Travis Edmonson of Bud & Travis
EXCLUSIVELY available from travisedmonson.com
A Puzzlement
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POETRY BY & ABOUT
TRAVIS EDMONSON
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 MORE FEATURES
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Anyone who has visited Tom Straw's wonderful Bud & Travis website cannot fail to be overwhelmed by the hundreds of deeply felt comments sent in by admirers of Travis Edmonson. From those who described themselves as “moved to the core of their beings” by his song to couples so inspired by his presence that they named children after him, and all the other extensive permutations of such emotions intensely held on to for decades.
Anyone who has shared in this obviously communal experience knows just what it's like, and that this is not merely the effect of a glow cast by someone standing under bright lights.
Indeed, the warmth of his admirers' response was the very cause of bringing travisedmonson.com into existence. To the webmaster, this phenomenon has remained a source of fascination and discovery.
Entranced by an enigma,
My journey of discovery was intricate.
Each lens magnified, yet failed to elucidate
How an echo of ardent emotion,
In fact, the literal definition of the concept sublime,
Could hold its intensity onwards, perfectly frozen in time,
The listener made an eternal captive
Ever more haunted by a force quite emphatic.
Which nearness revealed to be still more dramatic.
The mystery was not to be solved
In the laws of physics or chemistry
Nor through psychology or history.
A rarefied crossing to a higher plain
Whose unchartable route was concealed in notes and vibration,
Yet decoded with ease into ethereal sensation.
The wisdom of a spiritual teacher
Seemingly camouflaged in lyrics and melody?
in this power to inspire lies the subtle key.
The breadth of this gift to transport
Onto a path of mystic migration
defies any single explanation.
What manner of being
Has the capacity to project such a light
akin to the magic of the ancient wood sprite?
And if the effect is supernatural,
But not the person who conveys
What is happening as he plays?
The clues to the riddle can never be held, for as
a kaleidoscope's image can so easily shatter,
Forever elusive remain the pieces which matter.
At journey's end, it is my belief,
to radiate energy which could so persist,
A gift for deep feeling must already exist.
The hypothesis is then that
So moved was he by what first he heard,
A true phenomenon then occurred.
Deep within him a well was born
From which sprung emotions so innate,
What it offered could never abate.
As he had originally been moved,
So also were those who witnessed his song.
A fountain produced to last a life long
To realize the same ardour he experienced
That first time; every time his voice is called to mind
With life, with love, with passion ever entwined.