\/span><\/p>\n

Please be a bridge from Babylon (the States)
\nTo Camelot, in Albion, and show
\nOur \u201cblairy\u201d-eyed P.M. posterity hates
\nThose great powers that justice overthrow.
\nO prodigal son and bright celebrity,
\nEnjoy the satisfaction of the fact
\nThat humility brings generosity:
\nBe a soul survivor \u2013 let your light attract.
\nThus, with your positive capability,
\nSoul City with rainbow colours you will paint;
\nWith your brand new rules and civility,
\nYou\u2019ll watch with glee as men and women faint.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; hope you\u2019ll get a kick.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019d hate it if you couldn\u2019t take the mick!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XVII<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as a \u201ccheatah\u201d is no \u201cjagguar\u201d brave
\nAnd a raging bully never truly strong,
\nA knight should be a wit but not a knave,
\nLest Satan laugh the loudest and too long.
\nThis said, you do not need to be a saint
\nWhen you have owned your shadow \u2013 simply keep
\nIts power in mind; and we don\u2019t have to paint
\nOurselves as goats, to prove we aren\u2019t but sheep.
\nJust grow old gracefully, and be aware
\nSome jigger-joggers find it hard to see
\nThat wise and shining souls with graying hair
\nLook silver, in the eyes of courtesy.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; glad I\u2019m almost done.
\n++<\/span>Together, Mick, we\u2019ll see the race is won.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

                           XVIII<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve rolled over all but a sole stone
\n(Though two, on technical grounds, are undercover),
\nI should recall, indeed, the one less known:
\nMick Coleridge Taylor, lyrical blues lover.
\nI played truant at his d\u00e9but in Hyde Park,
\nWhen Charlie looked in fact like the real Keats,
\nWhen the Hell\u2019s Angels left behind the dark,
\nWhen you quoted Shelley on Death\u2019s vain defeats.
\nNow I see you, armourless, in winter sharp,
\nWrapped in a cloak; your aura brighter and larger;
\nYou\u2019re carrying a lantern, blowing a harp:
\nIt\u2019s your sweeping exit on a wild, Arab charger.
\n++<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to greet you; pain to life is wed.
\n++<\/span>But love is not in vain, save in one\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Jerusalem
\n23 January 2004<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                     I Now you\u2019re allowed to introduce yourself As a man \u2013 nay, shining knight \u2013 of wealth and taste, The question\u2019s whether all that fame and pelf Has laid your heart and precious soul to waste. If not, is it due to well-learned politesse, Or to some secret, bourgeois self-restraint; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2611"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2613,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2611\/revisions\/2613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelpeach.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}