Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Imagining defeat with Silver Jews singer David Berman

Also known as the author of Actual Air and The Portable February poetry books

  • Imagining Defeat
  • She woke me up at dawn,
  • her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels.
  • I sat up and looked out the window
  • at the snow falling in the stand of blackjack trees.
  • A bus ticket in her hand.
  • Then she brought something black up to her mouth,
  • a plum I thought, but it was an asthma inhaler.
  • I reached under the bed for my menthols
  • and she asked if I ever thought of cancer.
  • Yes, I said, but always as a tree way up ahead
  • in the distance where it doesn’t matter
  • And I suppose a dead soul must look back at that tree,
  • so far behind his wagon where it also doesn’t matter.
  • except as a memory of rest or water.
  • Though to believe any of that, I thought,
  • you have to accept the premise
  • that she woke me up at all. 
  • Catullus CX
  • Alfie, honest mistresses are lauded;
  • The presents they receive they earn, but you,
  • Who lead me on with lies, leave me defrauded.
  • My anti-mistress, brazen what you do;
  • You keep my gifts but, suddenly demure,
  • Renege on my reward. Either be chaste
  • Before accepting fees or be the whore
  • That you pretend, your total body placed
  • Where just your mouth is. Greed and “virtue” make
  • Strange bedfellows, each sure the other’s fake.
  • And the Others
  • Some find The Light in literature;
  • Others in fine art,
  • And some persist in being sure
  • The Light shines in the heart.
  • Some find The Light in alcohol;
  • Some, in the sexual spark;
  • Some never find The Light at all
  • And make do with the dark,
  • And one might guess that these would be
  • A gloomy lot indeed,
  • But, no, The Light they never see
  • They think they do not need. 
David Berman, author of "Imagining Defeat"

David Berman (1967-2019) was an American poet, also known as a rock musician and singer with the band Silver Jews. Born in Williamsburg, VA, Berman attended University of Virginia, where he met his future Silver Jews band mates. Berman recorded six albums with the Silver Jews as well as a solo album, and wrote two books of poems – Actual Air (1999) and The Portable February (2009). This past August, Berman took his own life.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
  • Imagining Defeat
  • She woke me up at dawn,
  • her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels.
  • I sat up and looked out the window
  • at the snow falling in the stand of blackjack trees.
  • A bus ticket in her hand.
  • Then she brought something black up to her mouth,
  • a plum I thought, but it was an asthma inhaler.
  • I reached under the bed for my menthols
  • and she asked if I ever thought of cancer.
  • Yes, I said, but always as a tree way up ahead
  • in the distance where it doesn’t matter
  • And I suppose a dead soul must look back at that tree,
  • so far behind his wagon where it also doesn’t matter.
  • except as a memory of rest or water.
  • Though to believe any of that, I thought,
  • you have to accept the premise
  • that she woke me up at all. 
  • Catullus CX
  • Alfie, honest mistresses are lauded;
  • The presents they receive they earn, but you,
  • Who lead me on with lies, leave me defrauded.
  • My anti-mistress, brazen what you do;
  • You keep my gifts but, suddenly demure,
  • Renege on my reward. Either be chaste
  • Before accepting fees or be the whore
  • That you pretend, your total body placed
  • Where just your mouth is. Greed and “virtue” make
  • Strange bedfellows, each sure the other’s fake.
  • And the Others
  • Some find The Light in literature;
  • Others in fine art,
  • And some persist in being sure
  • The Light shines in the heart.
  • Some find The Light in alcohol;
  • Some, in the sexual spark;
  • Some never find The Light at all
  • And make do with the dark,
  • And one might guess that these would be
  • A gloomy lot indeed,
  • But, no, The Light they never see
  • They think they do not need. 
David Berman, author of "Imagining Defeat"

David Berman (1967-2019) was an American poet, also known as a rock musician and singer with the band Silver Jews. Born in Williamsburg, VA, Berman attended University of Virginia, where he met his future Silver Jews band mates. Berman recorded six albums with the Silver Jews as well as a solo album, and wrote two books of poems – Actual Air (1999) and The Portable February (2009). This past August, Berman took his own life.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.