Friday, November 6, 2015

Nobody to blame but me

She fired up my old hot rod
Ran it in the pond
Put sugar in my John Deere
I can’t even mow my lawn
And I got nobody to blame but me
~Chris Stapleton


When I heard this song, Chris Stapleton's voice sounded so familiar to me. He sounded like that guy from the Steeldrivers. Turns out he used to sing with the Steeldrivers. Makes sense!


Now what's the connection to Poetry Friday? There was something about this song that made me wonder whether I could write variant stanzas, sort of like we use William Carlos Williams' This is Just to Say as a springboard for apology poems (and, of course, the Lennon and Maisy exercise).

This guy obviously knows what he did wrong, and that it was bad enough to warrant all kinds of punishment, but he never says what it is. Did he toss the only copy of her just-completed two-hundred page manuscript into the fireplace? What if he ate her pet pig? Could he have doused her coat with itching powder right before she was about to give a speech? Maybe he stole her car to run away with her sister on her very own birthday! Dang, he *deserves* some trouble. So I wrote him some:

She took the vowel keys
From my typewriter
Hosed down my laptop
Like a firefighter
And I got nobody to blame but me

She shoved my ATM card
In the compost pile
Sold me leopard print pants
Said they were in style
And I got nobody to blame but me

She won't wash my shoes
Just leaves me my fungus
She popped my waterbed
With my own compass
And I got nobody to blame but me

~~~~~~~~~~

So, should I be writing blues songs or what? Got any ideas about what she did that he blames himself for? Go ahead and give him your worst in the comments :-)

Write.Sketch.Repeat. has the Poetry Friday round-up.

P.S. Did you happen to see the name of my post from two days ago?

P.P.S. Just realized I need to find out who wants to be in the Winter Swap! If you already do, you can email me about it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, either email me or wait until Sunday. I will try to post about it then.

14 comments:

Author Amok said...

Those leopard print pants! It looks like you had a lot of fun with this blues poem, Tabatha.

Pop said...


She ate my last t-bone
Left nothing but the fat
She cut off the brim
from my best cowboy hat
And I got nobody to blame but me

This is fun, Tab. :-)

Irene Latham said...

Ha! You DO have some blues in you, girl! Love it when I recognize a singer's voice in a new context... like solving a puzzle. That's really a great jumping off point: I got nobody to blame but me. Fun! And the leopard print pants!! Thank you. xo

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

Sounds like a cheatin' heart complex to me! Fun to think about all the creative consequences though. I'll try to come back later to add a few lines of my own.

jama said...

Fun poem, love that fungus in the shoes :D. Poor guy, I can't imagine what he did to deserve all this.

Thanks for the video -- Chris is amazing (and I'm wondering why I hadn't heard of him before watching the CMA Awards the other night).

Tabatha said...

Thanks, all! Pop, you made me LOL. Don't forget my P.P.S. -- Winter is coming! (the Winter Poem Swap, that is)

Unknown said...

You have the best spirit/sense of humor! Who knew blues could leave me feeling so happy-go-lucky. Lucky for being able happily to read your stanzas...Where's that record contract?...Don't know what Winter Poem Swap is; will check back on Sunday or Monday. Perhaps by then I'll even have a satirically sinister bluesy stanza to add to your poem...God bless you! Thanks!

Doraine said...

What a hoot! And you imagined such wonderful sins. Definitely a bleedin' heart, probably a cheatin' one, too.

Linda B said...

She stopped payin' the heat bill
I'm shiverin' in my bones.
Last night took the car,
left me all alone.
And I got nobody to blame but me

Well, too much fun not to imagine this sad, sad relationship. Your 'blues' got me going, Tabatha.

Diane Mayr said...

Left my chicken where
the cat could get it.
Let the dog chaw my
slippers, bit by bit.
And I got nobody to blame but me.

Count me in on the swap! Many thanks, Tabatha, I'll be in touch.

Ruth said...

Great stuff!

Mary Lee said...

I'm not sure whether I love the stanzas more, or your reasons why he should be in trouble!

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

She stole my new thesaurus
and rhyming dictionary,
tore apart my notebook,
now all I can do is write in non-metrical free verse....
and I got nobody to blame but me.

;)

Glad to see Chris is getting some much-deserved attention...he's the real deal.

Sally Murphy said...

Thanks for the laugh - though it feels mean to laugh at the blues ;)