Continuum by John Heckman

He was an egomaniac at 18.
South Florida played him well,
beginnings and inspiration
from 'Nemo Spliff' showed him
staccato notes. Experimented
with a signature to be his own,
a sixteenth note, funk style.

Woodchuck, 1969
Kid born, 1970. He was 19,
hitting harmonics on the first
and second frets, always
said he would die at 33 like
Jesus Christ or maybe 34 like
Charlie Parker.

Sixteenth note in groupings
mixed with quarter-note
triplets, double stops, octaves,
and E’s man, like none other,
a motherfucking genius he would
tell everyone, best bass player that
ever lived.

His maddening ego, lithium fed
demons grabbed his spirit. His
head exploded into tiny quasars.
He lost everything spiraled out.
He was the best. A chafing ego,
alcohol, drugs, depression and
he was dead at 36.



John Heckman is currently works in 'Big Science' studying quarks at a National Lab in Virginia (www.jlab.org). He's married; no yard apes, and has two dogs.

He's been published in 'Blood Jet' an e-journal and juried publication and has work accepted by 'Samsara' an e-zine debuting this summer, and 'La Petite Zine'. He also has a published abstract on cryogenics in an international scientific journal.

Last spring he helped his Professor teach an introduction to poetry class at an adult literacy program called 'Peninsula Reads' in Newport News Virginia. For fun he likes to sail on the Chesapeake Bay, work in his yard, and write poetry. Back to Table of Contents