[TamsNumber4]

APRIL 4, 2012

HAPPY EARTH BIRTHDAY VICTOR. Your soul has now aged about a year in another time and place, but the time you spent here is still not forgotten. I hope you know you are still missed and I hope you are entertaining those around you with your wonderful poems and songs.


Last year I posted a birthday thread to Victor here on the Muse, I posted a poem and he sent me a response to how he spent his day:

Quote

Tammy,

I had a quiet birthday alone as I usually do, and as I enjoy. I spent the morning waxing the stairs actually and felt good about how much better they looked, as I only do this about once a year. My ex-mother-in-law used to do them once a week. However, I think this is because she hoped I would fall and break my neck, and thus she would have been rid of me. Or maybe she just liked to see them shine.

What a wonderful, talented friend with a great sense of humor, Victor knew who he was and if I can share what he told me about himself to help you know him, then maybe that is my birthday present this year:

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I'm an old hippie and I float now, peacefully along, never bothering about anything because I know I am NOT the center of the universe and that other people always have good reasons for what they do or don't do, that have nothing to do with me. Therefore every frown is NOT aimed at me. Those people at the other table in the restaurant are NOT laughing at me, etc. When I was young, I had my head up my own rear end so deeply that I couldn't hear the traffic going by. After many years, I've almost got it out!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Victor, still missing you in the Artist Cafe!





DECEMBER 15, 2011:


I am just heart broken to announce to those of you who do not know that Victor Compton passed away in late spring of 2011.

I felt the announcement should be in the Artist Cafe where he spent most of his time at the Muse.

It is hard to post about someone you didn't "really" know, but maybe when we share our poems and songs, we draw each other into our hearts and minds.

Victor was a very interesting, kind and talented person. I hope you will go to his profile on the Muse or on SoundClick and read his bio.


Many of us were upset to learn that Victor had a stroke in August of 2010 when he posted this:


August 17, 2010

I've Written You A Letter

I've written you a letter, of possible goodbye.
But I hope that I get better, so you won't have to cry.
The Doctors shake their heads The nurses are too polite
It's clear they all expect that God, will soon turn off my light.
Should that occur, my darling girl, and I must go where angels dwell
I'll tell everyone I meet.....that you loved me very, very, well.

copyright 2010 by victor compton


He answered our questions and concern over this with these words:

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I like being alive and hope to live to be a hundred. But you get the time you get. If you like a few of the things I've written, then I am very pleased

Quote

Everything happens for a reason in life, but sometimes they are quite obscure. I like my dear old granny's viewpoint, "It all comes right in the end." Someday I will know what this voyage called life was all about.

Soon after, Victor posted that he compiled a book of poems that is still available, here is the information about this work:

Quote

I have just published a book of my own poetry, using the free publishing service at "smashwords.com" The title is "The Lollapalooza" by Victor Compton, in the Poetry section. It's for sale there for a couple of bucks, and you can read the first 20% for free.

But that is not the important thing. The important thing is that my poems are there for posterity.

For me, he was an amazing poet, I enjoyed so many of his postings. I am going to copy a few of my favorites. These came out of his days of traveling with a rock band and being at the bedside of his ex-wife who had died. Both introspective and amazing. The last one is just sweet and shows the lighter side of his poetry. Please feel free to post your favorites if you have one.


The Music

There is a music in my soul
that holds me like a dark romance;
and gives the kiss that turns men pale
when caught in webs of circumstance.
I've run the black-snake highway nights
and burned before the storming throng
and heard them screaming "rock and roll !"
to urge the ceremony on.
I've kissed the heart within the beast
and played guitar until fingers bled.
I've searched a motel room for peace
and found strange women there, instead.
But, still I sing and in my pain
the stinging metal strings caress
and cannot sleep for songs unsung
that will not stop and let me rest.
I am chained to the love of sound--
the amplified, electric chants.....
I move alone, forever caught
on feet forever doomed, to dance.

copyright 1983 by victor compton


And, You Were Mine................for Hélène

This room is yours forever.
You slept in this bed and died there
Like a candle quietly burning out.
You left us with gentility and discretion.
We didn't even know that your last sigh
was your last Your going was the
essence of polite withdrawal from
the Fete of Life. You didn't wish for anyone
to notice that your Soul was crossing
dimensions or for us to be sad that
we could not follow. You left us without
fear or fighting and told me the afternoon
of your departure, "You were the great Love
of my life," though we had been divorced
for fifteen years. I could only reply, truthfully,
"and you were mine."

copyright 2011 by victor compton


Poems In Bed

Some day I will read you poems in bed,
And kiss you so sweetly, your conscience turns red.
Someday, I’ll show you the Door to the Dream,
Where the Senses prevail, and Art rules, Supreme.

Someday, I will read you poems in bed,
As soft as the pillow supporting your head;
Words that fall gently, like angel-winged flight,
By the Ocean Of Sleep, at the edge of the Night

Someday I will read you poems in bed
And cradle you sweetly, like love on a sled
Then, tickle you giggly, until you know,
That you are the one, I wish never to go!

copyright 2009 by victor compton


Victor also posted many songs and videos, you can visit his SoundClick link to hear his songs and view his artwork:

VICTORS SONGS on SoundClick


I did not know Victor for a very long time, but the e-mails and pm's we exchanged were enough for me to call him "my friend" and I will miss him so.

One of my favorite things he answers on SoundClick is "What is his Favorite Spot?" Victor said:

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On top of a mountain in Topanga Canyon (Los Angeles) just at sunrise in the summer, sitting on a motorcycle, and looking out over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

I surely hope that Victor gets to see that many times now. I hope he knows that I will miss being able to go to the Artist Cafe to see his next poem, I hope he knows that he made friends here and is remembered as a talented poet and songwriter and I hope he knows that he touched our hearts.


I will end this with his artwork of "The Celestial Stairway", I hope the climb was as he imagined it to be. Goodbye my dear friend.........

[kimberlyinnc]

I remember that name, that is so very sad. I am sorry to hear about that Tammy.

[Dannyk1]

Victor you will be sorely missed. You were always one of the first to post on my offerings in the cafe and never once did you ever say an unkind word. Your words, your songs, your art, you will live on forever.



Danny

[Yamaki]

Sad news for sure, Victor was very talented and should be pleased as I'm sure there were many that liked a few of the things he had written. More than a few. I am not one too much for poetry, but his lines never failed to garner my interest and keep it right to the end of the verse.

Nicely laid out post Tams, I am certain Victor would have been touched. Thank you for letting us know.

Y

[Neal K]

Victor lived in France, right? I remember him as an excellent poet.

Neal

[Bruce N]

I'm sadden to hear of Victor's passing, thank you Tammy for letting us know, and for your very stirring tribute to him.

I can only imagine that he and Hélène are once again together.

One of his poems that grabbed and squeezed my heart.


Posted 11 October 2010 - 12:18 PM

The North Wind.......... (for Hélène)

The North Wind is upon us.
There are white caps on the bay.
The trees are speaking endlessly,
as their dry leaves are blown away.
Their wooden bodies creak and groan
protesting the velocity;
and you are far away with Death
and cannot ride its breath to me.
It brings me songs that you have sung.
Their melodies are sad with grief.
So soon, I think upon this storm,
I will also, release my leaf.
And, I shall ride that hurricane
above the Earth, so bright and blue;
so very high and far away
I cannot fail to get to you.
I shall touch Elysian Fields,
as Souls inside your mind proclaim,
"That man you used to love on Earth,
has just arrived, and calls your Name."

copyright 2010 by victor compton

[Len]

Sad to hear this news. I remember Victor and the quality of his work, and thanks everyone especially Tams for reminding us. Victor perhaps knew as well as any of us why we write what we do; so that some part of us can stay behind when we have passed on.

[fabkebab]

RIP Victor, and I must say, what a moving tribute TamsNumber4. You did him proud.

[Paddy O'Furniture]

God bless him...always such a supportive, encouraging, and talented person. I didn't frequent the Artist's forum, but when I did visit, he was one of the pillars there.

We were lucky to share his presence here at the Muse.

[surfer]

I am crushed.

[thomasitty]

I'm sorry to hear of his death. I enjoyed his poetry, writing and songs. He's even written a full length rock opera. From the conversations we had, I also got the feeling that he was a real gentleman. RIP Victor!

[feegis]

It is amazing how the passing of somenone you didn't "really" know, as Tams said, can produce such an empty feeling. Victor possessed the spirit that makes life the marvel that it is, and he shared it with all of us.

As Bruce posted, Victor's The North Wind, held my attention. I absolutely love that poem, and the final two lines:

"That man you used to love on Earth,
has just arrived, and calls your Name."

are some of the most touching lines I have ever read.

Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with the world, Victor.

Feegis

[Dottie]

I hate to hear this, Victor was a very good writer. He wrote quite a few lyrics that he had posted on his website. I sure enjoyed reading his work.

RIP Victor

Dottie

[SoddyBottoms]

Sorry to hear this about Victor.. I enjoyed his work very much. Victor was a very talented and entertaining writer..

[Alistair S]

How sad.

RIP, Victor.

[oxe57]

"on this earth you walked, now in heaven you fly"

[jonie]

Sad and shocking news. I loved Victor's work on Artist's Cafe. Seeing his name pop up was enough to draw me in.

A very talented poet whose depth and insight could be perceived as brilliantly and as simply as a ripple on a pond.

I did notice that he hadn't been around lately.

Now I know why.

Thank you for letting us know, Tammy.

[Dannyk1]

Tammy,

I think you made mention of posting our favorite poems that Victor wrote. I truly enjoyed most everything he wrote. The Poem he wrote that speaks the heart of the poet that beat in his chest, in my opinion, is as follows. He wrote this after his wfe passed. It spoke the fire of his love.


Danny


The Medicine Men
(for Elaine)

The Medicine Men say it is the end of you.
Death is waiting politely, his hat in his hands
He will not look at me directly, but smiles
at you kindly, each time you glance his way.
My wolves are howling. The wind shakes the
tent, and causes the torches to flicker. I
put more wood on the fire, and return to
your weather-worn body, to hold your
withered hand. I have broken my arrows.
I have burned my bow. My knife is sheathed.
The Hunt is over.

copyright 2010 by victor compton

[stewart alexander]

I didn't know... and yes, R.I.P my lovely friend...
I loved his work and he mine.. was always so warm and kind..

[Theresa]

@So sorry to hear this news...always enjoyed reading Victor's poetry..

[dzdandcunfsd]

The world is a sadder place now that we've lost such a wonderful spirit. My favorite one was a short but sweet little poem

Regrets


It's no use crying over milk that is spilt,

or days when it rains or flowers that wilt.

For there will always be cows, and daisies and roses,

Though regrets are quite tasty, in very small doses.


copyright 2010 by victor compton




at least he now knows the answers to the ultimate question

[Gordon]

I am really sad to hear this... like jonie, i'd noticed he hadn't been on in quite some time, but i had no idea. i joined the site in November 2010, so i never even knew about his August stroke or anything. In the short time i knew him at this site, he seemed to me to have a versatile and easy style. Tams already posted what i think is my favorite i've read by him... "And You Were Mine" (i really loved the sentiment, and it inspired me to write one of my lyrics... i'm glad i got the chance to let him know). And Bruce posted maybe my second favorite by him "The North Wind"... very moving...

one of the first things i read by him was a rather long piece that reminded me of Jim Harrison for some reason. when i commented to that effect, Victor replied...

Gordon,

Thanks very much. I'll look up this Jim Harrison, as I have never heard of him before. After all, I have out in the wilderness since 1981, living here in France. Most of the hit books, songs and TV programs of the last 30 years are unknown to me. When I mention some American TV series now being shown in France, to my friends in America and that I think is great, they always tell me, "But that was YEARS ago." I guess I will have to come down from my mountain one of these days. Perhaps I will bring a carved stone tablet with me. Cheers then, Victor

So... Here's his The Wild Men, which i think is just chock full of wonderful language and imagery... i think later tonight i'll drink a beer and listen to his song version at the Soundclick link he provided us...

The Wild Men

They really were wild men, and they did **** in the woods..... up
behind the construction site, because the contractor was too cheap
to pay the rent for a couple of porta-potties. They were carpenters,
heavy equipment operators, roofers, masons, cement men, and steel
workers for cutting and welding all the re-bar, to support the concrete.
They arrived like army ants, and built houses that appeared like magic
square mushrooms on fields that had born only wheat the year before.
They were rough, happy fellows who smoked and cursed, and whistled
at the passing ladies. They ate their lunch in half an hour, from a tin pail,
and were back on the job before their hammers had time to cool off.
They froze in the winter, and were burned black from the waist up in the
mid-western summer sun. On Friday nights at quittin' time, they
all met at a certain Beer Joint, with nothing but honky-tonk
songs in the jukebox, which blared out tunes like "Your Cheating Heart"
"Stand By Your Man." and "Sixteen Tons." Those still not married, somehow
managed to get cleaned up and arrived ready to go out, in record time. They
came in through the swinging doors looking like Marlon Brando and Errol Flynn
combined, and smelling as if they had bathed in buckets of "Old Spice" after shave.
They were proud and strong Young Bucks, and they were looking for beer to drink,
women to chase, and lights to punch out, with fists as hard as flat irons. Once they
got a belly full of alcohol, they left the bar to drive around in souped up, and
reconditioned Mustangs, '56 Chevys, and Pontiac GTO's. The motors sang
blood and thunder as they burned rubber out of the bar's parking lot, heading for a
Drive In Movie where they hoped to run into a girl named Heaven at the snack bar
during the interlude, so as to invite her back to their vehicle, to ignore the film,
and instead climb inside to play "Stop That!" and "Steam Up The Windows".
When the good girls wouldn't do it, they went up to 12th Street in Kansas City,
and paid bad girls who would. They were rough and ready, and though they
didn't have good manners, or credentials; they had Flair. The beauty of Youth
was theirs to spend as unwisely and as fast as they dared. They had good jobs, money in
their pockets, and time to burn. They were shot at by angry fathers, when discovered
climbing out of their girlfriends bedroom window at 2 in the morning. They
ran across the porch roof until they ran out of it, in the dark, and fell like Icarus
into the mother's favorite roses. Then, they ran from the farmers dogs, and into
the fence at the edge of the field. When they staggered in the next morning,
the manager of their little apartment building would remark, "Courtin' again, were ya?"
and smile like a wrinkled, old Cheshire Cat. When stopped for speeding, they
ended up in jail for the night, after telling the cop who walked up to their car window
with his ticket book in hand, "Give me a hamburger, a coke, and some french fries.
And don't forget the ketchup." They were awesome romantics as well and sometimes fell
in love with beautiful, older, married women until these "broke it off to save their marriage".
Devastated they drove out into the country, and screamed their anguish at the moon and stars, for hours against this unacceptable outrage. And if they cried, no one ever learned of it, for they always cried alone. As I still do.

copyright 2010 by Victor Compton

(and the song equivalent of this poem "Animal Man" can be heard at : http://www.soundclic...m/victorcompton )

[Rob Barratt]

Thank you, Tammy for letting me know about Victor's death. It's really sad. He only lived a few hundred miles from me across the channel and I imagined meeting up with him one day when I next went across to France.I too had noticed he wasn't on the site but I had no idea. I liked his work very much but I enjoyed our correspondence through the many comments strands even more. He sounded like a really nice bloke with a great sense of humour and a lovely humanitarian ethos. I will miss him.

Rob

[Gordon]

Yes, he definitely had a sense of humor... he was definitely a great writer and a great person...

he once responded to one of my posts...

"the man's a writer"

which, as an engineer... and not really a writer... and reading the things he wrote...

... oh, it was very flattering...

i am still so sad... i am not particularly a religious guy, but i think he really so loved his wife... who passed before him... i so hope they are together again in paradise... they both deserve that.

[TamsNumber4]

Like Gordon, I still am so very sad too.......

I was just reading his birthday thread that I started and wanted to post the poem that I wrote to him, he liked it and had thanked me for it

and yes, it made me feel really good..........


Ode to Victor
by Tammy

In a small French town
Victor will set down
his Madeira glass

He pulls out a pen
a poem again
he'll post it in a flash

the wonderful rhymes
he shares every time
leaves them wanting more

It's the hippie's prose
and everyone knows
his words we all adore

[Paddy O'Furniture]

Tammy, if someone had written me a poem like that, it would certainly brighten my day too. And of course Victor deserved the kind words .

[TamsNumber4]

Patrick,

Thanks......I'm glad I was able to know him a little better, sometimes a pm here and there and connecting with someone is a gift......

[DonnaMarilyn]

Oh my goodness.

I'm late to this thread, but also want to express my sorrow at learning this sad news.

Victor was indeed a gentleman, and a fine writer as well.

Thank you, Tammy, for having created this loving memorial for him.

Donna

[Gordon]

Very nice poem, Tams!

[TamsNumber4]

Thanks Gordon! I'm so happy he had a chance to read it!!

I keep catching myself wanting to send him a pm or ask him a question.

His opinion on my writings was priceless, I'm sure many could say that.

I hope his works and presence can inspire others to write.

Tammy

[clichealias]

on these forums victor always gave more than he took. something tells me that(for him) this noise rang true beyond this site. i aspire to live as he has, and as i understand still is.

[Ed Turner]

Thank you, OP, for getting this word out about Victor.

Ain't felt or had much to say here in a minute. Hardly ever even 'check in' anymore. But, I have to say this much about Victor. He was a rare bird who could land here in this www jibberjabber cyber world and for a while make you believe he was really a friend. For me, that is how I'll remember him. He was one helluva writer to top-a-T.

This is for you, Victor, (if they allow reading in that nether world where sparked souls dwell ) ;

I care not a whit what time it might actually be,
long as I can hear or see a clock, or feel the sun, proclaiming it to be
... some time.

Take care,
Ed

[TamsNumber4]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICTOR!!

[Theresa]

Tammy,
It 's great that you have set this up in remembrance of Victor. He always worked to read and comment on all the great poetry on the Artist's Cafe. He will be missed for years to come. Thanks again Tammy

Theresa

[tidepool]

Home

There is a place that waits for you
and begs for your approch. There is Respite
and an end to all the indignities of
discomfort, pain, hunger, disease and waste.
There, can no evil enter, for all that is,
is Known. That place is composed of Love,
is all Love, and is the Eternal Love that
Loves you because you are Love. It
magnetically pulls your Soul, and your
Consciousness floats forward across the
vast expanse of illuminated and gray, Infinity;
where there is no gravity, only the exquisite touch
of this Love so immense, that the love of your
parents, your dog, your laughing children
and your grand-maman who came from France......
were it all turned into a single drop of beautiful rain,
would be to that Love, as is the single drop of that
Holy Water, to an Ocean. No words can bear the weight
of this Immensity of Joy and though you are
no longer corporeal, you know still and think
to yourself, "I am Me, and I am finally going
HOME!

copyright 2010 by victor compton

Howdy Folks,

been in a tidepool, Surf!

i love Victor...the pieces of him i could see

this one

i copied in my heart and survives in my soul

if i'm right..,and i believe i am

Victor left our plane with little regrets and no fears!

Cheers to V, a soul rest a mind at ease...

P.S. Thank you Tammy for letting me know
Victor was our wealthy vagabond

[Rob Barratt]

I miss him too. Rob.

[Theresa]

tidepool, on 12 May 2012 - 10:52 PM, said:

Home

There is a place that waits for you
and begs for your approch. There is Respite
and an end to all the indignities of
discomfort, pain, hunger, disease and waste.
There, can no evil enter, for all that is,
is Known. That place is composed of Love,
is all Love, and is the Eternal Love that
Loves you because you are Love. It
magnetically pulls your Soul, and your
Consciousness floats forward across the
vast expanse of illuminated and gray, Infinity;
where there is no gravity, only the exquisite touch
of this Love so immense, that the love of your
parents, your dog, your laughing children
and your grand-maman who came from France......
were it all turned into a single drop of beautiful rain,
would be to that Love, as is the single drop of that
Holy Water, to an Ocean. No words can bear the weight
of this Immensity of Joy and though you are
no longer corporeal, you know still and think
to yourself, "I am Me, and I am finally going
HOME!

copyright 2010 by victor compton

Howdy Folks,

been in a tidepool, Surf!

i love Victor...the pieces of him i could see

this one

i copied in my heart and survives in my soul

if i'm right..,and i believe i am

Victor left our plane with little regrets and no fears!

Cheers to V, a soul rest a mind at ease...

P.S. Thank you Tammy for letting me know
Victor was our wealthy vagabond

So glad you posted this.
I missed reading it
Rest in peace Victor

[TamsNumber4]

I am posting GD Martin's favorite poem for him since he just found out, I am so glad we all still remember Victor and his art, I am still missing him!


My Heart Is Not At Home


It is useless to hope for the Cavalry, which is never going to come,

or wait to be loved by one like me, for my Heart is not at home.

It left me many years ago, to hunt through the far and wide,

for Love, which it chased so long and hard, that it lost its breath..... and died.


Victor Compton - 2009