Gary Lucero Writer

I've never been a great fan of traditional poetry, but I've loved song lyrics since I was a child.

 

I was drawn to the playful and interesting interplay of words in The Beatles' song, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" from the album by the same name, or the sad lyrics to "She's Leaving Home" from that same album.

 

Then there's Cat Stevens, whose songs were mostly sad in the early 1970s. I loved tracks like "Where Do the Children Play" from his album, Tea for the Tillerman, which made the world seem desperate and unfit for mankind, or "If I Laugh" from Teaser and the Firecat, which spoke of the end of a relationship and how sad it left him.

 

I also loved Elton John as a child, and he was typically more upbeat, with songs like "Texan Love Song," a tongue-in-cheek song about how rednecks feel about hippies, from Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. He had his sad songs, but he wasn't such a downer.

 

As I exited my tweens and entered my teens, I switched from my mostly-AM music to my older brother's FM-music, singer songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, and bands like The Who and Aztec Twostep. They were mostly melancholy, but the lyrics were often more mature, and they ventured into loss, politics, and drug addiction.

 

This expanded my horizons with so many incredible songs, and with lyrics that dazzled me. I didn't know music could be this good, or that anyone had the ability to create such amazing landscapes with words.

 

Singer songwriters became my thing, but I loved rock'n'roll, so I didn't just listen to the more folkie stuff. I loved bands like Jethro Tull, The Who, and Yes. I also dabbled in The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Santana, and many others, but they didn't have the same appeal as someone like Neil Young, or the other bands I mentioned.

 

But what does this have to do with poetry?

 

This is the poetry I listened to as a child, teen, and adult. And to this day, my mainstays are great singer-songwriters. There's Neil Young, a man who has always been one of the most prolific and important songwriters of our time. Yes, who had the incredible Jon Anderson as the main lyricist up until around 2005. The Who, where Pete Townshend wrote most of the band's iconic songs. And Roger Waters, the guy who wrote most of the great Pink Floyd classics and continues to create meaningful music to this day.

 

There are others, bands like Rush, Van der Graaf Generator, ELP, and more, which have wonderful lyrics and incredible music, and they all helped define poetry for me, and guide me as I write my own.

 

So while I may not read a lot of poetry, I've always been exposed to poetry in the lyrics of the music I listen to, and that's what shapes my own.

My next book of poetry, which should release sometime in early 2025, focuses primarily on humanity.

 

Humanity's frailty, resilience, incompetence, and brilliance. All that is great and terrible about humanity.

 

I find myself drawn to topics that look at humanity in a negative light, which expose its ugly underbelly, and show how flawed we are. And while I know we are capable of greatness, sometimes our accomplishments come at great cost, or are used for nefarious purposes. In our haste to explore and research, we often take shortcuts that have dire consequences, and these are the things that cause humans to expedite their own extinction.

 

Then again, humans often face unbeatable odds, invincible foes, and unsolvable puzzles and succeed. We don't always do it gracefully, but when we put our minds and hearts to it, we are able do things that we previously saw as unimaginable.

 

We are resilient, brilliant, strong, capable, determined, and stubborn. Our minds work tirelessly to solve problems that we are sure are impossible, and when we succeed, we surprise ourselves. And our hearts are boundless in their ability to give, and we are often willing to sacrifice ourselves for others. We're generous to a fault.

 

These are some of the things that make humans worthwhile, but there are many things that make me look at humanity and wonder why we exist at all. Why do we commit atrocious acts of violence? Why do we cheat and steal? Why do we rape and pillage? What makes us so greedy and callous?

 

And while my new book won't cover every topic mentioned here, as I go through my days, see what's happening in the world, listen to music, watch TV, talk to people, and all the rest of it, I think about us, where we're headed, and where we came from. I delve into humanity, what I know of it, and I try to find words that express my thoughts and feelings.

 

To sum up, the first and largest chapter of the book is a collection of poems that explore humanity. The darkness and the light. It provides a mirror into my own thoughts as well as a reflection of what many of you may be thinking.

 

I'm finishing the book now, and once the final edits are complete, and I have the cover and illustrations, I'll reveal more.

 

Until then, I can tell you the book will be called The Unknown Race.

 

Until next time.

 

Gary

Winter is here, and with it comes not only freezing cold, but also depression, listlessness, and a yearning for Spring.

 

I've turned my own melancholy heart to writing poetry, and I just submitted the manuscript for my new book, The Unknown Race, to my editor. It's a book that explores humanity, its frailty and resilence, but it also ventures into the territory of that which we either cannot or refuse to control, such as the devastation of our planet. It focuses on our eventual extinction, and the judgement of the gods on humanity.

 

But the book isn't a total bummer. I do have a small selection of poems that express my appreciation for various aspects of life, and that's how the book ends.

 

I hope to release The Unknown Race before year's end, but it may slip to early 2025.

 

More to come as I have it.

 

Yours truly -- Gary