Yesterday I heard hunters deep in the forest, a shot , a thud, a rebel yell. In their wake is a dead fawn. A grieving Doe is bedded nearby, her eyes a crust of grief. We buried her fawn under a tall pine tree, wound a token of broken boughs with garlands of wildflowers.
Last night in a dream they came for me the stench of their scorn filled the air. Running until my bare feet bled, they drew back their swords and pierced my heart, buried me beneath the skins of dead animals.
This morning a sparrow struck my window, its mark formed a teardrop on the pane. It’s grave is in the shade of the Hydrangea.
The garden is in full bloom, peonies open wide and fruit spurs shoot forth from the apple tree. On the surface the earth thrives but deep in shadows hunters prey, life as insignificant as a dream.
Richards was born on 18 December 1943 in Dartford, Kent, England.] Richards’s paternal grandparents, Ernie and Eliza Richards, were socialists and civic leaders, whom he credited as “more or less creating the Walthamstow Labour Party“, and both were mayors of Municipal Borough of Walthamstow in Essex. His great-grandfather’s family originated from Wales.
(oh look, we have something in common!)
Richards and Mick Jagger began writing songs together in 1963, prompted by manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who believed the band could not depend on outside songwriters. The earliest Jagger/Richards collaborations were recorded by other artists, including Gene Pitney, whose rendition of “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday” was their first top ten single in the UK. They scored another top ten hit in 1964 with the debut single written for Marianne Faithfull , “As Tears Go By“.
The first top-ten hit for the Rolling Stones with a Jagger and Richards original was “The Last Time” in early 1965, “Satisfaction” (also 1965) was their first international number one recording. Richards has stated that the “Satisfaction” riff came to him in his sleep; he woke up just long enough to record it on cassette. Most Rolling Stones albums have consisted mainly of Jagger and Richards originals. Their songs reflect the influence of blues, R&B, rock and roll, pop, soul, gospel, and country, as well as forays into psychedelia and Dylanesque social commentary. Their work in the 1970s and beyond has incorporated elements of funk, disco, and regae. Richards has also written and recorded slow torchy ballads, such as “You Got the Silver” (1969), “Coming Down Again” with Mick Jagger is one of the most successful in history.
Side Note : Richards has also struggled with drug addiction having been arrested several times for drug related issues.
In 2010, David Fricke, of Rolling Stone magazine referred to Richards as the creator of “rock’s greatest single body of riffs” on guitar and the magazine ranked him fourth on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.]Rolling Stone also lists fourteen songs he co-wrote with Jagger on its ” 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.
In 2023, Tom Waits honored his friend with a poem, “Burnt Toast To Keith”. That same year, Richards was honored in Dartford with a statue. In 2025, Richards was the first recipient of the Connecticut Governor’s Award of Excellence.
Sources:
Brittanica
Behind the Scenes Memoir
“Life” by Keith Richards
All art copyright Resa McConaghy
This is dedicated to our lovely Gigi at Rethinking Life
Bleak January days became unbearable. Escaping frozen windows, snowbirds seeking shelter, we sailed to pearls of islands hemorrhaging crimson flowers and rain forest floors lit with lemon quartz. Our bare feet sunk on infinitesimal citrine crystals. Wing beats of white plumage swept the past out to sea. We existed there forever in a moment’s eternity.
If you are familiar with Roethke’s work it is probably because of this poem,
In A Dark Time
In a dark time birds like in a parc exotique yell and sing back to their echoes, they want to mate but they are undue.
In the dark out, chilling, love is undue yet. Another shot, friend, take and maybe then
And maybe then horizons open up into trumpeting light blue of day in a dark time,
In a dark time the sky opens out promises, lies, is light, a lie it is, in a dark and shadow time, foxes rush through bushes, dark green bushes, with their teeth bared and hissing death
and dark blood drops of deer fallen, life fallen and fallen love on the greenest, purest meadow falls. Has fallen, has succumbed to a dark time, blinded by the flood light of another morning of a day in a dark time.
Poem analysis by Jim Baird
——————— Throughout the poem, Roethke employs vivid imagery and a complex structure, utilizing a unique rhyme scheme that mirrors the themes of fragmentation and eventual unity. He grapples with the dualities of existence, navigating between beauty and brutality, madness and nobility. The poem ultimately conveys a sense of rebirth, as the poet emerges from darkness into a new awareness, feeling a connection to the world despite its inherent violence. Roethke’s work invites readers to consider the intricate relationship between suffering and enlightenment, emphasizing that through deep personal struggle, one may find a new sense of purpose and understanding.
BIRTH:Saginaw, Michigan, 25 May 1908, to Otto and Helen Huebner Roethke. EDUCATION:A.B., University of Michigan, 1929; M.A., University of Michigan, 1936; Harvard Graduate School, 1930-1931. MARRIAGE:3 January 1953 to Beatrice O’Connell. AWARDS:Guggenheim Fellowship, 1945, 1950; Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize (Poetry magazine), 1951; Ford Foundation grants, 1952, 1959; Pulitzer Prize for The Waking, 1954; Fulbright grant, 1955; Bollingen Prize, 1959; National Book Award for Words for the Wind, 1959; Shelley Memorial Award, 1962; Litt. D., University of Michigan, 1962; National Book Award for The Far Field, 1965. DEATH:Bainbridge Island, Washington 1 August, 1963.
Winter does not empathize with withered branches or displaced birds fleeing waves of frozen breath. Her howling wind is a laugh out loud and she hasn’t the grace to cover her mouth. A tease of holly and evergreen flicker at the curve of her billowed boughs, glistening folds and hallowed mounds drift in other worldly sighs ensnared by her exquisite binds.
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