Tangled Up in Two

Bob Dylan had some hits, all right,
like, Tangled Up in Blue.
And now he gets a Nobel Prize—
(I’m tangled up in two.)

I must explain, as per the prompt,
the genius of the man.
Despite my deep ambivalence,
I’ll do the best I can.

He sang a lot of protest songs
with meaning through and through.
Like, All Along the Watchtower;
(I’m tangled up in two.)

And images are there, they claim,
which must have had some sway.
Oh, Nobel Prize in literature—
well, who am I to say?

Long lasting are those folky songs;
times turbulent did brew.
The protests over Vietnam—
(I’m tangled up in two.)

They struck a nerve—his songs did so,
with those out in the street.
Yet I recall I’d often say,
“Bob, please stay with the beat!”


But Bob was only being Bob;
I guess ’twas his milieu.
Nobody sang like Dylan did;
(I’m tangled up in two.)

Okay, I’ll have to free myself
from two minds tangled tight.
And think of Twain and Hemingway
who maybe cry this night.


32 Lines
Writer’s Cramp
10-15-16