Bowled Over

 It is years, decades, since The Grateful Dead
sealed their reputation and invented 'Americana'
long before other song writers took up the mantle,
now attributed The Dead, where songs described
where they lived and who had lived before them.

The Grateful Dead were long gone by the time
'Americana' became shorthand for lazy reporters,
they were worn out from from touring and decay

Now they are more a memory
in the frazzled minds of the punters
of gigs they put on, gigs where
as one attendee of their 1972 tour
now memorably described them
as 'The rock and roll equivalent
of a cricket test match, lots of lulls
with unexpected flashes of excitement'.

It is forty one years since I was first bowled over,
and there have been many lulls in my life since,
but the band have been the constant to me
through many dwelling and relationships
they will see me thought many more...