by Edward O Dwyer
Playing Guitar
Ever since the day I was just someone
in a room full of people
where a guy was playing guitar,
and where two beautiful girls
whispered, giggled and then agreed
guys who play guitar are so sexy,
I have been thinking,
I want to play guitar.
I can write a poem, yes,
but it’s not the same as playing guitar.
I want to be that guy, strumming and crooning
in a room full of people,
pretending not to overhear
when a beautiful girl
whispers to another beautiful girl,
who then giggles in agreement
guys who play guitar are so sexy.
If I could play guitar,
and if I found myself playing some time
in a room full of people
where, let’s say, two beautiful girls
have just agreed it’s so sexy,
then I could announce the next song
- Eric Clapton’s Layla, for instance -
saying something like,
here’s a song for all you beautiful girls,
which after all, is something to the effect
of the things I’ve heard said
in rooms full of people
by those guys playing guitar,
and where beautiful girls
were whispering, giggling and agreeing
guys who play guitar are so sexy.
But then that’s all if I could play guitar
and not just, instead, write this poem;
is if I was in a room full of people
and not a room by myself.
It is if I could hear the whispering
and giggling, the agreement
of two beautiful girls
and not, instead, this utter silence
tending to be the difference
between a guy writing a poem
and a guy playing guitar.
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ABOUT THE POET ~
Edward O'Dwyer, 27, is from Ireland and a teacher of English, History and Irish. His poems are published throughout Ireland, Britain, the USA and Australia in many journals and anthologies. He was selected by Poetry Ireland for their Introductions Series (2010), reading then at the Irish Writers Centre. He edited the anthology, Sextet, for Revival Press (2011). His poetry is translated into Slovene by poet Veronika Dintinjana.
Last updated May 19, 2011