Time Is Almost Over Now

“To a friend of mine with shiny eyes. Where could I find this love you have? This bright inviting glow. He put his arms around my waist. His manner always kind. He said, “I cannot tell you friend. Its like showing to the blind. But I know a place. I know a special place for me. For it is the place where I found this love…” He lead me down a dusty road. He said, “Go and look what you’re searching for.” The road lead me to a quiet place. The vision I could still see. The sun was shining warm and soft. I saw the sparkles from the dew drops, but there was no change in me. Something was warm upon my face. Then I felt something warm in my heart. It made me feel very much calm. You know it was just like a river put to rest. And then I heard a gentle voice, softly spoke to me. You can hear it all around. It sound like whispers in the pine. It sound like whispers in the pine.”

Lyrics by Bob Desper, blinded at age 10, who recorded his only album, New Sounds, in one take in 1974. Listen to Dry Up Those Tears and Time Is Almost Over.

“THE fish men see her still, their Annie, in the hide-and-seek shadows of South Street. She’s telling her dirty jokes and doing anything for a buck: hustling newspapers, untaxed cigarettes, favors, those pairs of irregular socks she’d buy cheap on Canal. She’s submitting to the elements, calling out “Yoo-hoo” to the snow and the rain and her boys…” Dan Berry, on the passing of Gloria Wasserman, also known as Shopping Cart Annie. It was the first thing I read this morning, on the john, after waking up on my couch in shorts and a baja. There was crying.