Bob Dylan

Carol Snow was kind of a caretaker on Dylan's home at Point Dume near Malibu in the 1970's when Dylan's kids were young. I asked her what Bob was like and she said she'd only spoken to him once or twice in the 3 years she worked for him.

"I was in the kitchen once, standing at the counter kneading bread. He came and stood by me for a long time, didn't say a thing. There was a fabulous window that looked out onto a huge yard and the ocean. We both stared out the window for an eternity. I didn't know what to say so I just kept kneading the bread. Finally he said, "look at them ducks out there," then turned and walked away.

I first saw Dylan play at The Forum in Inglewood, Ca. It must have been the early 70's. He was playing with The Band. I didn't have much money and the only ticket I could afford was so far away from the stage that I could just barely see Robbie Robertson's hand hit a guitar string; then I'd wait 2 or 3 seconds for the sound to finally travel up to where I was sitting. I left at intermission.

Tim Reynolds has this theory that rock & rollers took over the territory poets once held. That's half-astute, half- clever, as is the poet Robert Lowell saying yes, maybe Dylan's a poet but he hides behind his guitar.

A woman I know from Hibbing, Minnesota says she went to a funeral there four or five years ago. Right after the service started, a small man dressed in dark clothes entered the church and sat alone in one of the pews. He left mid-way thru the chorus of the last hymn. The man was Bob Dylan of Hibbing, Minnesota.

Tagore the Indian poet talked near the end of his life about hearing one of his poems on the radio as he passed thru a rural village. He'd forgotten that his poem had been set to a piece of popular music. Hearing the song and knowing thousands and thousands of people were being touched by his words--even though those who were hearing didn't know he was a poet, a man of words--was one of Tagore's greatest moments as a writer. 

I don't know whether Dylan's a poet or not. I don't know what a poem is anymore, much less a poet. I know that I know a lot of Dylan lyrics and that some of his songs are like parts of my own life. Not like a soundtrack exactly, but more like scenes that isolate mostly pleasant memories.