End-of-the-Week Excerpt: "like a neil young song," by Clayton Michaels

above: Clayton Michaels

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like a neil young song

Everything sounds sadder in a
reed thin falsetto.
Like a Neil Young song
circa After the Gold Rush
1970 or 72.

The words almost cease to
matter when a voice is
spread that thin.
When with one stray syllable
the entire fragile
dynamic can just dissolve.

Then again, sometimes when it
breaks it can be far more
compelling—see
‘Mellow My Mind’
from Tonight’s the Night.

In a reed thin falsetto:
should you ever choose to,
this is how I would like
you to remember me.

-Clayton Michaels
"Watermark"