[FM] Brother Al

[Annie Wenz]

... as i sit here... tears falling between the cracks on my keyboard...
i hope it's ok to share my reflections on al

al was a good friend, brother, poet, jokester...
spiritual & passionate & sometimes irreverent & leader of the wise ass
parade- with his "rode hard & put up wet" hat & red bandanna

we met at a folk alliance years ago swapping songs & became friends
right away
he stayed at my home when he played here in new england... we chewed the
rubber till the wee hours... talked about life, love & auchwitz... drank
a bazillion cups of tea & shared gigs & lots of laughs & songs

i LOVED his music... he was a rare poet with eyes that saw all that
shimmers between the lines of life

we went to the wintertide retreat together, (with paula joy welter,
steven taylor, richard berman, kevin so, carl cacho,stephanie corby, mc
cauley burke with bob franke guiding us) & cheered each other's new
creations on... we were a family for a week.

al was in recovery & so proud... ray wyle hubbard (who covered al's
music) took that cool brown poncho he used to wear off his back & gave
it to al for sticking with "the program"... al loved that poncho!

al told me i had to come to kerrville & was all excited about bringing a
"new kerrvirgin" into the circle... he met me at anne feeneys's tent
with a yellow rose & kerrville mug & introduced me to the magic of
kerrville... we sat for hours swapping songs under the texas the stars

my 2nd kerrville- i met al in the road just as i arrived. he was a
volunteer, on crew & was wearing a green tee shirt that said in HUGE
letters
"Kerrville Folk Festival~ Sanitation Crew" ..."Don't Trash Your Nest"
i said "great tee shirt! can you buy them anywhere???"
he said- "hell- you can have this one!"... so i told him i'd trade him
the tee shirt for some of my custom blend fragrance/massage oil.
he was in the middle of lusting after some new flame who was coming to
the festival to meet him...
so i made him 2 vials of oil with hand made labels... i called one
"#9"  , the other    "Hot Dreams"
we laughed our butts off &... but he treated them like they were the
holy grail.
i still wear the tee shirt

last of all- al & i swapped email all the time- "hang in there- it's a
rough road", "hey did you finish that song about..."
he'd tell me about his new romances & send me lyrics he'd written... all
amazing
for a while i kept them in their own folder, i told him "there's a book
in this someday al"
last night i looked & couldn't for the life of me fine that folder...
maybe it's best

the conversation i remember most vividly was while we were driving to
the toronto folk alliance together
we were talking about how grateful we both were to be part of this
incredible music family... & how full our lives were in ways money &
material things couldn't touch
we decided we didn't have to try & peck our way & climb some huge
mountain  get "there" to get some big folk prize in the sky
we decided it just doesn't get any better- look what we have- our lives
are so rich
"we are there!"              ... that became our mantra

so i am at least at peace that al knew he was loved & respected & most
of all
he knew he was "there"

for the roses
(& wherever you are al- now you know i'm supposed to say "for the
hybisci... or is it hibiscus???" ;)... sigh
annie

hey al.... send me a song or 2 will ya???
i know....it's not supposed to be that easy


--
Annie Wenz
http://www.songs.com/anniewenz
413 529-0853   ~*~  888 395-5557
Performing Artist/RN/Wellness Educator
Player of Guitar/Native American Flutes/Piano/& Folkloric Doodads
Sponsored by: Elixir Guitar Strings      Distribution~ New
Leaf~Atlanta,GA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's 25 years later, I'm in downtown Ho Chi Minh
Lookin' out a window with an orphan from the war
the East & the West are finally sittin' round the dinner table
tryin to make some sense of it all"

Annie... from Vietnam ~ March 2000