Michael Stipe, Jan. 4, 1960
Michael Stipe told me
What to write but I couldn’t
Understand the words
R.E.M.’s first work
Was like that, so propulsive
Yet inscrutable
Just when the mumbling
Was getting old, Stipe started
Enunciating
Words didn’t always
Make linear sense, but band
Had some things to say
The way they said it?
Unique. Trace scenes and connect
Hearts, feelings like dots
They did it somehow,
Though, without actually
Drawing any lines
Lost their religion
Found shiny happy, and damned
That radio song
Rocked out on “Monster”
Laughed at apocalypse, all
In a day’s work song
Felt gravity’s pull
But had one last disc to make
“Collapse Into Now”
End of R.E.M.
As millions of fans know it
And Michael feels fine
