*

Eric Benson Taylor is a multifaceted artist whose talents span music composition, poetry, and film producer. As a music composer and performer, he is best known under the moniker The Dystopian Rhythms, captivating audiences with dynamic performances that blend poetic lyrics and evocative melodies. His approach to songwriting is deeply rooted in poetry, adding an extra layer of meaning and resonance to his music. Eric’s passion for storytelling extends beyond music into the realm of film. He has produced notable documentaries such as City as Canvas: Above the Free Walls, Turning The Page, and Art In Public. His poems, such as Long Ago, Summer Sky, and Pendulum of Memories, weave rich tapestries of imagery and emotion.

Long Ago

Eric Benson Taylor

Their bones left to calcify
On turnpikes & muddy roads
Green whiskey kept us dry
Lightning strikes & horny toads
Drunk in the Willow garden
By the banks of the Ohio
The ground cold & hardened
I was the last to know
All these ghosts I see all around me
All These Ghosts of Long Ago
Baseball & picket lines
Rising Dust & Bayonets
The golden sun that shines
O’er fields of smoke & regret
Cosmic moonlight disciple
In Granite Panther Hollow
Beech groves & vulgate circle
All These Ghosts of Long Ago
Fife & drums are rolling
Solitary Western heights
Marching tempos strolling
Through darkest hours of night
We saw the glare of torches
Barns burning in distant glow
With two pistols & our horses
All These Ghosts of Long Ago
Nine trees in a line
Strung with wisteria vine
Fevered tides & barren rivers
I admire your sand
& your flooded bottomlands
Your goosebump midnight shiver
Your deep Backwater sloughs
As Your River Delta Flows
At least as harvest time allows
All These Ghosts of Long Ago
Summer Sky
Dragonflies, they levitate
Hover gracefully & gravitate
Midnight blue & alkali
Draped across a Summer sky
Under a full moon, so delicate
Purple butterflies they hesitate
Over waterfalls, circumnavigate
Constellations, a stellar lullaby
To the northeast with a naked eye
Under a full moon, so delicate
Gaslit lamps illuminate
Evenings left to ruminate
Horizon Altar Immaculate
Yet Light pollution dominates
Constellations, a stellar lullaby
To the northeast with a naked eye
Under a full moon, so delicate
Pendulum of Memories
Somewhere near
The cypress trees,
Distant howls
Of coyotes
Waves that crash,
Eternities
Dark tide pools,
Anemones
Manzanita
Mission bells
Bougainvillea
Abalone shells
Peninsula
of wind blown dune
Rivers of gold
Silver tea spoons
It’s a Pendulum of Memories
Yerba Buena
Commodore
Angel Island’s
Farthest shore
Redwoods in a
Gale force wind
Sir Francis Drake
Comes sailing in
Presidio
The Civil War
Schooner ships
Conquistadors
Distant howls
Of coyotes
Waves that crash,
Eternities
Dark tide pools,
Anemones
It’s A Pendulum of Memories

— Eric Benson Taylor