Listening to "Roll Me Away," by Bob Seger, great song and artist. Of course, it transports me to past decades, but this song is about freedom, freedom, freedom, of any age or decade.

Seger touched me back when I was striving to make a life in New England, and around the time that a prior marriage was falling apart, but for a long time I did not understand the dynamics. I had no idea how things would unfold, the pain the loss, the guilt for my part. Maybe it was 99% me. It's hard to figure out the dynamics from so long ago.

But Seger touched my creative spirit, and helped me to explore my musical side. Then a kind of tragedy began to unfold.

It is said that there is no such thing as closure in the aftermath of trauma. Closure is a word that TV psychologists like to throw around. I believe that the pain continues to reverberate somewhere in our psyches, though we do go on with life, to hopefully learn something about ourselves and other people and how to live with integrity in this crazy world.

Bob Seger--Hollywood nights, Against the Wind, Main Street, Night Moves and many others. Great songs. I love how he melded blues and rock and soul. It is a good thing for artists to cross genres, to not be limited to a single artistic point of view. It is good for artists to not make a mess of their lives and go down the tubes. Or if they make a mess, find a way to clean things up, to climb out of the pit of regret and feel the warmth of the sun again, and then to climb the mountain one more time.

When I think of Main Street, I think of the mean streets of Hartford Connecticut, near the train-bus station, where I volunteered in a homeless drop-in center, and years later, ended up on the verge of homelessness myself, but did not know I was headed down that road. Music brings back specific memories, and you feel a kind of sweet pain.

Seger. I know nothing about his personal life, but his great songs and performances have inspired me through all the years to keep going with my music and poetry and generally, with life.

Night Moves. Takes me back to Mt. Carmel, Illinois, my year in VISTA, before that song was even produced. Makes me think of another life I could have led, if I had made different choices.

But here I am, and here you are. We have choices today, Our lives are still being shaped. The story is far from over. There is more music to create...