Artist of the Month - Dennis Wayne Bressack

By Bruce Bressack  2/12/2004  Boomers

The Boomers Column has just celebrated its 1st Anniversary!  My thanks to all who have read, and supported, the column over the last year.

Today, I am pleased to announce a new Boomers feature, called 'Artist of the Month', where I will showcase freelance writers, poets, singer-songwriters, and bands.

So, on the theory that "all's fair in love and nepotism", I would like to introduce this month's 'Featured Artist' --- Dennis Wayne Bressack.

Dennis Wayne Bressack, who resides in Woodstock, New York, has been writing intensely emotional social, political and personal poetry, essays and short stories for almost forty years.  He is a member of The Poetry Society of Woodstock and Voices of the Valley, and has been a featured reader at their meetings, at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock, and at the Woodstock Poetry Festival.

Dennis has published two books of poetry (with a third underway), and has been published in a variety of anthologies, magazines, newspapers, journals and websites.

He is currently working with studio musicians, in Woodstock, to record 'song versions' of his poems.  Here's a rough demo of the poem-song 'Ralph', from his upcoming CD release.

Ralph         Click here for the MP3 audio of the song.

Walking in the woods
when we met Ralph.
Oh boy, what a scare!
I asked him for a pen
to write down my thoughts.
Then I felt him drawing near.

His two front teeth were missing,
he had alcohol breath.
Scared my little woman away.
Dirty face and clothes,
my how paranoia grows,
when a stranger stops to tell you what he knows.

He said,
“Take a chance on a seeker,
take a chance if you care.
Take a chance on a seeker,
take a chance if you dare.
For if you
Take a chance on a seeker,
he’ll show you that he’s more of a man.
Take a chance on a seeker,
he’ll touch you just as soft as he can.”

We wept about the death of an innocent stream.
I introduced him to my son.
I said “ this is Duzzi Thinki Noz”
He said, “Duzzi, how do you do.”
I once had a bike like you.

“I’ve got a quarter acre of land
with a stream running through
in good old West Virginia.”
We sang the music we both loved the most.
Then he really started singing the blues.

He sang,
“Take a chance on a seeker,
take a chance if you care.
Take a chance on a seeker,
take a chance if you dare.
For if you,
Take a chance on a seeker,
he’ll show you that he’s more of a man.
Take a chance on a seeker,
he’ll touch you just as soft as he can.”

We explored each other’s minds.
We probed each other’s hearts.
Looked different, yet we felt the same.
I took down his telephone.
But, I couldn’t give him mine.
I was still afraid.
It’s such a shame.

Bruce Bressack is a singer-songwriter, producer and freelance writer currently living in New England. He’s a 52 year old baby-boomer, ex-Yuppie, ex-New Yorker, guitar-slingin’, piano-slappin’, finally ‘retired’, television tube lover...

Bruce Bressack can be reached at bbressack@hippopress.com

Boomers — dennis wayne bressack