Rod McKuen - Flight Plan


PLAN TWO		Photo by Bob Gentry Š2001 Stanyan Entertainment A Thought for Today Each of us is his own architect. Starts and stops are everything. They are in themselves a beginning and an end. But more, within them lies the only pleasure life affords. I regret no love affair however small or temporary. I do not blame those who promised fidelity for always, then tired and went away. I rejoice that I have known the company of giants, even for a small time. If I have regrets or feel inadequate, it comes from quarrels of my own making. Blindness to apology. . . sonnets made from sincerity that later proved untrue. I regret that I was not born with a mind as winning as some I've wooed and won. But I believe that there will always be a second chance, an opportunity for correction. - from "Celebrations Of The Heart", 1971 Details of Rod's upcoming concerts and appearances can be obtained via the link below: Rod McKuen Concerts & Appearances



		Liz Anderson o Peter Breck o William Casey o Dana Delany o Jana Eiche o Janet Flanner (Genet) o Christopher Gable o Jan Howard o L. Ron Hubbard o Ina Ray Hutton o Melissa Jones o Sammy Kaye o Percival Lowell o William H. Macy o Tessie O'Shea o Joseph Priestley o Deborah Raffin o Uncle Sam o Neil Sedaka o Hugh Walpole

		We welcome winter only if we've known too many fruitless springs. Lack of love and loving spoils the purest heart. All people have lessons they can give us, even in rejection.

ANOTHER BEGINNING February 1969, Santa Monica		One day a man will take you on the high roads; after a time he'll leave you someplace nice or tell you where the big boys play. They usually string out their games in someone's shadow. It could be yours. More likely mine, for mine's grown longer and there's more room here. I ache to learn some new games now, I've been away from town too long. To see a new door open I'd go almost anywhere. Even backward, if I thought I had the time. I'm mad at midnight for the things I didn't do, that doesn't mean I wouldn't take a chance again. Few angels have been heard to sing but many purr when stroked just so. Lie down and leave your imprint in the sand, my hand will trace it into everything I need. That is how reality begins, shadows turned to something real or reality turned back into a shadow. I need the sureness of gray matter worlds again to make me whole. If I am anything at all I'm what I've gotten out of sand. Not only that washed in from seas and islands but any piece of earth (however small) a man can hold securely in his hand. Catch me in the sunlight. Catch me pacing past the trees. Build a fence around me the moment that you see me running. I am so elusive sometimes I miss the things worth stopping for. I need. Not more trees. Not more rain in backyard barrels or racing down the gutters to the drain. I need the comfort of a friendly back or belly. Seen sometimes in magazines or made up in my mind. You know the ones I mean They shout out at you like the trees in April or blossom on your own thin grin like strawberry smiles collected. I have been assaulted by soft smiles at a distance. The way some radios attack you from across the room when you're strapped up in a barber chair. The way you're raped by Muzak in an elevator. Now comes the time for closeness once again. Turn me over gently. Hold me for the man I am. Smooth out the wrinkles on my face and love me - please. Because I need. The big boys play in someone's shadow down the street. And I am detached. That's as it should be, for I need more than games. Take a chance on me. I haven't any name but what you'll give me when you leave. - from "In Someone's Shadow", 1969

Š 1969, 1971, 1988, 2001 by Stanyan Music Group & Rod McKuen. All Rights Reserved

Birthday research by Wade Alexander o Poetry from the collection of Jay Hagan o Coordinated by Melinda Smith

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